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My original idea (the -ain pronunciation comes from reading what you saw written) only makes sense if the -e had already got there for some other reason unrelated to English pronunciation. The most plausible explanation for such an -e would be if there had been some French influence on the spelling. But the French call it ourigan.
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Doesn't the spelling suggest that the original pronunciation in English was -cane?
On examination, that seems more plausible than my suggestion. It is also consistent with the frequent issue that American pronunciations the English deprecate often turn out to be the older pronunciation.My original idea (the -ain pronunciation comes from reading what you saw written) only makes sense if the -e had already got there for some other reason unrelated to English pronunciation. The most plausible explanation for such an -e would be if there had been some French influence on the spelling. But the French call it ourigan.
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