Any further clues?

I don't mean to pick on you, but it's the 2nd time I've seen it in 3 posts (check Greg's just up there) so I thought I'd point it out in case anyone reads it and remembers for next time:

It's "definitely" as in

finite
infinite
definite

I see it so often, but its frequency still surprises me, I personally don't pronounce the word as "deh-fin-ate" but more "deh-fin-it" so it's easy for me, although I admit the "i" sounds ambiguous.

Defy! I'm a brother with a furious mind!

See, I pronounce it deh-fin-at-lee so that's why my spelling of it goes wrong occasionally. (A lot of the time I do check the spelling and correct it but it's one of those words where the correct spelling looks odd )

 

Anyway, where are the pics?

If it makes you feel better, I have a nasty habit of spelling it wrongly as well. Well, at least until FF 2 plonks a red line under it and I think "Goshy :o !".

Oh dear, I'm the kind of pedantic ass-hat who would argue it should sound more like deh-fin-it, although I end up pronouncing the i very lightly as I mention. Not that it has any bearing on anything, just seems that since it's spelt like that saying it that way feels right (for me).

I don't mean to be prescriptivist*, but that kind of pedantic ass-hat would be wrong. The last vowel sound should be (and I suspect is, in both of your accents) a schwa. Which is precisely why so many people have a tough time spelling it: the schwa isn't particularly associated with any character of the alphabet.

 

*A lie, actually, I certainly do.

Excellent. Someone who knows what they're talking about, I assume? Which I freely admit is more than I can say. I just know how to spell the word.

 

As for how to pronounce it, I've never studied phonetics, so I expect that you are entirely right and that the sound is a "schwa". Could you give an example or two of other instances of words that use that sound so I could compare my pronunciation of those syllables to "definite"?

 

I suppose I was trying to say that it doesn't sound like "it" but didn't know how to correctly describe the sound, due to my lack of phonetics knowledge. It's something I'd like to know more about though.

It's the topsy turvy e sign.

Pronounce it as half a vowel - almost just 'nt', but not quite.

That's what I was trying to get across with my "vague i" but I didn't express myself clearly enough. Ta.

Dear oh dear. That did surprise me a bit - I didn't think you were the type to misspell definitely. I probably should have checked more thoroughly. I must have seen the G at the beginning of Mr Golden Axe's moniker and my brain registered Greg. My humble apologies sire.

Bastards indeed.