Geuss I ain’t ever gonna pronounce this damn language correctly . You can’t blame this on French tho because in that language it’s saumon pronounced somon. They didn’t drop a consonant in the middle of the word.
The word comes ultimately from the Latin salmon, but we got it by way of French, as we did with so many other food words. The French, as was their wont, had swallowed up the Latin L in their pronunciation, so by the time we English borrowed the word, it was saumon, no L in the spelling and so no L in the pronunciation.
Pronouncing the word based on how another language says it is strange to say the least.
Imagine if train had the same treatment. In French it’s a short tr-un instead of English tr-ayn.
Pronouncing the word based on how another language says it
French influence on English is rather unique in this regard. French was the language of the upper class, so an effort was made for English to sound more French when possible.
My favorite example of how this has carried into modern day is the expressions “cordial reception” and “hearty welcome.” They both effectively mean the same thing, but the first, which is latin-derived, sounds fancy, while the second, which is germanic-derived, sounds more informal.
The word comes ultimately from the Latin salmon, but we got it by way of French, as we did with so many other food words. The French, as was their wont, had swallowed up the Latin L in their pronunciation, so by the time we English borrowed the word, it was saumon, no L in the spelling and so no L in the pronunciation.
No, the L is silent. Thank the French for that.
Samon, really?
Yup.
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Geuss I ain’t ever gonna pronounce this damn language correctly . You can’t blame this on French tho because in that language it’s saumon pronounced somon. They didn’t drop a consonant in the middle of the word.
https://katherinebarber.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-l-in-salmon.html
True, we kept the L, but we got the pronunciation from them.
Pronouncing the word based on how another language says it is strange to say the least. Imagine if train had the same treatment. In French it’s a short tr-un instead of English tr-ayn.
French influence on English is rather unique in this regard. French was the language of the upper class, so an effort was made for English to sound more French when possible.
My favorite example of how this has carried into modern day is the expressions “cordial reception” and “hearty welcome.” They both effectively mean the same thing, but the first, which is latin-derived, sounds fancy, while the second, which is germanic-derived, sounds more informal.
I know this but didn’t fully apprehend how deep the affect was.
If I ever visit an English speaking country I’ll have to remember to say half the words in French to sound very haut class. Lol
It hasn’t been this way for hundreds of years, so you’ll most likely just confuse people! Unless you’re in Canada, maybe.
You mean they swa’ed up the letter? ;)
Sallemonne /s
Edit: Looked it up, the French word is actually “saumon”. The L in the English word probably isn’t from French.
https://katherinebarber.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-l-in-salmon.html
So no, the L isn’t, but the pronunciation is.
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