A Question of Pronunciation

[kbeartx]

How do our English-speaking cousins pronounce the word [I know it's actually an acronym*] "MIDI"?

'Why do you ask?', you reply.

I just watched a video introducing some new and amazing audio/ music production software in which this term is repeatedly pronounced more like 'meaty' with a soft 't'.

One mitigating factor is that the company is German, the narrator of the video is clearly a native English-speaker w/ a very professional and pleasant-sounding voice, but obviously no prior experience w/ the tech/jargon of the music/recording industry [he also says 'mono' with two long 'o' sounds, but not often so it's not as weird].

I checked the pronunciations at Dictionary.com [which I've recently begun using instead of Merriam-Webster [m-w.com] because it provides entries from several sources and also seems have no trouble finding uncommon words, as m-w sometimes does] and AFAIK, 'meedee' is reserved for the South of France, and MIDI shares its phonetic identity with that style of skirt that predated the mini.

 - KB





* Musical Instrument Digital Interface

[Highmac]

QUOTE(kbeartx @ Aug 18 2008, 07:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

How do our English-speaking cousins pronounce the word [I know it's actually an acronym*] "MIDI"?

'Why do you ask?', you reply.

And you respond: 'Why do you answer every question with a question?'

My pronunciation is as your last mention - so Midi and Mini have the same 'i' sound - and that's ever since I had an Atari ST I've not heard anyone over here say it any other way.

If they have lived abroad for some time, native English speakers sometimes pick up the sounds of the country they live in. I don't speak German, so don't know about that particular instance, but I know a lot of Brits who have lived in the US have adapted their accents (one said: "It was the only way I could make myself understood!"). It's quite amusing when some actor is interviewed over here and you can hear the accent crossing, and re-crossing, the Atlantic in mid-sentence. I've heard native Brits who have lived in France for a long time speak English with a French accent!

QUOTE

Two nations divided by a common language - variously attributed in Google searches to George Bernard Shaw and Winston Churchill

And it turned up this little blog gem....

[Gregg]

I wish there was a Mac Midi to compliment the Mini.

I'd pronounce it any way they wanted me to.

For now, they rhyme in my book.


Edit: fixed spelling and grammar 8/22

[sandyman]

I pronounce it the same way as your source does, that is in the same way as Mini.

Except when I'm in the South of France....  only 7 weeks to go

I was amused by Neil's comment

QUOTE

I've heard native Brits who have lived in France for a long time speak English with a French accent!

. When I came back to the UK, I went through the same experience. I also found myself occasionally using French words rather than English words, for example I'd say "it's not evident" rather than "it's not obvious". Evident is English but not the right word to use in this instance.  I reckon it took me about 6 months to fully get back into English.

Sandy

[kbeartx]

Thnask fur you're imput!  

 - KB

[Xairbusdriver]

QUOTE

Evident is English but not the right word to use in this instance.

It's not obvious to me why it would not be evident! As they both seem to be used to explain the other. I guess you had to be there...

Of course, if you mean that it would cause people to actually think about what you were saying, then it was purfeklie a-prow-pre-eight!