Orthoepy<\/em> is the study of correct pronunciation, or of the received pronunciation. In English, it once meant specifically the study of Received Pronunciation, or RP, which was the proper language of the English upper classes, a pronunciation that acted as a kind of shibboleth against intrusion by the lower classes. It can also mean the \u201cbranch of linguistics which deals with pronunciation, phonology;\u00a0spec.<\/em>\u00a0the study of the relationship between pronunciation and a system of writing or spelling\u201d (OED<\/em>).<\/p>\n If you go to www.etymonline.com<\/a> to look up the word\u2019s etymology, you won\u2019t find anything. But it\u2019s almost easy enough to break the word down into its component parts. Ortho<\/em>, of course, is a Greek combination form indicating correctness or rightness or even uprightness (probably from a PIE base that also gave rise to \u201cthe same Indo-European base as Sanskrit\u00a0\u016brdhva<\/em>\u00a0erect, upraised\u201d (OED<\/em>). The \u2013epy<\/em> part comes from the stem \u1f10\u03c0-<\/em> of the Greek word\u00a0\u03b5\u03af\u03c0\u03b5\u1fd6\u03bd<\/em>\u00a0\u201cto say,\u201d the same verb that gives rise to the word epic<\/em>, a long poem which someone recites or says out loud.<\/p>\n In English, the word comes from post-classical Latin into English probably in the second half of the 17th<\/sup> century, that period when English intellectuals were borrowing lots of words from Latin, sometimes even words that were not really Latin at all. In IPA, the word is pronounced \/\u0254r\u02c8\u03b8o\u028a \u0259 pi\/ or \/\u02c8\u0254r \u03b8o\u028a\u02cc\u025bp i\/ (if you look carefully, you can that there are a couple of differences, most notably in stress; and honestly, I really struggle saying the second version). It may seem a bit funny, but two acceptable pronunciations for the same word is not uncommon.<\/p>\n Speaking of the pronunciation of words, there are a few in English that are regularly mispronounced, often enough to, well, drive one crazy. If you Google mispronounced words, you\u2019ll find quite a few hits, but the one I looked at is called \u201cFun with Words\u201d (http:\/\/www.rinkworks.com\/words\/mispronounced.shtml<\/a>). So here are a few of the ones they list.<\/p>\n Espresso<\/em>: while some people pronounce this word as if it begins with ex<\/em>-, it actually begins with es<\/em>-, so the pronunciation is \/\u025b\u02c8spr\u025bs o\u028a\/.<\/p>\n Forte<\/em>: I would say that most people would pronounce this as a two-syllable word, the correct historical pronunciation is just like fort<\/em>, at least when we are talking about the English word that means a person\u2019s strength or good quality. There is a musical term, forte<\/em>, pronounced with two syllables, which is actually an Italian word, like so many musical terms (ritardando, allegro<\/em>). However, more and more people are confusing the Italian musical term with the English word, and as a result of that, both pronunciations are now considered acceptable.<\/p>\n Lambaste<\/em>: according to Fun with Words, people pronounce this word \/l\u00e6m \u02c8b\u00e6st\/, with what we learned in primary grades to call a short a<\/em> sound (though it is really an \u00e6<\/em> [ash, a letter dating back to the Anglo-Saxon]). But I have not heard that pronunciation; rather, I have heard it pronounced with the \u00e6 but with the stress on the first syllable instead of the second, which makes a lot more sense given the general pronunciation rules of English. But according to the website, the stress should be on the second syllable and the letter a<\/em> in the second syllable should be pronounced e\u026a<\/em> (a long a<\/em> sound).<\/p>\n Plenitude<\/em>: according to Fun with Friends, people mispronounce this word as if it has a t<\/em> sound at the end of the first syllable. And that would make sense. The word means \u201cabundance,\u201d \u201ccopiousness,\u201d or \u201cplenty.\u201d Some people even spell the word as if it is plentitude<\/em>, even as far back as 1610. But the word actually comes from the Old French plenitude<\/em>, whereas plenty<\/em> comes from the Old French plentee<\/em>. Interestingly, both words come from the PIE root *pele<\/em><\/strong>– \u201cto fill.\u201d<\/p>\n One more.<\/p>\n