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Post by Verbivore on Jul 3, 2013 3:58:26 GMT
Some further research on man-dar-EEN ... The entry below, from Oxford Dictionaries online, shows an etymologically pre-English pronunciation of mandarin: the French mandarine. mandarin2Pronunciation: /ˈmand(ə)rɪn/(also mandarine /-riːn/, mandarin orange)Definition of mandarinnoun1 a small flattish citrus fruit with a loose yellow-orange skin. 2 the citrus tree that yields the mandarin.3 Citrus reticulata, family RutaceaeThrough the French mandarine [~EEN / ~`ɪn] and the Spanish mandarín [~EEN / ~`ɪn] / mandarina [~EENa], the word comes to us from the Portuguese mandarim [~EEM / ~`ɪm] Those precedent pronunciations, today still practised in those three languages, demonstrate precedents for the [~EEN / ~`ɪn] pronunciation, so it’s not solely an Oz phenomenon. It also seems common in Englishes such as Kiwi and Cockney.
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Post by Alan Palmer on Jul 3, 2013 19:16:02 GMT
I've moved this thread into the main forum as it has outgrown the "Quick Questions" forum.
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Craig Peebles - The Write Guy
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Post by Craig Peebles - The Write Guy on Aug 16, 2013 21:54:18 GMT
Nectarine, Tangerine, Mandarine. There you have it.
The dropping of the e is because mandarin is a word of a different meaning but people get lazy and it's easier to say.
If Nectarin and Tangerin were words in their own right the same would eventuate.
So it's become the accepted norm like pram(perambulator), possum(opossum), fridge(refrigerator)etc to use the easier option.
When a word becomes part of everyday conversation it will eventually be accepted in dictionaries. First as slang and then as correct grammar.
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Post by Dave Miller on Aug 16, 2013 22:38:02 GMT
But Craig - why would people, in the first place, have said "mandarine orange" - when "mandarine" didn't yet mean anything?
Having got used to "mandarin" as short for "mandarin orange", then they added an "e" to match things like "tangerine". And some people, who still say "mandarin", didn't bother. So the easier route is "mandarin" is it not?
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Post by Tone on Aug 17, 2013 18:52:58 GMT
>The Write Guy<
>Nectarine, Tangerine, Mandarine. There you have it.<
Or perhaps the wrong guy?
Tone
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Post by Lara on Nov 1, 2013 6:47:19 GMT
Funny topic, I have fought this for years! In Australia in the 70's and early 80's we were taught (in school) mandarine.
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Post by Verbivore on Nov 1, 2013 7:11:32 GMT
Also in the 50s and 60s, Lara. :-)
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Post by Tone on Nov 1, 2013 20:41:34 GMT
>Also in the 50s and 60s <
But in the custom of their time that would have been " in the 50's and 60's ".
(See my coment on the APS.)
Tone
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Post by Dave Miller on Nov 1, 2013 23:28:29 GMT
I think Vv was adding the 50s and 60s to Lara's mention of the previous two decades, Tone (rather than correcting the format).
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Post by Verbivore on Nov 2, 2013 0:12:00 GMT
Exactly, Dave.
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Post by Tone on Nov 2, 2013 21:20:58 GMT
Yes, but my comment still stands.
Tone
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Post by Meg on Jun 16, 2014 6:19:12 GMT
Very helpful when I was making sign to sell mandarins / mandarines
Thank you
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Post by Verbivore on Jun 16, 2014 6:54:22 GMT
Very helpful when I was making sign to sell mandarins / mandarines Thank you That's good to know, Meg. Which version did you settle on?
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Post by gizmo on Jan 27, 2015 20:52:20 GMT
I wonder if mandarines are a cross between mandarin oranges and tangerines.
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Post by Dave on Jan 28, 2015 0:15:06 GMT
I ate one for lunch!
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