Metallurgy

[Geoff]

A couple of nights ago I was watching a story on Air Crash Investigation in which one of the specialists was talking about the failure of three bolts that held the tail fin on the crashed aircraft. He kept referring to the 'metalligist' that examined the bolts. I have never heard the word 'metalligist' before and believe he meant 'metallurgist'. Does anyone have any thoughts on 'metalligist' vs. 'metallurgist'?

[Pete]

Yes I do, Geoff. The guy on the TV was simply wrong! Was it his pronunciation, or did he spell it that way?

[Geoff]

Pete,

I'm sure you've put your finger on it. The problem is his pronunciation of metallurgist versus what I believe is the correct pronunciation of the same word. The chap on the TV was saying metallurgist, whereas I would have said metallurgist. I can see now that metallurgist could be pronounced both ways. As I had never heard metallurgist before, I assumed he was saying metalligist.

Thanks for the enlightenment.

[Pete]

Jan 1, 2010 11:24:42 GMT Geoff said:

Pete,

I'm sure you've put your finger on it. The problem is his pronunciation of metallurgist versus what I believe is the correct pronunciation of the same word. The chap on the TV was saying metallurgist, whereas I would have said metallurgist. I can see now that metallurgist could be pronounced both ways. As I had never heard metallurgist before, I presumed he was saying metalligist.

Thanks for the enlightenment.

Interesting, this pronunciation stuff. I would go with metallurgist. But normal 'rules' of pronunciation suggest that metallurgist is correct, ie with the emphasis before the double consonant.

[Geoff]

Pete, what did you mean by But normal 'rules' of pronunciation suggest ...

I've just checked in the Macquarie Dictionary and both pronunciations (metallurgy and metallurgy) are given for metallurgy.

[Pete]

Specifically, I was referring to the emphasis falling on the syllable before the double consonant. But it's a 'normal' rule that is probably more frequently honoured in the breach than the observance, I suspect.

[SusanB]

I'd probably put the stress on the second syllable, and might therefore pronounce it similarly to how Geoff heard it - though I'd never thought about that before!

[Tone]

>I'd probably put the stress on the second syllable, and might therefore pronounce it similarly to how Geoff heard it<

Likewize would I.

Tone

[Sue M-V]

I would definitely say "meTALlurgist", and never stress the third syllable. On the other hand I'm quite prepared to accept "MEtalLURgy" (although not "metalLURgy"!).

There are lots of English words whose stress shifts in accordance with its word class (we've done this before!) - democrat springs to mind (democracy, democratic).

Sue