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800 Maynard Ave S, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98134
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If I ever used it sincerely, I'd go with Mirriam-Webster's
@3 for the What Real Americans Pronounce It Like win.
(Our French major classmate committed suicide shortly thereafter, but we don't think our sneering was the only cause.)
When we import words from another language, we are under no obligation whatsoever to retain the initial pronunciation. And that's not just an American thing. Go to Japan and order chocolate ice cream and you'll get stared at. But if you order "chokorayto aisu creamu," you'll get dessert.
Trust me, the French, even if they speak a dozen languages, do not refer to Germany as "Deutschland." They call it "Allemagne," meaning: "Naziville."
@12, that word should only be used in "fraught with meaning" and then only when describing noir movies or soap operas.
We Americans have a special bug up our asses about France. A French bug. I call it Le Boog.
Otherwise, potato poe-taa-toe, tomato tow-maa-toe.
I live in south Louisiana now, though, so I have learned to use French pronunciation (or at least Cajun French pronunciation) more. I don't say Or-leens any more. I have learned that it is Or-lins, for example.
Well, there's also the matter of how Iowans pronounce "Des Moines" and how Washingtonians pronounce it, since Washington has the ignoble distinction of pronouncing the 's' in "Moines".
I also find it impossible to believe that Merriam-Webster, or any dictionary, wouldn't recognize both pronunciations for "homage" as valid.
@28,
So you're fine with Americans saying kwe-suh-dill-luh (quesadilla)? Or tuh-mail (tamale)? There are many Americans who bastardize Spanish words to that extent.
Besides, "homage" is not a French word. It's an English word of French origin, which is different.
If I am doing something to honor something else, Im doing an 'oh-majsh'. As in "The concept now often appears in the arts where one author shows respect to a topic by calling it an oh-majsh, such as Homage to Catalonia.'
But you should not linger over the misapprehension that saying "kay sah DEE yah" and "tah MAH lee" in your ordinary American voice is correct Spanish. It'll do, but you're butchering the vowels (and the consonants). That's what having an accent is all about. If you pronounce those words EXACTLY as a Mexican (which one, though?) would, you'll sound affected -- the correct sounds are incorrect, to some extent.
This effect is greatly heightened for words that have not entered English. "Quesadilla" and "tamale" have. If you're saying "huitlacoche" or "cochinita pibil" it's normal to put a little Mexican accent on it without sounding like a dork because there's no English way to say it. Unless your Spanish is completely free of American accent (which is difficult) you'll still be a bit off, though. You'll be understood well enough to enjoy huitlacoche or cochinita pibil, though, so who cares?
Seriously, who the frack made you the language police.
But, hey, that's the subject of lots of movie and in person jokes.
Fine, pronounce "Acapulco" as a native of Acapulco would, but go with the native pronunciation of American locales. Or should we all be pronouncing Mt. Rainier as "moh rhenyay?"
Le Boog, I like it. Latte however is an Italian word and hence it is correct to pronounce the final e. The corresponding word in French is lait pronounced lay.
And Fnarf is correct, if you order a "latte" in Italy you will get a quizzical look followed by a glass of milk.
:D
That Dictionary pronunciation is real good...if your goal is to speak like Lorraine Bracco.
I say homage like omelet.
Also #12 says "The pretentious pronunciation is new. No one EVER said it that way until a couple of years ago." Uhhhhm; save for roughly 60,000,000 French countrymen who know a bit more about their language than you. What a friggin arrogant, SNOOTY tool.
When used as part of the expression "to pay homage to" it is pronounced "haw-muj",
But when it is used as a complementary noun (following the verb 'to be') as it is used in French, as in "This book was written as an homage to his mentor" or "The song became an homage to those who fought in the war" it is pronounced with a silent 'h' in the French manner "Oh-mahj"