Hi again and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English pronunciation

podcast. My name is Mandy and this is our 124th episode. English, with all its flexibility, allows new words to enter the language all the time. In fact,

English seems to invite new words, while other languages attempt to close their linguistic doors

and keep their language pure. That purity has merit, since that is what allows the patterns of the

language to stay predictable.

English is also predictable if you understand the huge number of patterns that the language has.

Among these patterns are all the different spellings for a single sound,

as well as all of the possible pronunciations for a single

spelling. Yes, all of that does make it quite confusing to learn. The history of a certain word,

known as its etymology, can help predict an English pronunciation pattern. I've talked about this a bit before,

and I'll expand on it today. Words that entered the English language from French before the 17th century

usually fit within modern spelling and pronunciation patterns. Words newer than

that, however, have often retained something of their original French pronunciations,

and often their spellings as well. For instance, words spelled A consonant E are usually pronounced with a long A and a silent

E. This includes words like cake, made, and face. The word cafe, sometimes still spelled with the accent over the letter E, does not follow that pattern at all.

The word cafe not only does not have a silent E, but the final syllable is stressed and is pronounced with a long A sound, cafe.

While the word cafe does not follow the common A consonant E pattern, it does follow the pattern

that words relatively new to English tend to retain more of their original pronunciation

and spelling. If you know

that pattern, you don't expect it to be pronounced CAFE. The words cliche and entree, also

sometimes spelled with the accent over the E, follow the same pattern.

The word niche spelled N-I-C-H-E does not follow the pattern of the CH being pronounced as a C-H sound.

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