How do you spell glitch how to#

Why does the spelling of these stupid little words matter? You can win the spelling wars, without bloodshed. In any case, if youвЂ™re stuck in a cicada swarm this time around, pronunciation may be the last thing on your mind.Do you ever struggle with your and youвЂ™re? Do you know when to use there, theyвЂ™re and their? What about itвЂ™s and its? Do you use the apostrophe in вЂњitвЂ™s a nice dayвЂќ or in вЂњthe planet had itвЂ™s own gravitational forceвЂќ?* Now, I know youвЂ™re getting a teensy little headache just thinking about this, but stay with me, there will be prizes later. With a term that stays dormant for long stretches, itвЂ™s no wonder that we havenвЂ™t completely fixed on the pronunciation. Even in cicada-prone areas, the word only becomes prominent at certain yearly intervals.

How do you spell glitch how to#

The diverging pronunciations of вЂњcicadaвЂќ can leave people uncertain about how to say the word, especially those living in places like Massachusetts, just outside the regions where cicadas periodically swarm. (French, meanwhile, has вЂњcigale,вЂќ and Spanish and Portuguese have вЂњcigarra.вЂќ This is one case where English is more loyal to the Latin original than Romance languages.)

When we try to make foreign-sounding words match certain phonetic targets, the results can be hit-or-miss, leading to what linguists call вЂњhyperforeignism.вЂќ Thanks to French, for instance, English speakers often turn вЂњjвЂќ into вЂњzhвЂќ in place names where the sound doesnвЂ™t properly belong, like вЂњTaj Mahal,вЂќ вЂњBeijing,вЂќ and вЂњAzerbaijan.вЂќДЄnd thanks to Italian, some are tempted to pronounce вЂњcicadaвЂќ as вЂњchi-KAY-daвЂќ or вЂњchi-KAH-da.вЂќ But Italian is a red herring-in that language, the insect is called вЂњcicalaвЂќ (вЂњchi-KAH-laвЂќ), as it veered off from the Latin root. By the turn of the 21st century, most British references gave вЂњkahвЂќ as the primary variant, with вЂњkayвЂќ still holding sway across the Atlantic.

Henry Watson Fowler, in his classic 1926 Dictionary of Modern English Usage, did not mention вЂњsi-KAH-da.вЂќ But perhaps to make вЂњcicadaвЂќ fit the вЂњarmadaвЂќ model, the вЂњkahвЂќ pronunciation gradually made headway in the United Kingdom and other countries. Every British and American dictionary I consulted from the late 19th and early 20th centuries recommended the вЂњsi-KAY-daвЂќ pronunciation. вЂњCicadaвЂќ underwent a similar fate-but not everywhere, and years after the shift from вЂњar-MAY-daвЂќ to вЂњar-MAH-daвЂќ a century ago. Wells calls вЂњcontinental vowelismвЂќ: вЂњAr-MAH-daвЂќ displaced the older pronunciation because English speakers thought the вЂњahвЂќ sound was more appropriate for a Spanish import. It even applied to words brought in from Spanish like вЂњarmada,вЂќ originally pronounced in English as вЂњar-MAY-da.вЂќ But eventually, вЂњarmadaвЂќ fell prey to what the British phonetician John C. Words with the stressed вЂњaвЂќ sound, including borrowings from Latin, shifted from вЂњahвЂќ to вЂњay,вЂќ which you can hear in countless words like вЂњtable,вЂќ вЂњradio,вЂќ and вЂњstadium.вЂќДЇor centuries, the вЂњayвЂќ pronunciation ruled for stressed вЂњaвЂќ words regardless of their source. When English speakers began importing Latin words, they looked to the French model, so words beginning with вЂњci-вЂќ like вЂњcircle,вЂќ вЂњcivil,вЂќ and вЂњcicadaвЂќ all took on the initial вЂњsвЂќ sound.Д«ut why would the second syllable of вЂњcicadaвЂќ be pronounced like вЂњkayвЂќ? For that we can blame the Great Vowel Shift that marked the transition from Middle English to Modern English. The first вЂњcвЂќ changed to a вЂњtsвЂќ sound around the fifth century A.D., and the consonant further softened to вЂњsвЂќ in Old French. In classical Latin, вЂњcicadaвЂќ was pronounced as вЂњki-KAH-da,вЂќ with hard cвЂ™s. Those who say вЂњsi-KAY-daвЂќ need not be intimidated by вЂњsi-KAH-da,вЂќ as the latter pronunciation is a Johnny-come-lately even in Britain. That variant, though, is heard more frequently in the United Kingdom and such Commonwealth countries as South Africa, Canada, and Australia. The preferred pronunciation in much of the United States is вЂњsi-KAY-da.вЂќ Some Americans opt for вЂњsi-KAH-da,вЂќ like the last name of Cuban-born singer-songwriter Jon Secada.

The most basic answer to the вЂњcicadaвЂќ question has to do with where you live. The latest вЂњcicadapocalypseвЂќ (or вЂњswarmageddonвЂќ if you prefer) offers an opportunity to think about how pronunciations of words can diverge into their own distinct swarms-and about how the way we say even relatively rare words like cicada reflects much larger shifts in the language. Each summer, however, a brood on a cycle ranging from every two to every 17 years may swarm up to the surface to molt. Here in North America, we can spend most of our lives ignoring the word вЂњcicada,вЂќ since the bugs so labeled live underground for most of their lives.