Kingsley Amis instructed that
medieval be pronounced in four syllables, “meedy-eeval”. To pronounce it in
three was “an infallible sign of fundamental illiteracy.” February is
pronounced in two, three, or four syllables, depending on how we manage the
rhubarb sound in the middle. Whether any of those are signs of fundamental
illiteracy does not vex those in the middle of a February heat wave. Feb will
do. April brings no such accusations. Two syllables, though Amis would have
taken those to task who didn’t know whether emphasis was on the pea or the are.
Only what of Chaucer’s Aprille? Three?
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