Is it P-lynn-y or P-line-y??? Pliny the Elder Pronounced!

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How do you pronounce Pliny

  • P-Lynn-y with "Lynn" in the middle

  • P-Line-y like a pine tree with an L in the middle

  • Other: See my explanation.


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cannman

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Pliny the Elder

Is it P-lynn-y with the empysis of sounds like the name "Lynn"

or is it Pine with an L: P-line-y?

Discuss!
 
I assume its said like the roman philosopher's name. /ˈplɪni/. Rhymes with skinny. Though regional accents will pronounce those vowel sounds differently, which is valid.
 
I'd have to look again, but I thought the label was spelled "pliny"? But yes, according to the professor lady who is the head person at the history channel for such things pronounced it, " pliny" like " skinny". "pliney" would be the spelling that would denote the pronunciation " PlInEE", which is incorrect. I'm glad somebody finally brought this up, as it annoys me when it's mispronounced more often as not.
 

I guess I learned something. I always pronounced it with a long I because that's the way it's spelled, but I listened to the dictionary pronounce it using the link above and they say the old guy's name was pronounced with a short i, as in rhymes with skinny. But that ain't the way it's spelled!
I wonder what the brewery has to say?
 
It depends. Both are probably correct. I prefer P-line-y, but oddly, I prefer P-lynn-ian for the term Plinian.

Another example is some people say Scipio differently (Sip-e-o or Skip-e-o) and both are correct. I prefer the later.

We could also discuss how the name Gaius is pronounced (Guy-us or Kai-us), and both would also be correct. Again, I prefer the later. Some people go farther and spell the name Caius, which is also correct too.



I'm going to go try and do something productive now, like try and decide if I like Tour De Fronse or Franse. Decisions decisions...
 
Horses mouth for the name of the beer:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJeRVfb-zRc[/ame]
 
Historical accuracy versus modern intent are different stories.

The same way that DC Brau is pronounced "DC Brow" when in correct German (with umlaut) it would be "DC Broy".

I learned to stop correcting "joo-lee-us see-ser" a long time ago (yool-ee-us kai-sar is more accurate to Latin pronunciation). Point being that people are going to pronounce it however they're going to pronounce it, and the modern usage, even if historically incorrect, is just as valid unless we refuse to admit that language changes over time (which anyone can see that it does).

So I always hear it pronounced "Ply-knee" and that's what I'm going with.
 
While I recognize modern pronunciation, historically, the modern is incorrect. Here's some history of pliny the younger;
 
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While I recognize modern pronunciation, historically, the modern is incorrect. Here's some history of pliny the younger; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCvXzXJC_tI

Yes, historically the modern is incorrect. But unless we reject that language is allowed to change over time, the historical pronunciation is for the most part irrelevant. Also I'm familiar with Pliny the Younger.
 
I seek only to honor the memory of these great men & thinkers by properly pronouncing their names & epitaphs. History is the guide, indeed the fire in which we burn.
 
Do people seriously worry about this? I can imagine some neurotic sitting at the bar in Santa Rosa shaking nervously as they come to the decision of which way to pronounce it when the bar tender asks them for their order. I know it's supposed to be pronounced P-lynn-y because I've heard people have this discussion before. I still pronounce it P-line-y because that's what my brain goes to first. Just like I know Weyermann is pronounced with a V and not a W but everyone I know, including my LHBS, still pronounces it with a W. Sometimes you just have to just say F-it and drink the beer.
 
Do people seriously worry about this? I can imagine some neurotic sitting at the bar in Santa Rosa shaking nervously as they come to the decision of which way to pronounce it when the bar tender asks them for their order. I know it's supposed to be pronounced P-lynn-y because I've heard people have this discussion before. I still pronounce it P-line-y because that's what my brain goes to first. Just like I know Weyermann is pronounced with a V and not a W but everyone I know, including my LHBS, still pronounces it with a W. Sometimes you just have to just say F-it and drink the beer.

I hate going into a bar or liquor and ask for "P-Lynn-y" and they reply "Oh you mean P-line-y"

So I worry about this.
 
I hate going into a bar or liquor and ask for "P-Lynn-y" and they reply "Oh you mean P-line-y"

So I worry about this.

Another great reason to go with p-line-y is that if someone corrects you and say it's p-lynn-y, you can call them a bloody yank, and go off on some tirade in a british accent.

"I don't want your over-carbonateded hop-water, anyway, you bloody wanker! Don't you have any REAL ALE in this place?"
 
Historical accuracy versus modern intent are different stories.

The same way that DC Brau is pronounced "DC Brow" when in correct German (with umlaut) it would be "DC Broy".

I learned to stop correcting "joo-lee-us see-ser" a long time ago (yool-ee-us kai-sar is more accurate to Latin pronunciation). Point being that people are going to pronounce it however they're going to pronounce it, and the modern usage, even if historically incorrect, is just as valid unless we refuse to admit that language changes over time (which anyone can see that it does).

So I always hear it pronounced "Ply-knee" and that's what I'm going with.

This. Historically accurate or not, the brewery pronounces it in the commonly pronounced way, ie Pli-KNEE

Case in point. From the brewery: Screen Shot 2015-08-04 at 8.02.47 PM.png
 
We can't use the language changes argument to allow the mispronunciations of names or words. If we all went around reading and pronouncing things however we like no one would understand each other. Where does it end?

IMO we should allow language to change from region to region or when ones native tongue struggles- that can be impossible to control. Before hand, we should criticize the change, debate it and not allow it just to suit our laziness or complacencies.

Btw I don't care how it's pronounced just stating my ideas on the topic. Most people don't care but we're either on the same page or were not.
 
We can't use the language changes argument to allow the mispronunciations of names or words. If we all went around reading and pronouncing things however we like no one would understand each other. Where does it end?

IMO we should allow language to change from region to region or when ones native tongue struggles- that can be impossible to control. Before hand, we should criticize the change, debate it and not allow it just to suit our laziness or complacencies.

Btw I don't care how it's pronounced just stating my ideas on the topic. Most people don't care but we're either on the same page or were not.

Yes, but there's a difference between a few people mispronouncing a word, and the majority of people pronouncing it a certain way different from the way it was previously pronounced. At which point do you become the dinosaur holding things back?
 
We can't use the language changes argument to allow the mispronunciations of names or words. If we all went around reading and pronouncing things however we like no one would understand each other. Where does it end?

IMO we should allow language to change from region to region or when ones native tongue struggles- that can be impossible to control. Before hand, we should criticize the change, debate it and not allow it just to suit our laziness or complacencies.

Btw I don't care how it's pronounced just stating my ideas on the topic. Most people don't care but we're either on the same page or were not.


No. Language evolves. Regional dialects are unavoidable. No one in the entire state of Missouri pronounces it the same. Who's right?
 
I have a question for those of you pronouncing it the correct way. Is it more important to you to hear a word pronounced correctly and have to endure the person pause their sentence and make a very obvious and conscious attempt at pronouncing a word correctly, or forgo that social awkwardness and let people say a word incorrectly.

I would much rather hear a person walk around a Mexican restaurant saying "kay-suh-dill-uh" than hearing some midwestern teenager practice rolling their R's when ordering a Churro.
 

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