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Comptroller

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(@Anonymous)
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I don't find a Β consistent Β pronunciation of the political office "Comptroller". Β  When I lived in New York, the office-holder pronounced it "Con-troller" (which the dictionary lists as the primary choice), but here in Illinois, it is pronounced "Comp-troller". Β  I'm sure either is acceptable, but shouldn't such an important office be pronounced in a consistent way?


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(@polistra)
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Joined: 12 years ago

This is an interesting case of spelling and pronunciation reflecting two different senses of the word's origin. Β  The mpt doesn't really belong there; the word comes simply from control. Β 

But control has changed its meaning over the years. Β  It comes from contra + rotulus. Β  The rotulus was a scroll, and contra-rotulus referred to an early form of double-entry bookkeeping. Β  Balancing one scroll of numbers against another. Β 

In European languages, controlling still means checking, auditing, proofreading. Β  Β  In English it has come to mean dominating or taking charge.

In companies or governments that have a Comptroller, the job retains the old European sense of auditing, not the modern English sense of taking charge. Β  So the spelling of the job changed at some point, with a false back-formed etymology from French compt as in compute, which became count in English.

The comptroller's job is related to computing or counting rather than dominating, so his title took on a spelling related to counting or computing.

Thus you can pronounce it either way, but you're favoring one sense of the word by your choice.

 

 

 


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(@Anonymous)
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In writing though , 'comptroller' is a word that is not interchangeable with any others. Some dictionaries say it is a variant of 'controller' - wrong. Or is it?


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