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Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

A Way with Words, a radio show and podcast about language and linguistics.

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'Phage'
EmmettRedd
859 Posts
(Offline)
1
2016/04/16 - 4:46am

I just heard a radio commentator specifically spell and, then, pronounce the topic word as fAHj. I have always pronounced it as fAj. (dictionary.com has [feyj] which seems close to mine.)

Does anyone out there pronounce it like the commentator?

Guest
2
2016/04/16 - 9:44am

Somehow the look of this word says   ah.   I am not surprised if many will pronounce it with  ah.

Guest
3
2016/04/16 - 1:03pm

I've always pronounced it with a long "a" and have no plans to change. I learned the word "bacteriophage" long before I ever heard the shortened version, and I've never heard bacteriophage pronounced with anything other than a long "a" so I just assumed "phage" would be pronounced similarly. To my understanding, both words refer to the same thing (a virus that replicates inside bacteria).

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4
2016/04/16 - 1:54pm

I've never heard the ah version, but M-W lists both.

deaconB
744 Posts
(Offline)
5
2016/04/16 - 2:35pm

Glucophage is pronounced glue-c-fahj.  I would use the fahj pronunciation,but I've heard few peope say it.  I've never encountered phage by itself.  Your mileage may vary. If I am paying the utility bill, I want an env-i-lope, if a beautiful woman were to hug me, that would be en-vell-ope, and to announce the winner, it's he ahn-vul-lope. 

"Anyone who adds up a column of numbers twice and gets the same answer both times simply has no imagination" - Mark Twain.  Not sure if the IRS agrees, but they frown on imaginative tax retutns.

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