Pronunciation of “Forte”

Welcome to another minicast from A Way with Words.

I’m Martha Barnette.

Here’s a question we get from time to time. That word F-O-R-T-E. Is it fort or forte? Well, Jim from Waterbury, Connecticut wanted to know. So he called us and he got an earful. Okay, here we go.

I know I’m fighting a losing battle on this one, but I’m refusing to give up. And my family and friends have maneuvered me into agreeing that if you and Grant tell me to give up this fight, I will hang up my guns forever on this one. Oh, my God. Jim’s last stand right here on A Way with Words. Yes, it is. Oh, boy.

And the issue is the pronunciation of the word F-O-R-T-E. In English. In English. In English. Oh, boy. See, I’m pronouncing it fort, and everyone, the common usage seems to be forte, which is actually an Italian musical term, which means to play loudly. So, should I stop correcting everybody?

Well, let me ask you, what is F-O-R-T-E, then, if it’s not an Italian musical term? I believe it is French for strength or strong point. Okay, so this is where we run into the difficulty. In French, though, it would be F-O-R-T, and the T would not be pronounced, so it wouldn’t be pronounced fort either. It would be pronounced le fort. Or if it’s feminine, it would have the E, but it doesn’t have that accent, the D. Right, it does not have an accent, the D.

So we have the difficulty here, which is we’ve encountered this before, Martha, having a foreign word adopted into English, and then the English speakers do their own thing with it. And sometimes people insist that the origin of the word somehow trumps whatever has happened in English. And we run into the difficulty then, Jim, where if that was the case, then the English that we were speaking today would be a very different thing. It’s called an etymological fallacy. This kind of thing is approached in linguistics and lexicography all the time. The etymology of a word does not guide its usage in English. Its origin does not rule the day.

And so we can forget both the French and the Italian when it comes to this word. And so then we start paying attention to what do, let’s say, the most respected speakers of the day say. And I think you’ll find that most very careful speakers will pronounce it as fort. And then, but most people in general pronounce it as forte. Yeah, the vast majority, I think, say forte. Yeah, most, I mean, we’re talking like 99%. And actually many people, if they hear it pronounced fort, are confused because they don’t know what you mean.

Oh, yes. I get strange looks all the time. I don’t know if it’s an affectation. I wouldn’t say that it’s wrong. But as you said, it’s definitely in the minority. And it’s one of those conversation stoppers, right? It’s sort of a marmalade dropper. Oh, yes. I mean, what happens when you use that word? Oh, yeah, the conversation comes to an end, and we now go off on this new topic of how the word is pronounced.

Right, right. So it’s hard for me to let go of that one, too, because I come from the same school that you do. But to get along in this world anymore, I have to let it go, huh? I would think that’s the best course of action. And certainly, if you’re stopping conversations to talk about this, then there’s an attention problem, too, right? I mean, it just means that the conversation is kind of interrupted and the natural communication that flows between two people isn’t going smoothly. And so you can hold back and stop commenting on that, and then the conversation can just move forward. Because you know what they meant. You know what was intended.

Right. So how about if I just keep using it and I just stop correcting everyone? That would work. That’s actually the course of action that I always recommend. Set a model with your own behavior that you believe other people should follow and leave it up to them as to whether or not they follow you. The difficulty arises here when you try to force your own behavior on other people. This isn’t really so much a language question as it is a manners question. So, Jim, you really don’t have to hang up your guns. You just have to carry a concealed weapon.

Right, right. Oh, no. Just stop pulling it out at a moment’s notice. In Waterbury, Connecticut today, Jim, well, yeah. A man pulled a question and had a gunfight in a Dairy Queen. Not out of the realms of possibility here. With the cashier who said, the chocolate sundaes are not my forte. Fantastic.

All right, well, thanks for calling, Jim. I’m sorry you didn’t get the message that you wanted, but maybe your friends and family will be relieved. I got a good compromise. Thank you very much. Okay, take care of yourself. Love your show. You guys rock. Thank you, Jim. Bye-bye.

Now here’s what’s really cool about this word. In its earliest sense, F-O-R-T, later F-O-R-T-E, was a fencing term. In the 17th century, fencers used the word fort to mean the strongest part of the blade. And get this, you know what they called the weakest part? The weak part of a fencing blade was called the foible. So there you have it. Two fencing terms, fort and foible, that took on the more abstract senses of one’s strong point and one’s weak point.

Well, if you’d like to challenge us to a verbal fencing match, on guard! We are ready. Bring us your questions, your challenges, your curiosities, your complaints about language. Fire off those emails to words@waywordradio.org or call us 1-877-929-9673. Thanks for listening. For A Way with Words, I’m Martha Barnette. Bye.