Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: "Tubist" or "Tubaist"?


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Posted by Rick Denney on November 19, 2001 at 13:47:45:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: "Tubist" or "Tubaist"? posted by js on November 18, 2001 at 22:45:56:

Joe, you still haven't told me how you can say "tubaist" and pronounce it without sounding like a stand-up comic. If you say it naturally, it comes out "tubest", with the "e" being the upside-down "e" in the dictionary that denotes no clear vowell sound. English pronunciation puts no emphasis on the proper pronunciation of the vowells in non-stressed syllables. So, if you say it naturally, it ends up sounding the same as the word you say nobody understands. If we were speaking, say, Spanish, all the vowells would be properly pronounced even if not stressed, and tubist would be "tubeest" and tubaist would be "tuba-eest", neither of which is how you or I pronounce it.

As I said on TubaEuph, "tubist" is more consistent with general usage with other orchestral instruments, though there is no rule that either enforces or rejects that usage. Therefore, that's what I use in writing when I must use one or the other (which is rare).

But from a practical standpoint, the average person on the street will understand neither term when pronounced by a person not obviously trying to show off their diction. That's I why I call myself a "tuba player" when I'm speaking.

Rick "not an iconoclast" Denney


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