How To Say "Augustine"

You have heard it said, "The city is pronounced 'Saint Augustíne'and the saint is pronounced 'Agústin'." For once and all, I will here tell you which is better, with incontrovertible proofs provided.



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  1. Wow....you almost converted me...

    websters gives two pronunciations 'ȯ-gə-ˌstēn and ȯ-ˈgəs-tən
    'ȯ-gə-ˌstēn stresses the first syllable and has a long "teen" like Constantine
    ȯ-ˈgəs-tən stresses the second syllable and has the short "tin" like gelatin

    many three letter words ending with -ine seem to stress the penultimate syllable and have a long "teen"
    NECtarine, PHIListine, HIStame, MAGazine, GASoline

    For those claiming ȯ-ˈgəs-tən to be "correct" it is hard to find another -ine word that stresses the penultimate and has the short "tin"

    Yet, -ine words in english do not all rhyme.

    MEDicine - stresses the antepenultimate, but has a short "tin"
    and CLEMentine is pronounced by most people with a "TYNE"

    in "augustinian", "teen" becomes a "tin", though perhaps some brits pronounce it "augustEENian"

    the question shouldn't be "how is Augustine correctly pronounced" by WHY the TWO different pronunciations.

    (I've often wondered if ȯ-ˈgəs-tən was a Catholic reaction against what was perceived to be a "protestant pronunciation.)

    In the end, i'm going to continue to use ȯ-ˈgəs-tən, until I find a philologically satisfying reason to change.

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    1. Almost had you, eh? The argument from English is not that strong, but the argument from other languages I think is.

      With either, however, I believe there's enough ammunition to achieve my goal: to end the persecution the "teeners" have lavored under so long.

      Thanks for reading, father!

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