Pronunciation question -- quixotic

[Desdichado]

OK, the word quixotic is a pretty cool word, but I don't think I've ever actually heard it said. So, I looked it up today, and was quite surprised to find that every dictionary I checked has the word pronounced 'kwicksahtic'. Since the root of the word - the character Don Quixote - is not pronounced 'don kwicksote' unless you're a first cousin if Jed Clampett, but Don Key-hotey, or if you have an even stronger American accent, Donkey Hotey, I can't for the life of me figure out why the word quixotic isn't pronounced 'key-hote-ic.'

I'm tempted to just say those dictionaries must all be wrong, but then again, how could they be? Anyone have any insight here?

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

I'm tempted to just say those dictionaries must all be wrong, but then again, how could they be? Anyone have any insight here?

Quixote is a Spanish name.

Quixotic is a decidedly English construct. It has no Spanish pronunciation because it has no Spanish analog.

 

[devilish]

OK, the word quixotic is a pretty cool word, but I don't think I've ever actually heard it said. So, I looked it up today, and was quite surprised to find that every dictionary I checked has the word pronounced 'kwicksahtic'. Since the root of the word - the character Don Quixote - is not pronounced 'don kwicksote' unless you're a first cousin if Jed Clampett, but Don Key-hotey, or if you have an even stronger American accent, Donkey Hotey, I can't for the life of me figure out why the word quixotic isn't pronounced 'key-hote-ic.'

I'm tempted to just say those dictionaries must all be wrong, but then again, how could they be? Anyone have any insight here?

My guess is that while we pronounce Quixote in the Spanish pronunciation (as it's
a proper name), quixotic is a made-up english word that is pronounced in the
made-up english sense.

Like Celtic is pronounce "kel-tic" when used to describe the culture but
"Sel-tic" when used to describe the basketball team (which drives me nuts, btw!)

-D

[Edit] -- Argh -- curse you Wulf and your fast fingers!! Beat me to it.

 

[Henry]

I've heard it as "kiks-OT-ic" myself.

 

[Desdichado]

Quixote is a Spanish name.

Quixotic is a decidedly English construct. It has no Spanish pronunciation because it has no Spanish analog.

So? Other words that are based on foreign loanwords don't suddenly change their pronunciation drastically because they are nouns that are now rendered as adjectives, for example.

I'm trying to think of an example here, though... and failing... I'll come back to this.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

So? Other words that are based on foreign loanwords don't suddenly change their pronunciation drastically because they are nouns that are now rendered as adjectives, for example.

I'm trying to think of an example here, though... and failing... I'll come back to this.

I can't think of an example, either.

But the addition of the "-ic" suffix certainly Anglocizes it. (Anglocized by way of the Greek or Latin, I suppose, but still...)

 

[tarchon]

It's partly because it's a Latinized derivative. It's traditional to reduce the root to an Anglo-Latin pronunciation when you derive a Latinized adjective form, though the pattern is somewhat inconsistent. Another big factor is that it was coined in an era when Spanish pronunciation was not widely known in England, which you also hear in the title of Byron's "Don Juan" ("dahn jew-un").
"Kwiksotik" is what I've always heard, anyway.

(E.g. "Noachian", "Jurassic", "Confucian", "Caesarian")

 

[fusangite]

Generally, the English pronunciation is just the Spanish one with the Spanish 'x' sound (which sounds like the 'ch' in the German 'ach' or the Spanish 'j' ie. a voiceless velar fricative) replaced with an English 'h' sound. So, basically 'kee - hot - tick.'

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Generally, the English pronunciation is just the Spanish one with the Spanish 'x' sound (which sounds like the 'ch' in the German 'ach' or the Spanish 'j' ie. a voiceless velar fricative) replaced with an English 'h' sound. So, basically 'kee - hot - tick.'

I'd like to know what dictionary you saw that in.

 

[tarchon]

Generally, the English pronunciation is just the Spanish one with the Spanish 'x' sound (which sounds like the 'ch' in the German 'ach' or the Spanish 'j' ie. a voiceless velar fricative) replaced with an English 'h' sound. So, basically 'kee - hot - tick.'

Trust me on this - if you say "kee hot tick" people look at you like you just referred to a swimming pool as a "SEEment pond."