On 20-2-2009 11:00, Vincent Le Chevalier wrote:
> andrel a écrit :
>> On 20-2-2009 10:48, Invisible wrote:
>>> Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>>>>> Clique -- A close-knit, usually exclusionary, group.
>>>>
>>>> Oh. Right.
>>>>
>>>> How the heck do you pronounce that?
>>>
>>> Wikipedia claims it's /'kliːk/ (i.e, "kleek"). Obviously Wikipedia is 
>>> never wrong.
>>
>> Is that the standard English pronunciation or the standard French, or 
>> that by Englishmen who tries to imitate the French?
> 
> In French the i is not really longer than average, the pronunciation is 
> /klik/.
> 
Yes, but would an Englishman know?

BTW there is the Dutch word 'kliek' pronounced as the english equivalent 
and meaning the same. I assume they have the same origin. Might it be 
the case that when French was still the lingua franca that the 
pronunciation was somewhat different? I know that Dutch vowels drifted a 
bit. Actually they still do.

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