Pity the poor viola. Not only does this charming instrument have to play second fiddle to the violin, but also it's forced to endure the frequent mispronunciation of its name as "vy-OH-luh" instead of the correct "vee-OH-luh."

It's an understandable mistake. After all, "violet," "violence" and "violin" DO begin with a long "i" sound. Linguists have traced "violin" and "viola" to the same Middle English root word, "vyell" (VY-uhl), but have no idea why "viola" acquired its "ee" sound.

William Shakespeare compounded the confusion by giving a gender-bending character in "Twelfth Night" the name "Viola," which, by the way, Shakespeare scholars tell us is properly pronounced "VY-oh-luh," not "vy-OH-luh" or "vee-OH-luh."

But enough about sex and violins. All's well that ends well when you pronounce "viola" as "vee-OH-luh."

Another musical term that prompts pronunciation problems is "pianist." While most Brits pronounce it "PEE-uh-nist," the majority of red-blooded Americans regard this as a snooty affectation and say "pee-AN-ist."

Pronunciation guru Charles Harrington Elster observes that American professional musicians (including his own parents) wouldn't be caught dead stressing the first syllable.

This makes sense, given that the "pianist" derives directly from "piano," which, the last time I checked, is pronounced "pee-AN-oh, not "PEE-uh-noh."

But how do you pronounce "pianoforte," the Italian word from which "piano" is derived? "Pianoforte" is a shortening of the Italian phrase "gravicembalo col piano e forte" (literally, "harpsichord with soft and loud"), referring to the instrument's ability to be played at various volumes.

Dictionaries list three pronunciations: "pee-AN-oh-FORT-ee," "pee-AN-oh-FORT-ay" (consistent with the Italian pronunciation of "forte"), and "pee-AN-oh-FORT." The last pronunciation is the most common in the U.S., while the first prevails in the U.K.

Moving over to the woodwind section, is a flute player a "flutist" or "flautist"?

While the Brits flaunt "flautist," we Yanks prefer the common-sense "flutist," which, after all, is a much older word. It dates to the early 1600s, while "flautist" didn't appear until 1860.

In the U.S., "flautist," which is pronounced "FLAW-tist" or "FLOW-tist" ("FLOW" rhyming with "COW"), bears a whiff of pretension.

As usage expert Bryan Garner notes, the joke among American flute players is that only a second-rate flutist prefers to be called a "flautist."

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

Photo credit: at Pixabay