Here's a convoluted question: Do you pronounce "labyrinthine" (meaning

"maze-like, intricate") as "lab-uh-RINTH-in" or "lab-uh-RINTH-ine"?

In this case, go with "thin," especially if you're actually trying to squeeze through a labyrinth. And, by the way, the guardian of the original labyrinth in ancient Greek mythology, the Minotaur, is pronounced "MIN-uh-tor," not "MIN-uh-tow-ur." There's no "tower" in "Minotaur."

Now enter the labyrinth of pronunciation and slay these oft-mispronounced Minotaurs. And speaking of beasts, the answers and explanations below come from "The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations: The Complete Opinionated Guide for the Careful Speaker" by Charles Harrington Elster.

1. conch (marine mollusk) — A. KAHNCH or B. CONK

2. chimera (imaginary monster, illusion) — A. SHIM-mur-uh B. ky-MEER-uh

3. coupon (certificate, voucher) — A. KYOO-pahn or B. KOO-pahn

4. dais (raised platform) — A. DY-is or B. DAY-is

5. decathlon (10-event track and field competition) — A. dih-KATH-lahn or B. dih-KATH-ah-lon

6. deity (god) — A. DEE-ih-tee or B. DAY-ih-tee

7. detritus (debris, remnants) — A. DEH-trih-tus or B. dih-TRY-tus

8. devotee (loyal adherent) — A. dev-uh-TEE or B. dev-uh-TAY

Answers:

1. B. CONK Though many authorities now accept KAHNCH, the lineage of CONK in cultivated speech goes back more than 200 years.

2. B. ky-MEER-uh All other pronunciations, writes Elster, are "wild and fabulous inventions with no sound authority."

3. B. KOO-pahn "Neither analogy nor spelling justifies KYOO-pahn," writes Elster. "We do not say SYOOP for 'soup.'"

4. B. DAY-is Elster writes, "Those who say 'DAY-is' can point to every 20th-century authority to support their claim of propriety."

5. A. dih-KATH-lahn "Decathlon," "pentathlon" and "triathlon" have three syllables, not two.

6. A. DEE-ih-tee Elster surmises that DAY-ih-tee evolved because speakers erroneously modeled their pronunciations of the English "deity" after the Latin "deus" (god), pronounced DAY-uus.

7. B. dih-TRY-tus Elster suspects that the erroneous placement of the accent on the first syllable is due to a false analogy with "detriment."

8. A. dev-uh-TEE "Probably because of its Frenchified air," writes Elster, "dev-uh-TAY has risen from an infrequent variant to a respectable alternative."

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