Friday, November 14, 2014

When did processes become pross-ess-eez?

When did it become acceptable to pronounce the word processes as PROSS-ESS-EEZ? One hears it all the time nowadays, even from (in fact, especially from) the most educated speakers, especially scientists, economists, politicians, etc. These people would never say RE-CESS-EEZ, PRIN-CESS-EEZ or CON-GRESS-EEZ. HOUS-EEZ, maybe. Why then PROSS-ESS-EEZ?
It appears to be a modern example of Greco-Latinization, similar to the 17th Century penchant for classical language, when a silent “b” was added to the spelling of words like debt and doubt, supposedly out of deference to their Latin roots (debitum and dubitare respectively). In the same way, and with much the same reasoning, around this time island gained its silent “s”, scissors its “c”, anchor, school and herb their “h”, people its “o” and victuals gained both a “c” and a “u”, thus unnecessarily giving English some of its more eccentric and quirky spellings.
Although if challenged I would think that most of the offenders would claim that the -EEZ pronunciation makes the word easier to pronounce, I assume the real (or perhaps subconscious) intention is for people to sound somehow more intellectual or scientific. I find it difficult to believe that their tongues trip over words like compresses and biases.
I don't necessarily consider myself among the language purists (or, in Stephen Pinker's list of synonyms in his excellent book "The Sense of Style": "sticklers, pedants, peevers, snobs, snoots, nit-pickers, traditionalists, language police, usage nannies, grammar Nazis and the Gotcha! Gang"). I understand that language is a fluid and protean entity, and I don't object to the introduction of new words and word usages. But I do object to changes resulting from errors and ignorance.
In the same way as words like alternate, momentarily, and several other much abused words and phrases considered in more detail elsewhere in this blog, have become "acceptable" uses in recent years, PROSS-ESS-EEZ is a practice born of error and should be stamped out.
In my humble opinion that is...

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