i have yet another question. the term ‘forte’ has been giving me a headache. i had always pronounced it ‘for-tay’ until a year ago, when i heard that the correct way to pronounce it is ‘fort.’ i told my roommate this, and she says i’m wrong. she’s originally from france, and says it’s ‘for-tay.’ which is it???
The musical notation is pronounced for-tay and is from Italian.
The noun meaning “strength” or “a person’s strong point” is from French and was traditionally pronounced as one syllable in English, “fort”. The “wrong” two-syllable pronunciation has become so common that the OED lists it first, but the AHD lists it second. I am the only person I know who pronounces it as one syllable.
The noun in French is spelled fort, from the masculine adjective fort (“strong”). English for some reason spells it with a final -e, as if the noun were formed from the feminine adjective forte.
i agree with bibliophage. i pronounce the word forte as “fort” when refering to a person’s strength. i believe that “for-tay” refers to holding a musical note for an extended period of time (i’m sure another person will correct me on this). i am also the only person i know that says it as “fort”.
I like the etymology of this word. The strong part of a sword blade, where it’s thick near the hilt, is the forte. Guess what the weakest part on the end is called? The foible.
The musical notation “forte” or just “f” means loud.
mf - mezzo forte - medium loud
f - loud
ff - fortissimo - very loud
fff - fortississimo - very, very loud
etc.