It drives me nuts when people put non-standard pronunciation to words whose spelling clearly implies a standard pronunciation.
For instance, there’s the word “divisive.” It comes up a lot in speeches, and in the news these days. There are two ways I hear it pronounced. One of them appears to assume that since the word is based on the the root division, it should be pronounced to rhyme with “permissive.” The other appears to acknowledge that it’s based on the word divide, so it should rhyme with “incisive.” I am of the second school of thought.
Anyway if “rhymes-with permissive” was right, it would be spelled “divissive.”
“Division” and “divide” aren’t roots here, they and “divisive” are derivations from the same root.
No it wouldn’t. Do you misspell “divisible” on purpose? Or mispronounce it?
The “short I” pronunciation is less common, but it’s not wrong, and the spelling does not make a clear statement about the pronunciation – this is English, after all.
No, that is what I was going to post: I use both pronunciations. I guess it just depends on the context and my mood (or something) at that current time.
