# why do the British pronounce it "LEFTenant"?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-british-pronounce-it-leftenant/10504
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 16, 2000, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-british-pronounce-it-leftenant/10504 "2000-04-16T20:30:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@vanilla\_rice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla_rice)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2000, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-british-pronounce-it-leftenant/10504/1 "2000-04-16T20:30:00Z")
just wondering why the British (and Canadians) pronounce the word Lieutenant as “LEFTenant”
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### Author:  [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2000, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-british-pronounce-it-leftenant/10504/2 "2000-04-16T22:01:00Z")
Pronunciation preceded spelling.
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### Author:  [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2000, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-british-pronounce-it-leftenant/10504/3 "2000-04-16T22:16:00Z")
Cecil addessed this in passing in _More of the Straight Dope_, but that column doesn’t appear to be available online. Also, his only explanation was “Naturally, since the British cannot stand to pronounce anything the way it is spelled, they say _left_enant” which admittedly isn’t up to his usual comprehensive standards. (This came up in a long column about whether the British Royal Family had a last name)
Maybe some of the Teeming Millions will have more to offer on this topic.
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2000, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-british-pronounce-it-leftenant/10504/4 "2000-04-16T23:26:00Z")
The word comes from Old French “lieutenant”. In the middle ages, \*U[/] and _V_ were interchangeable (as in Latin), so that _may_ be where the _v_ in Middle English “levetenant” came from. An _F_ is only an unvoiced _V_, so it’s easy to see how the pronunciation evolved from that. Evidently someone somewhere along the line decided to frenchify the spelling to its original “lieutenant” but to keep the English pronunciation.
By the way, “lieutenant” derives from Latin _locum tenens_, “taking the place of”.
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### Author:  [@LordDenning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordDenning)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2000, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-british-pronounce-it-leftenant/10504/5 "2000-04-17T02:59:00Z")
Wouldn’t pronouncing the “ieu” as [ef] indicate a Greek influence?
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2000, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-british-pronounce-it-leftenant/10504/6 "2000-04-17T03:46:00Z")
is there much difference between “Leftenant” and “Cernol”? I assume you guys put in the unwritten “r” in Colonel?
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2000, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-british-pronounce-it-leftenant/10504/7 "2000-04-17T05:52:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Originally posted by jti:
> \*\*is there much difference between “Leftenant” and “Cernol”? I assume you guys put in the unwritten “r” in Colonel?
>
> \*\*
Yes, we Yanks stick an _r_ in. I was surprised to learn that the situation for “colonel” is very similar to that for “lieutenant.” Here’s the story:
The word was originally spelled “coronel” in both French and English. The spelling was later altered to relfect the Latin “columna” from which coronel / colonel is ultimately derived. The older English pronunciation was retained.
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### Author:  [@Beruang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beruang)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2000, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-british-pronounce-it-leftenant/10504/8 "2000-04-17T13:32:00Z")
[http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/?date=20000107](http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/?date=20000107)
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### Author:  [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2000, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-british-pronounce-it-leftenant/10504/9 "2000-04-17T13:47:00Z")
In Spanish lieutenant is “teniente” which is short for “lugar-teniente”, literally place tenant or holder. Colonel is “coronel”. Both are pronounced exactly as they are written as are all words in Castillian Spanish.