Cabinet pronunciation

The Raven.

Has anyone noticed the latest pronunciation of the term 'Cabinet' on RTE. All of a sudden newsreaders etc. are pronouncing it 'Cabineh' like the French. I don't know why people think that French pronunciations of commonly used English words sound better. I have always found this very pretentious, whether or not the term originated in France.

nomdeboardie

Yeah, this seems to ring a bell from some place in my subconscious - I might have thought I dreamed it if I just remembered on my own. Gibber. From Wikipedia: "In some European countries and in the institutions of the European Union, a cabinet (French pronunciation: [kabiˈne]) carries a different meaning; it refers to the private office of consultants and assistants working directly for a minister or senior executive." Might it have been one of those (I can't remember the context in the broadcast)?

efb

If its the Commissioner's cabinet, the French pronunciation is most correct.

I've never heard it used for the Irish Cabinet.

The Raven.

Wait until the cabinet reshuffle starts to happen in the Dail. The word will soon be bandied about a lot on RTE. I think Eileen Dunne pronounced it 'Cabineh' recently.

FlutterinBantam

You won't hear it outside of EU Commissioner cabinet circles.

The Raven.

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

You won't hear it outside of EU Commissioner cabinet circles.

Not so. Maybe that's where it started, but it has almost become official now in the Irish media. The latest to join the ranks of this Eurospeak is Marianne Finucane. The infection is spreading and there is no known cure :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:!!

Actually it sounds more like 'Cabinay'.

FlutterinBantam

The Raven. wrote: »

Not so. Maybe that's where it started, but it has almost become official now in the Irish media. The latest to join the ranks of this Eurospeak is Marianne Finucane. The infection is spreading and there is no known cure :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:!!

Actually it sounds more like 'Cabinay'.

What I meant is that references to 'cabinay' will be used only in European Commisioners cabinet context.


You will not hear it referred to in that way in an Irish cabinet or British cabinet context.

Pleeeease tell me Mr Raven that this has not permeated into and Irish or British cabinet context?

MathsManiac

I've heard Marianne Finnucane consistently use the French pronunciation with reference to EU (most recently when talking about de Burca's hissy fit) and regular pronunciation for Irish cabinet.

deman

I thought English and Irish were the 2 official languages of the country and not French.

bette

deman wrote: »

I thought English and Irish were the 2 official languages of the country and not French.

Tout a fait!

The Raven.

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

What I meant is that references to 'cabinay' will be used only in European Commisioners cabinet context.

You will not hear it referred to in that way in an Irish cabinet or British cabinet context.

Pleeeease tell me Mr Raven that this has not permeated into and Irish or British cabinet context?

You might be right on that. If so, apologies. I will have to check it out.

However, I still think it's ridiculous and pretentious.

The Raven.

MathsManiac wrote: »

I've heard Marianne Finnucane consistently use the French pronunciation with reference to EU (most recently when talking about de Burca's hissy fit) and regular pronunciation for Irish cabinet.

I wonder how many other EU countries actually pronounce it like the French 'Cabinay'. Then again, they probably have a different name for it in their own languages.

deman

The Raven. wrote: »

I wonder how many other EU countries actually pronounce it like the French 'Cabinay'. Then again, they probably have a different name for it in their own languages.

Well in Finnish it's kabinetti, with a hard pronounced T.

MathsManiac

If the presenters concerned believe that the meaning of the word as used in the EU Commissioners' context is qualitatively different from its normal meaning in Irish politics, and if there isn't an obvious corresponding English term for the European entity, then there's a reasonable case for using the French term, (particularly if that is the term commonly used in the corridors in Brussels and Strasbourg).

The Raven.

deman wrote: »

Well in Finnish it's kabinetti, with a hard pronounced T.

Thanks, deman. I went to the trouble of translating the term 'cabinet' into most of the relevant languages, but I have a nagging suspicion that these may refer to a cupboard, rather than a government 'cabinet'. I only speak English, Irish, French, and a few words in German and Italian. I would really appreciate it if someone could clarify this, as I used the Dictionary.com, and it didn't differentiate between the two meanings. This is what I found.

English: cabinet
Irish: cabinet
French: cabinet
German: kabinett
Italian: cabinet
Dutch: kabinet
Danish: cabinet
Norwegian: kabinett

Bulgarian: kabineti
Albanian: kabineti
Latvian: kabinets
Lithuanian: kabinets
Portuguese: gabinete
Spanish: gabinete
Romanian: cabinetul

Polish: Szafa
Swedish: skåp
Finnish: säilytin
Greek: υπουργικό
Belarusian: Кабінет
Hungarian: kabinetben
Macedonian: кабинет

Why did I do this, one might ask. Well, I figured that if I first found the translation, I could then discover the pronunciation of those that most resemble the English. Subsequently, as several of them are similar, why should the French take precedence in the pronunciation? Will this happen with other words also?

The Raven.

MathsManiac wrote: »

If the presenters concerned believe that the meaning of the word as used in the EU Commissioners' context is qualitatively different from its normal meaning in Irish politics, and if there isn't an obvious corresponding English term for the European entity, then there's a reasonable case for using the French term, (particularly if that is the term commonly used in the corridors in Brussels and Strasbourg).

Thanks, MathsManiac. I accept your logic, but I would be very surprised if the context is in fact qualitatively different in this instance. The term appears to mean the same as it does in Irish politics, but I could be wrong.

pickarooney

It could be a subtle reference to the Irish leadership being in the toilet.