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The word “colonel” is actually derived from the Italian word “colonello,” which was spelled and pronounced with an “r.” When the word was borrowed into English, the spelling was changed to reflect the French “coronel,” but the original Italian pronunciation with the “r” sound was retained. Over time, the pronunciation of the word in English evolved to its current form, “kernel,” while the spelling remained unchanged.
The word “colonel” is actually derived from the Italian word “colonello,” which was spelled and pronounced with an “r.” When the word was borrowed into English, the spelling was changed to reflect the French “coronel,” but the original Italian pronunciation with the “r” sound was retained. Over time, the pronunciation of the word in English evolved to its current form, “kernel,” while the spelling remained unchanged.
If you pronounce each syllable properly then say them faster and faster it doesn’t take long to understand how it stars to be pronounced ‘KERNAL’. What’s really going to blow your mind is that the rank Lieutenant in the British forces is pronounced ‘LEFT TENANT’.
If you pronounce each syllable properly then say them faster and faster it doesn’t take long to understand how it stars to be pronounced ‘KERNAL’. What’s really going to blow your mind is that the rank Lieutenant in the British forces is pronounced ‘LEFT TENANT’.
I always liked how Bill Bryson put it in *The Mother Tongue*:
>*Colonel* is perhaps the classic example of this orthographic waywardness. The word comes from the old French *coronelle*, which the French adapted from the Italian *colonello* (from which we get *colonnade*). For a century or more both spellings and pronunciations were commonly used, until finally with inimitable illogic we settled on the French pronunciation and Italian spelling.
I always liked how Bill Bryson put it in *The Mother Tongue*:
>*Colonel* is perhaps the classic example of this orthographic waywardness. The word comes from the old French *coronelle*, which the French adapted from the Italian *colonello* (from which we get *colonnade*). For a century or more both spellings and pronunciations were commonly used, until finally with inimitable illogic we settled on the French pronunciation and Italian spelling.
If this interests you, there is a great book called *The Mother Tongue* with etymological anecdotes on many words like “colonel”
If this interests you, there is a great book called *The Mother Tongue* with etymological anecdotes on many words like “colonel”
In a similar question: Why is a “quartermaster” in the Army a supply person but in the Navy does navigation?
In a similar question: Why is a “quartermaster” in the Army a supply person but in the Navy does navigation?
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