So...recently on Twitter someone was asking about the pronunciation of a word we knitters, spinners and dyers use all the time. Skein. Seems obvious but people aren't sure, or at least my Twitter feed wasn't. Like vein or like seen?
The Oxford dictionary [1] gives us:
skein Pronunciation: /skeɪn/
Definition of skein: noun
Now I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly au fait with the special letters used for pronunciation, so some other online dictionaries handily give us audio files to help (what did we do before t'internet?) and every single one I checked pronouced it skein to rhyme with vein.
There is clearly a difference of opinion among woolly types. Recently I've heard several knitters and also several influential people within the industry mispronouncing it. How has this come about? One theory put to me was the overwhelming need to rhyme the name of the popular (and entirely wonderful) yarn dyer Skein Queen but can that be the only reason? Is it that people do their shopping/chatting about wool online rather than face to face and so never hear it spoken? Is it a word that the under 40s will have met at school? I'm not convinced that the changes in formal English tuition and decreased uptake of foreign languages have been a good thing.
Looking at the Oxford Dictionary entry again, we see the origin of the word described:
Origin:
Middle English: shortening of Old French escaigne, of unknown origin
I still miss the late Miss Grugeon, who was actually an American. I don't know, but I strongly suspect she may have also been a knitter. Please, for the repose of Miss Grugeon's soul, pronounce it correctly and spread the word among the misinformed.
[1] "skein". Oxford Dictionaries. April 2010. Oxford Dictionaries. April 2010. Oxford University Press. 02 September 2012.
There is clearly a difference of opinion among woolly types. Recently I've heard several knitters and also several influential people within the industry mispronouncing it. How has this come about? One theory put to me was the overwhelming need to rhyme the name of the popular (and entirely wonderful) yarn dyer Skein Queen but can that be the only reason? Is it that people do their shopping/chatting about wool online rather than face to face and so never hear it spoken? Is it a word that the under 40s will have met at school? I'm not convinced that the changes in formal English tuition and decreased uptake of foreign languages have been a good thing.
Looking at the Oxford Dictionary entry again, we see the origin of the word described:
Origin:
Middle English: shortening of Old French escaigne, of unknown origin
Those of us who studied French can take a stab at the 'ai' diphthong and come up with something far closer to 'ei' as in 'vein' than 'ee' as in 'seen'. For me, this settles the matter. It's skein. Sk-ay-n.
Those of us who had the benefit of a wonderful, enthusiastic and entirely traditional English teacher would also have the benefit of a lovely rhyme originally intended to help with spelling, but also illustrative here:
'i' before 'e', except after 'c'...or when sounded like 'a' as in neighbour and weigh"
I'll share another gem of hers; never fail in the spelling of necessary if you remember this maxim:
Never eat cakes eat salad sandwiches and remain young.
I still miss the late Miss Grugeon, who was actually an American. I don't know, but I strongly suspect she may have also been a knitter. Please, for the repose of Miss Grugeon's soul, pronounce it correctly and spread the word among the misinformed.
[1] "skein". Oxford Dictionaries. April 2010. Oxford Dictionaries. April 2010. Oxford University Press. 02 September 2012
