Answer stupid English question!?!

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Is the i in mimosa a short vowel or a long?

How do you pronounce Arbor Vitae? I pronounce it with the Latinate ending a, as in Alumnae, another says it is a long e sound. That pronunciation grates on my ears but we don't know who is right.

Can any of you brilliant people end this argument once and for all?

 

[KellyGwen]

Ok, here is my guess...

I think the I in mimiosa is a short vowel since a "long i" would sound like "eye"

As for Arbor Vitae... I think you say it "Ar-bore Veet-aay"

But, I've been out of school for a while...

 

[tomstephens]

mimosa is a short i. so almost memosa.

Vitae is long a not long e

 

[EllyMae]

Well, it can also really depend on where you live as to how you will here things pronounced. I pronounce mimosa with a short "i" sound.
As for the arbor vitae...never have really know for sure. But have heard it pronounced with the "i" being long and the "ae" pronounced with an "uh". But I'm in the south so....?

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

I just checked the Merriam audible and it agrees with me on the mimosa but it says abor v eye tee which is not like I have ever heard it pronounced..... What is right????

 

[Windy Ridge]

Mimosa : short I

Arborvitae : one word, long E

 

[redkan]

Hmm... not sure if it's correct or not but I pronounce the i in mimosa the same as the i in "itch". I'm quite sure that the ae i arbor vitae is pronounced ee, long I, long E. LOL, if you google it I'm sure there's a website that will answer it as well.

 

[pkeeler]

Neither word is English in origin

I've always heard mimosa with a short I, both the drink and the tree.

Vitae is latin but it is always pronounced vitee. And the two words are pronounced together, arborvitee.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

I'm suddenly thirsty...

 

[JennsPeeps]

Webster.com is so great for pronunciations! http://www.merriam-webster.com

The thing about Latin (arborvitae) is that nobody is really certain how the Romans pronounced it. The same Latin word will be pronounced differently, and considered correct by each, by a German, an Indian, a Greek, an Italian, an Englishman, and an American.

Having studied Latin for fun in college (language dork, OK, I get it), I would pronounce it ar-boor-vee-tay, given that we pronounce alunnae, antennae, and "curriculum vitae" (vee-tay), all Latin words, with a long A at the end. In French the vowel "i" is commonly pronounced as a long "e".