Quote:
Originally Posted by haertig
Our pronunciation of the word also supports the meaning we intend:
"al-ter-nāt history" doesn't make much sense.
But "al-ter-nĭt history" does.
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We alter the pronunciation in the same way in British English, but here (to the best of my knowledge, at least), when "alternate" is used in the latter way the meaning is "a choice from precisely two", whereas "alternative" is "a choice from many".
So this appears to be a difference between British and American English that I was previously unaware of, and I've learnt something new, which is always good
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