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caliginous

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 4:32 am
by Pattie
I found this lovely word in Alan Hollinghurst's The Stranger's Child. How exciting it is to find a word with which one is unfamiliar!

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:25 pm
by Perry Lassiter
Dang! You made me go look it up to find it means dark, dim, or obscure. One ref added misty to the mix, as in a caliginous atmosphere. Couldn't discover whether the g is hard or soft, though.

caliginous

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:27 pm
by Audiendus
Couldn't discover whether the g is hard or soft, though.
It is soft (i.e. pronounced "j"). Latin-derived words (as this is) usually have soft g before e or i, whereas Germanic-derived words (such as get and give) have hard g.

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2011 2:24 pm
by Perry Lassiter
Why the ambiguity in Spanish? Gente vs gato?