| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
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7. Pronunciation Challenges: Confusions and Controversy
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| § 56. debacle |
Although this borrowing from French has shed its accent marks and shifted its meaning since entering English nearly 200 years ago, it has managed for the most part to hang on to an original pronunciation. Most people continue to pronounce this word (d -bä´k l), or often (d -bä´kl), reflecting even more closely the French spelling débâcle. In American English the pronunciations (d-b k´l) and (d-bk´l) are also acceptable. Recent evidence suggests that the pronunciation (d b´-kl), with stress on the first syllable, is becoming more common, but it is not yet widely accepted. | 1 |
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| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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