Tell me more ×
English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 8 down vote favorite
2

Shakespeare calls for hautboys. How did he pronounce the word, more than 500 years after Hastings (think of it!)? ohBWHA? ohBOYZ? Or what?

share|improve this question
See: merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hautboy or thefreedictionary.com/hautboy for pronunciation with audio – aedia λ Jul 25 '11 at 3:32
1  
The hautbois was a 17th century invention, probably in France. Since Shakespeare only used the word in stage directions, we cannot be sure how he pronounced it (unless from Coriolanus V4, you see sackbuts). – Henry Jul 25 '11 at 4:08
3  
Probably more "ohBWHAz", which is the French pronunciation with an extra "z" for plural (the singular is hautboy) and would explain the later phonetic spelling "oboe". The OED has all these historical spellings: "Forms: 6 hautboi, halboie, hawboy, (howbowe), 6–7 hoeboy, 6–9 hautbois, hoboy, 7– hautboy, (6–7 ho-, how-, haut-, haugh(t)-, hoa-, hout-, 7 hault-, heaut-, -boie, -bois, -boy(e, hoybuck, hobo)." – Alain Pannetier Φ Jul 25 '11 at 6:06
@Alain Pannetier: +1 for mentioning the modern form "oboe". I think a problem with asking for historical pronunciation is that it's hard to be sure – simchona♦ Jul 25 '11 at 6:25
@simchona, ;-) this is why I just added this as a comment. Also note that the British English and the American English seem to differ. Merriam-Webster clearly pronounce it "-boy" whereas English sources have /ˈoʊboʊ/. – Alain Pannetier Φ Jul 25 '11 at 6:35
show 2 more comments

2 Answers

up vote 6 down vote

/ˈəʊbɔɪ/ (oh + boy)

I have no direct information, but let's reason this out. The most modern pronunciation, as recorded in current British dictionaries, is /ˈəʊbɔɪ/ (hoe + boy), with the first syllabe being the same as that of oboe (/ˈəʊbəʊ/), apart from the initial h. This matches the pronunciation of other words or expressions from French beginning with haut: haut monde, haute couture, hauteur, … It actually matches the French (and Middle French) pronunciation of haut.

The second syllable, which sounds like boy, is also quite close to how Middle French boy sounded like (and very unlike the Modern French bois, /bwɑ/, like in bwana).

Now, would it be pronunced the same in Shakespearean times? Given that it came from Middle French, and in its most modern form still sounds like Middle French, I don't think it evolved in-between (and then went back to the French-like pronunciation). Also, the hits I could find for words of Middle French origin in Pronouncing Shakespeare's words: a guide from A to Zounds (like this hit) all seem to indicate pronunciations rather close to the Middle French.

Furthermore, etymonline says of hautboy that it is “frequently nativized as hoboy”. It seems to me that this support the pronunciation I put forth above.

share|improve this answer
2  
+1, Ok for pronouncing the final "y" /ɪ/ (like in "roy", still present in royal, royaume). Following a suggestion from a (now deleted) comment I looked into the original spellings used by Shakespeare himself as visible in the earliest editions and the result is that the hoboy (sing.) and hoboyes (plur.) spellings are ubiquitous. Could you possibly point at some material about how French shifted from /ɔɪ/ to /wɑ/? – Alain Pannetier Φ Jul 27 '11 at 16:40
@Alain: the only reference I can offer right now is a shorter on Middle French, written in (Modern) French. It says the pronunciation shifted in the 13th and 14th centuries. – F'x Jul 27 '11 at 17:55
1  
+1 Nice answer. Being extremely finicky, the Wikipedia page on the Great Vowel Shift says that the vowel today pronounced /əʊ/ was pronounced /oː/ in Shakespeare's time, so /ˈoːbɔɪ/ (still oh + boy, but Shakespeare's pronunciation of oh). – Peter Shor Jul 27 '11 at 18:49
@Peter: actually, this is a very good remark. I'll try to refine my answer accordingly! – F'x Jul 27 '11 at 19:16
up vote -3 down vote

Depending on whether you're pronouncing it the US English or British English way, it looks like this word may be pronounced any of the following ways:

  1. /hoʊtˈbɔɪ/ (ie. with the leading 'h' sound and pronouncing the 't')
  2. /hoʊˈbɔɪ/ (ie. with the leading 'h' sound)
  3. /oʊˈbɔɪ/ (ie. without the leading 'h' sound)

For the record, pronunciation #3 is the closest of the three in pronouncing the 'haut' part of the word the same way as the French do ('haut' comes from the French 'haut', meaning 'high').

Shakespeare is obviously more likely to have pronounced it the (modern) British way; either #2 or #3.

share|improve this answer
1  
The question is about Shakespearean English. There was no "U.S. English" in the Bard's time, and the term itself as spelled is now archaic: English-speakers today use the term oboe and British and American speakers alike pronounce it ˈōbō. – Robusto Jul 25 '11 at 9:49
It's still all useful context. I've added how Shakespeare is most likely to have pronounced it. – Jez Jul 25 '11 at 9:51
1  
How can you know that? It is certainly not obvious. Do you have a citation for your assertion? – Robusto Jul 25 '11 at 9:56
He was English. – Jez Jul 25 '11 at 10:01
That is no proof of the pronunciation of the time. In fact, you offer no evidence for any part of this answer. – Robusto Jul 25 '11 at 10:16

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.