I just came across the words and then I looked them both up in the dictionary app, which shows the word "mobile" pronounces as /'məʊbaɪl/, whereas the other word-"automobile", which ends with the same spelt "mobile" pronounces as /'ɔːtəməbiːl/? I'm not sure if this "mobile" word pronounces differently as shown in the app or they actually pronounce the same?
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They're pronounced differently as described. You'll notice that the noun "mobile" doesn't mean what "-mobile" means in the noun "automobile," like if "automobile" were really "auto mobile." Also, you'll find a lot of words that actually are forms of each other do change when adding a suffix or prefix, like "pathological" is pronounced "path-o-LO-gi-cal," whily "pathology" is pronounced "pa-THO-log-y," not "pa-tho-LO-gy."– Benjamin HarmanApr 23, 2021 at 4:33
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@BenjaminHarman - actually -mobile in automobile is derived from mobile (adjective). etymonline.com/word/automobile– user 66974Apr 23, 2021 at 5:17
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1@BenjaminHarman: The pathology-pathological variation is because of English stress patterns.– Decapitated SoulApr 23, 2021 at 10:06
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In the US I've always heard the noun, referring to a piece of art dangling from strings, pronounced the same as the ending of automobile.– Hot LicksApr 23, 2021 at 11:54
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In American English the last syllable of both is identical /bil/, but the next-to-last (i.e, first) syllable in mobile is stressed, and the vowel is tense back rounded /o/, while the next-to-last syllable in automobile is unstressed, and the vowel is lax central unrounded /ə/. Nobody would ever confuse them.– John LawlerApr 23, 2021 at 16:02
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1 Answer
Because mobile entered English in the 15th century and underwent the Great Vowel Shift (GVS). The GVS was a series of changes in the pronunciation of English vowels that took place between 1400 and 1700 [Wikipedia]. It must have been pronounced with /iː/ and the GVS changed the vowel /iː/ to /aɪ/ (also see bite, which was pronounced the same as beat before the GVS).
Automobile on the other hand entered English after the GVS and preserved its original vowel.
answered Apr 23, 2021 at 6:52
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1For some people it went through the GVS; for others it's a spelling pronunciation. It's been years since I heard any English speaker pronounce mobile as /mobayl/. If I heard it now, I would expect it to refer to a named object or event, with the very special pronunciation preserved in the name, in context. Apr 23, 2021 at 16:32