accent - Pronunciation of "lib"


I've been a computer programmer for many years, and recently my father has been learning computer programming. Programmers often times will use a folder called "lib."


Not a native English speaker, my father pronounced "lib" like *lib*eria - short for "library."


When I corrected him and told him it's pronounced "lib" like *li*t, he asked why if "lib" is supposed to be short for "library."


I couldn't think of an answer why. I thought of other words such as



  • "pup", short for "puppy" is pronounced like the first part of puppy

  • "mic", short for "microphone" is pronounced like the first part of microphone


Why is "lib" not pronounced like the first part of library?



Answer



Pronunciations of shortened forms and derived forms don't depend on those of originals. For instance, pronunciation ~ pronounce, professor ~ prof, library ~ lib, microphone ~ mic.


Trisyllabic laxing and precluster shortening should have shortened the first vowel in library; but it has not happened. That has to do with these: trisyllabic laxing does not apply to non-derived forms (Kiparsky's explanation); precluster shortening treats clusters like pr, br, etc as a single consonant. That's why we have historically long vowels in apron, April, acre (vs. Akron, OH), libra, maple (vs. apple). In the latter set, you can see ME open syllable lengthening as well.


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