Coadjutor curiosity

Posted on 23 May 2006 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

While I am pondering the subject, here is a super informal poll:

How do you pronounce “coadjutor”?

Do you say A) “coádjutor” or B) "coadjútor"?

I say B) "coadjútor".

You?

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15 Comments

  1. gallanosa says:
    23 May 2006 at 1:26 AM

    Well, Traupman’s New College Latin & English Dictionary lists adjūtor, -ōris. Since the penult is long by nature, the accent must fall on that syllable. So in Latin, it should be coadjútor.

    All that said, I have to admit that in English, I do say coádjutor. :)

  2. Andrew says:
    23 May 2006 at 2:03 AM

    I don’t know about all these rules – the short and the long syllables – it’s kind of like which is first the egg or a chicken:

    how do you know if the syllable is accented?: because it is long.
    how do you know if it is long?: because it is accented.

    Excuuuse meeeeee! I never understood that. I know that some people draw little lines and hooks and dots all over the place, and it’s supposed to work very neatly, but it’s a mystery to me. I’ll go with the “coadjuuuutor” but if someone said “coaaaadjutor” I woudn’t be highly offended. I might just think that he’s from the west side of town.

  3. Tim Ferguson says:
    23 May 2006 at 2:15 AM

    I say coADjutor. Or if he being particularly feisty co-agitator.

    And actually, I was raised on the west side of Saginaw.

  4. Tim Ferguson says:
    23 May 2006 at 2:15 AM

    oops – that should have been “if he’s being…”

    I guess I’m letting my west side roots show too much :)

  5. catholiclady says:
    23 May 2006 at 7:09 AM

    I say coADjutor also – and I was rasied east side of Saginaw (Pennsylvania)

  6. animadversor says:
    23 May 2006 at 7:22 AM

    I always accent the antepenult; this seems in keeping with the tendency of English words to have recessive accents. I don’t think we should allow the rules of Latin pronunciation to over-influence how we pronounce English words, even if they are derived from Latin ones. That would be slavish.

  7. Seamas O Dalaigh says:
    23 May 2006 at 10:37 AM

    Father,

    The former. Infact, I’ve not heard the latter.

    James Daly

  8. Henry Edwards says:
    23 May 2006 at 3:20 PM

    I say “coádjutor” in English, “coadjútor” in Latin. Just as I say aa-men in English, Ah-men in Latin.

  9. CaesarMagnus says:
    24 May 2006 at 6:48 AM

    We had a coadJUtor, but then the bishop decided he didn’t want to listen to
    Rome and retire early.
    The coadJUtor and the bishop did not like each other. The coadJUtor is now
    gone … thankfully. Wouldn’t have been a very good successor.

  10. Jeff says:
    24 May 2006 at 5:44 PM

    I think it depends on whether he has the right of suk-SESSION or the right of SUX-ession.

    But these accents shift around over time. I mean, look at Uranus. Or not.

  11. Jeff says:
    24 May 2006 at 5:48 PM

    Henry Edwards:

    You really say AY-men?

    Geez. Well, at least I think we should say AH-men when we sing that Gospel hymn at Catholic Mass. Just, you know, to tone things up a bit. ;-)

  12. CaesarMagnus says:
    24 May 2006 at 6:29 PM

    I sometimes say AY-men in English, but I sing or say in Latin, Ah-men.

  13. terry nelson says:
    4 June 2006 at 10:57 PM

    Isn’t it the real McCoy no matter how one pronounces it?

  14. tj says:
    5 June 2006 at 2:26 PM

    This talk about Saginaw and the real mccoy is confusing, but my pate’s been bald
    for a long time, so I really don’t know what’s going on. One
    question I do have is whether a vicar can ever become a pastoral person.

  15. clayton says:
    6 June 2006 at 7:56 AM

    So Tim, you’re talking Saginaw, as in… Saginaw near Detroit?

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