Val - vale - valet - valete

A group of words starting val-, some with similar sounds, can confuse spellcheckers. It includes two pairs of homographs, vale and the proper noun val.

• The proper noun Val is either
  • an element in place names in areas where French and Italian are spoken, such as the region of Italy Val d'Aosta and the French ski resort Val-d'Isère. It is not uncommon in francophone Canada. Val is a shorter form of valle (Italian) or vallée (French), which are both near-homophones of English 'valley', with which they are cognate; or
  • an informal shortening of a forename in English, usually Valerie or Valentine. It is used by both males and females.
• Valley (IPA: /'væ lɪ/) is shortened in English to vale - a monosyllable, which rhymes with 'rail' and 'sale'.
• This has a homograph vale in Latin - still sometimes to be seen. It is pronounced with two syllables, and is thus essentially a homophone of valley - although purists who use the traditional Pronunciation of Classical Latin will pronounce the 'v-' like a modern English 'w-' (IPA: /'wɑːlɪ or 'wɑːleɪ/). This is the singular imperative of the verb valēre, 'to be well'. It was used as the standard phrase on parting, 'Be well!' - equivalent to the English 'Farewell!'. The plural is valēte. You may like to see further at valediction.
• A word that, for some speakers, is a third homophone of 'valley' and valle/vallée is valet, 'manservant', or 'personal attendant': 'a gentleman's gentleman'. This word, which is French in origin, is traditionally pronounced in English as an Englishman with no French would read it: 'VAL-it', (IPA: /'væ lɪt/). There is a modern habit, perhaps more common in American English, of realizing the word in a way felt to be more French - as the near-homophone of 'valley' (IPA: /'væ leɪ/). The traditional pronunciation makes the forms of the verb easier to produce in English: 'valeting services', e.g. for cars, is easier to say if the '-t-' is realized.
  • In French, the card in a standard pack of cards which is called 'Jack' or 'Knave' in English (the least valuable of the Court cards) is called the valet.
  • In English, some special meanings have come into use recently:
    • In horse-racing, a jockey's valet looks after kit, ensures that the rider is wearing the correct colours for the correct race and so on, as well as grooming riding boots, saddles and so on.
    • In American professional wrestling, a valet is (unusually) a female who accompanies a male to a performance in the ring.
    • In some places of entertainment, a valet will park patrons' cars for them.