Difference between revisions of "Swath - swathe"
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**'''swath''' has the vowel of 'got' and 'odd', {{IPA|ɒ}} or that of 'north' and 'awe',/ɔ:/ (these are the British pronunciations given in ''[[OED]]'' 1989, which treats the pronunciations of both spellings the same). | **'''swath''' has the vowel of 'got' and 'odd', {{IPA|ɒ}} or that of 'north' and 'awe',/ɔ:/ (these are the British pronunciations given in ''[[OED]]'' 1989, which treats the pronunciations of both spellings the same). | ||
**'''swathe''' has the vowel of 'say' and 'day', {{IPA|eɪ}}. | **'''swathe''' has the vowel of 'say' and 'day', {{IPA|eɪ}}. | ||
| − | *The word, howe5ver spelled or pronounced, means [[literal]]ly 'a row [of wheat or hay, etc] left by one sweep] of a scythe [in hand-mowing]'. | + | *The word, howe5ver spelled or pronounced, means [[literal]]ly 'a row [of wheat or hay, etc] left by one sweep] of a scythe [in hand-mowing]'. It has been much extended in [[figurative]] meanings: some in a visual comparison, such as the '''swathes''' of dead troops 'mown down' by machine-guns, or the strips of damaged buildings left by bombing; or more [[metaphor]]ically 'an area of confusion or damage [in any field]', such as 'the blizzard left a '''swath''' of immobilized vehicles across the city'; |
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| + | "a large part of something that includes several different things:" ([[https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/swathe| ''Cambridge Dictionary'', 2021]] | ||
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*A second [[homograph] '''swathe''' | *A second [[homograph] '''swathe''' | ||
Revision as of 16:13, 1 March 2021
The spellings swath and swathe are interchangeable in writing.
- 'OED notes "Evidence is not available for determining the date of the appearance of the form with a long vowel typically represented by the spelling swathe [[[IPA]]: /sweɪð/], since in the early periods swathe , swathes , are phonetically ambiguous; in modern local use, swathe is characteristic of the northern counties; its use in literature has probably been furthered by association with [the second meaning of swathe (below)]." LPD distinguishes between the pronunciations:
- The word, howe5ver spelled or pronounced, means literally 'a row [of wheat or hay, etc] left by one sweep] of a scythe [in hand-mowing]'. It has been much extended in figurative meanings: some in a visual comparison, such as the swathes of dead troops 'mown down' by machine-guns, or the strips of damaged buildings left by bombing; or more metaphorically 'an area of confusion or damage [in any field]', such as 'the blizzard left a swath of immobilized vehicles across the city';
"a large part of something that includes several different things:" ([Cambridge Dictionary, 2021]
- A second [[homograph] swathe
