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Posted inLetters

Letter to the editor: Habit wins out when pronouncing ‘Dirigo’

In the Feb. 17 AskME article, “How did Dirigo become the state’s motto?” (Page B1), the author claims that the word “Dirigo” is pronounced “DEER-i-go,” not “deer-EYE-go.” Says who? A 2,000-year-old linguist? We Mainers pronounce foreign words the way we want to: “Calais” is “Callus”; “Vienna” is “VYE-enna”; and “Woolwich” is, well, still under discussion. […]