John Ward wrote, regarding m�tre: >Pronunciation of the last e is optional.
It's very rare, and is thus not mentioned in all dictionaries. In saying how a word is pronounced, it's not customary to cite the rare in preference to the commonplace. Charles de Gaulle would have pronounced the final e (making it maitruh [ai as in hair]). When he made his infamous speech in Qu�bec, in the 1960s, he said, "Vive le Qu�bec libre" (Long live free Qu�bec), pronouncing it as "veevuh luh kaybec leeeebruh," rather than the more customary "veev luh kaybec leebr." I heard the speech on TV, by the way. His pronunciation was unusual enough to stick in my mind. Lester Pearson, who was Canada's Prime Minister at the time, immediately told de Gaulle to leave, as his statement could be seen as an incitement to separatist terrorists. Bill Potts, CMS Roseville, CA http://metric1.org [SI Navigator]
