This has always bothered me. And using Inkscape just reminded me of it. The example is "opaque" and "opacity". When saying "opaque" the "a" is said as a vowel. But when "opacity" is said the "a" is said as a consonant. Why is that? Why isn't the "a" in "opacity" also said as a vowel? Personally I think it sounds better that way. Am I forgetting something from elementary English class?

I think you might be forgetting something, lol. The letter "a" is always a vowel. It's impossible to pronounce it as a consonant, because it's just not a consonant.

"Opaque" is pronounced with (what was called when I learned to read and write....a long time ago!) a 'long a', or in other words, it sounds like itself. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/opaque In "opacity" the "a" is pronounced with a 'short a' which I have no idea how to explain with text. Sounds like the "a" in "yak". Here's that info: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/opacity

BUT since this forum exists only as text (and images) i.e. reading and writing, you can pronounce it however you like, and we'll never know the difference.

I'm trying to figure out how you are pronouncing the long a. Maybe it just has to do with linguistics and where you learned to speak - meaning what part of the country in which you learned how to speak? example: I'm a southerner, but from Va, so we have a little slower draw than from the northern folks, etc.
In opacity, I pronounce it like, Long O - pa (short a) - sit (long) E
In opaque, Long O, pa (long a), ck. (rhymes with Ocake).
I think it would be harder to pronounce opaque with a short a, though in my mind, the a is 'almost' pronounced the same way.

Sorry long "a" and short "a" is what I meant. I say opaque with a long "a" ("a" says itself). Now I personally always want to say opacity also with a long "a", because that's how you say opaque. And personally I think it sounds better. But of course the correct way to say it is with a short "a". Which brings me back to my original question, why aren't they both said with a long "a"?

briwayjones wrote:Which brings me back to my original question, why aren't they both said with a long "a"?

I don't know the answer to this question, but there's nothing unusual about opacity in this respect - shortening of a vowel before -ity is a normal occurrence, e.g., sanity (compared with sane), vanity (compared with vain), obscenity (compared with obscene), profanity (compared with profane), audacity (compared with audacious), etc.

Which brings me back to my original question, why aren't they both said with a long "a"?

I guess it's just the rules of pronunciation. But as I learned in school, the rules of pronunciation are not hard and fast. I can't think of any of the rules I learned, that doesn't have an exception, lol.

I think the e on the end of opaque dictates the long a sound. And I think because the a in opacity falls between 2 consonants, it indicates it should be pronounced with the short a. Not always is a vowel between 2 consonants pronounced with the short vowel sound. But usually it is.

Of course these rules I learned are for American English. I imagine that British English has some different rules.

For some words, there is more than one way to pronounce it. But according the info at the links I provided, there is only one way to pronounce these words. I think sometimes word pronunciation is more related to the word origin than the rules of pronunciation.

And that's all I know about it, lol

Oops, hi sas, you posted while I was typing. I didn't think about the 'ity', but that sounds like a reasonable explanation

I guess it's just one of those things. One of those things I've forgotten about. English was never my forte' anyway.

Don’t really why such thing is needed, to make the pronunciation good in hearing, never mind. The word “Opaque” contains diphthong or gliding vowel; it’s like a+e in a.