Actually, according to the definition that you used (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cabal), there are the following two pronunciations of "cabal": 1) \kə-ˈbäl\ 2) \kə-ˈbal\ The "a" phoneme of the "ˈbal" syllable of pronunciation 2 is actually defined to be identical to the first syllable "ˈba" of "balance" (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/balance); viz.: \ˈba-lən(t)s\ Further, the second syllable of "robot" (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/robot) in fact does contain the same alternative phoneme "ä" as in pronunciation 1 of "cabal" above; viz.: \ˈrō-ˌbät\ To sum: The phoneme represented by the letter "a" in the second syllable of "cabal" is either pronounced like the phoneme "a" represented by the same letter in the first syllable "ˈba" of "balance" (for pronunciation 2), or like the phoneme "ä" represented by the letter "o" in the second syllable "ˌbät" of "robot." Further, as Clifford Beshers has already mentioned, the second syllable of "cabal" is the one stressed. Benjamin L. Russell --- On Wed, 5/28/08, Clifford Beshers wrote:

As in the dictionary (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cabal), accent on the second syllable, which is pronounced like none of ball, balance, boll and bale. Roughly the same rhythm as kaboom.

On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 6:04 PM, Dan Piponi wrote:

...

In particular, which syllable gets the stress, and what are the lengths of the two vowels? Couldn't find anything in the FAQ (http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Cabal/FAQ). -- Dan _______________________________________________ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe _______________________________________________ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe

Not always. Just to be sure, I just checked the "Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online" (http://pewebdic2.cw.idm.fr/topbar.html), and it came up with the following pronunciation for "cabal": \kəˈbæl\ In fact, this was the only pronunciation listed, so the other pronunciation is not listed at all. Here, the "æ" phoneme is identical to the same phoneme in "balance" (http://pewebdic2.cw.idm.fr/display/display.html?unfolded=3542&ids=3542,3543,3549,3544,3545,3546,3547,3548,3551,3679,29605,44549,47636,48407): \ˈbæləns\ If you don't say it that way, you get kicked out of the Longman cabal. Further, I asked two professional translators/interpreters at work, and they both said that either pronunciation was correct. Which cabal did you mean? Benjamin L. Russell --- On Wed, 5/28/08, Clifford Beshers wrote:

From: Clifford Beshers Subject: Re: [Haskell-cafe] So how do people pronounce 'cabal' around here? To: haskell-cafe@haskell.org Date: Wednesday, May 28, 2008, 2:30 PM On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 10:27 PM, Benjamin L. Russell < dekudekuplex@yahoo.com> wrote:

...

Actually, according to the definition that you used ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cabal), there are the following two pronunciations of "cabal":

1) \kə-ˈbäl\ 2) \kə-ˈbal\

The "a" phoneme of the "ˈbal" syllable of pronunciation 2 is actually defined to be identical to the first syllable "ˈba" of "balance" ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/balance); viz.:

\ˈba-lən(t)s\

But if you say it that way, you get kicked out of the cabal._______________________________________________ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe

On 29 May 2008, at 10:44 AM, Dan Piponi wrote:

On Wed, May 28, 2008 at 6:38 PM, Richard A. O'Keefe wrote:

...

I've always pronounced it k'BAHL, but was surprised to find that the OED only countenances a short second syllable:

The reason I originally asked is that American, British and other dialects of English handle French loanwords differently.

It's not French: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabal jcc