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LOH-pee-tahl or LOHS-pee-tahl?
Thanks! I have heard it both ways recently.
Thanks! I have heard it both ways recently.
The pronunciation of l'Hospital's name is debated, with common pronunciations being LOH-pee-tahl and LOHS-pee-tahl. The correct modern French spelling is l'Hôpital, which includes a circumflex accent over the 'o' to indicate the historical omission of the 's'. The Marquis de l'Hospital popularized the rule, originally discovered by Swiss mathematician Johann Bernoulli, who was his private tutor. Despite Bernoulli's discovery, l'Hospital received credit due to their agreement regarding publication rights.
PREREQUISITESStudents of mathematics, historians of science, linguists studying French pronunciation, and educators teaching calculus will benefit from this discussion.
l'Hospital's name is commonly seen spelled both "l'Hospital" and "l'Hôpital" (e.g., Maurer 1981, p. 426), the two being equivalent in French spelling.