I love my subscription to Southern Living. It’s full of the things that interest me: good food, gardening, travel, history … and it’s just the right mix. But I was a little surprised the other morning when I got to Rick Bragg’s piece—always on the last page—about Pat Conroy’s passing. “An homage to a Southern literary giant,” ran the sub-headline.

Wait—what? Haven’t we just talked about that? (Yes, we have.) The gist is pronunciation of the word: if it begins with a vowel sound, we use an (an owl, an honor), if it’s a consonant sound, we use a (a bell, a historic event). So homage takes an a.

Because it’s pronounced HOM-ij. (At least, that’s the way I pronounce it. Read on, friends.)

I can see you squinting at me over there, so let’s go to the dictionary. Here’s what Merriam-Webster has to say:

ho·mage noun (plural –s)
1a : a feudal solemn public ceremony by which in return for a fief (as a tenancy of land) a man acknowledges himself the man or vassal of a lord and recognizes the rights and duties inherent in this relationship — compare commendation 4, fealty 1, liege
b : the relationship between a feudal lord and his man
c : an act done or payment made in meeting the obligations of vassalage

2: a body of persons bound under feudal law by homage; specifically : the body of tenants attending a manorial court or those acting as jury

3a : a reverential regard : respect, deference
<the homage that matter pays to spirit — Clive Bell>
especially : respect shown by external action : obeisance
<then the homage of … peers; and again the air was lively with the trumpets and drums — Hector Bolitho>

b : flattering attention : tribute
<turned to look at the young woman … and permitted himself the homage of a smile — Guy McCrone>
<the present pamphlet is a modest … homage to one of the leading linguists of our times — André Martinet>

Origin of HOMAGE
Middle English, from Old French omage, hommage, from om, omme, homme man, vassal (from Latin homin-, homo man) + -age …

First Known Use: 14th century (sense 1a)

And when you click on the “listen” icon, it’s clear: HOM-ij.

Were you surprised? Did you think the word homage is pronounced oh-MAZH? A lot of folks do. After all, our English word homage—particularly in the sense of the first definition, to pay homage—comes from the French hommage, which, according to my Random House French-English Dictionary, means “homage, tribute, respects, regards.”

I grew up with the HOM-ij pronunciation. But some dictionaries offer an alternate: OM-ij … without the little huff of H at the beginning. This could well be what Southern Living intended, then: an OM-ij to Mr. Conroy.

But I wonder.

Ben Zimmer, the New York Times’s resident linguist, has a little more on this conundrum:

The shifting status of homage is further muddied by the modish French-influenced version, oh-MAZH. Strictly speaking, that pronunciation ought to be limited to artistic contexts where the French word hommage has been reintroduced into English as a term for a work that respectfully emulates that of another artist. Something similar happened with the word auteur, which cinephiles borrowed from French to refer to directors with distinctive styles, even though the word had already entered the lexicon centuries ago as author.

The oh-MAZH pronunciation is gaining a foothold beyond the arts world, and for some that’s a cause for alarm. In his book “The Accidents of Style,” Charles Harrington Elster calls this a “preposterous de-Anglicization” that is “becoming fashionable among the literati.” Elster had previously complained that good old HOM-ij was losing out to OM-ij “in havens for the better-educated like National Public Radio,” and for defenders of the “h” pronunciation oh-MAZH just adds insult to injury.

As you know, language isn’t static; like grammar usage, it morphs, expanding and shrinking to suit the needs of users. For now, though, in English, homage is a word with the accent on the first syllable; Zimmer favors HOM-ij, as I do. I’ll go along with French pronunciation (oh-MAZH) when French spelling (hommage) is used or intended. (Note that French pronunciation here doesn’t indicate a different meaning; see Merriam-Webster’s sense 3a and 3b above, which clearly covers it. The folks at Grammarphobia think it’s a bit of an affectation, and honestly, I can’t disagree. I also enjoyed the Times’s coverage of Rufus Wainwright’s “a homage to a homage.”)

So I’ll ask again: How do you think homage is pronounced? Do you pronounce it differently in different contexts? How did your parents pronounce it? Let me know in the comments.

Tweet: How do you think homage is pronounced?
Tweet: Are you surprised? Do you think the word homage is pronounced oh-MAZH?
Tweet: I’ll use French pronuciation (oh-MAZH) when French spelling (hommage) is used.

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