2021-02-11 ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด T – Tenant & tenet

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2021-02-11

ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด T – Tenant & tenet

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Dictionary.com

ออกเสียง Tenant = ‘TEN-uhnt’

ออกเสียง tenet = ‘TEN-it’ or British= “TEE-nit’

Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree

Tenant = occupant;

= one who holds the right to occupy a place:

The tenant of that apartment is a woman.

Not to be confused with:

tenet = principle, belief, doctrine;

= part of a body of doctrine:

tenet of a church

Dictionary.com

PRONUNCIATION NOTE FOR TENET

The word tenet, defined here,

should not be hard to pronounce.

For speakers of American English,

say the number ten, then add the pronoun it,

and you have tenet, pronounced (tenit).

Unfortunately, there is a similar-looking and similar-sounding word in English that is much more common

—the word tenant,

meaning someone who rents and occupiesan apartment, office, etc.

This word is pronounced (tenənt),

and its pronunciation is frequently used in error by people who intend to say tenet.

Because both words involve sequences of the same letters t and n

—both of which are pronounced with the tongue in the same place, touching the upper palate

—it is easy for

the extra n of the more common word tenant

to creep into the pronunciation of tenet.

With care, one can learn to pronounce these two wordsdifferently and appropriately.

Common Errors In English Usage Dictionary

Tenant & tenet

These two words come from the same Latin root, tenere, meaning “to hold” but they have very different meanings.

“Tenet” is the rarer of the two,

meaning a belief that a person holds:

“Avoiding pork is a tenet of the Muslim faith.”

In contrast,

the person leasing an apartment from you is yourtenant. (She holds the lease.)

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Tenets vs. Tenants

Thanks to its confusingly similar pronunciation,

tenant (“occupant, land-holder”) is sometimes erroneously used in place of tenet (“principle, doctrine”).

Consider this example:

One of the ancient tenants of the Buddist [sic] belief is, “He who sits still, wins” –Police, January/February 1968

You will probably never make the opposite mistake

(that is, substitute tenet for tenant),

but if you think you might,

remember that tenant and occupant both end in -ant.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Usage Notes

On 'Tenant' vs. 'Tenet'

Getting a hold on two similar words.

What to Know

A tenet is "a principleor belief generally held to be true.

Organizations from religions to fields of study

can have guiding "tenets" that hold them together as a group.

It is sometimes confused with tenant

which refers to the occupier or a landor building.

Remember that "tenant" and "occupant"

both end in "ant."

What is a Tenet?

The noun tenet is defined as “a principle, belief, or doctrine generally held to be true;

especially: one held in common by members of an organization, movement, or profession.”

Should you ever find yourself in doubt,

remember 'tenant' ends the same way as 'occupant.'

It's a basic tenet of public health that preventive care

—like getting a flu shot

—works best among a general population when more people are vaccinated, so fewer people get sick and spread the flu.
— Lisa Ward, in Pacific Standard, 17 Oct. 2018

A particular tenet of the recovery group Alcoholics Anonymous is that the label of “alcoholic” cannot be applied to a person from an external source. Put another way: only you can know (or admit) that you are an alcoholic.
— Sarah Rose Sharp, Hyperallergic, 2 Oct. 2018

The Trump administration has made its tough approach to Iran a central tenet of its foreign policy. President Trump withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal this year, and his top administration officials have excoriated the clerical government in Tehran at almost every opportunity.
— Gardiner Harris, The New York Times, 19 Sept. 2018

In Latin, tenet is the third person singular of the verb tenēre (“to hold”) and means “he/she/it holds.” It is thought that Latin writings from the 17^th century would use the form tenet to introduce opinions held by a particular church or sect.

Other nouns that derive from a 3rd-person singular form of a Latin word include habitat (“it inhabits”), deficit (“it is lacking”), and affidavit (“he/she has made a pledge”).

What is a Tenant?

It is perhaps due to the somewhat unfamiliar orthography of tenet that the word occasionally gets confused with tenant, the noun for an occupant or dweller of a land or tenement.

As a company, Microsoft is dismayed by the forcible separation of children from their families at the border. Family unification has been a fundamental tenant of American policy and law since the end of World War II.
— statement from Microsoft Corp. on CNBC.com, 18 June 2018

A basic tenant of financial planning is to have an allocation to both bonds and stocks because they tend to move in opposite directions.
— TheStreet.com, 10 Oct. 2018

While this kind of substitution turns up occasionally in written text, the reverse (substituting tenet where tenant is meant) almost never happens.

To keep them straight, usage experts suggest the mnemonic device that tenant ends in –ant just like the related word occupant.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

'Tenet'

The feel-good word of the past week,

at least for people who enjoy Christopher Nolan movies, was tenet.

Christopher Nolan unveiled the first look at “Tenet,” his international espionage action epic starring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson.
— Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 19 Dec. 2019

A tenet is “a principle, belief, or doctrine

generally held to be true.”

A tenant is “one who rents or leases a dwelling

(such as a house) from a landlord.

”We occasionally see these words confused;

if you would like a tool for distinguishing between them

simply try to remember that

tenants can have tenets,

but tenets cannot have tenants.