Crevasse - crevice
From Hull AWE
Revision as of 11:32, 15 August 2012 by PeterWilson (Talk | contribs)
Don't confuse crevasse and crevice - although they share an etymology and broad meanings. The essential difference is one of scale.
- A crevasse is the larger of the two. It is applied principally to
- the great cracks in glaciers, etc, down which climbers may fall, often for considerable distances. The word was taken by nineteenth century alpinists (~ climbers) exploring the Alps in francophone Switzerland.
- In America, it was applied (from the French spoken in Louisiana) to the cracks in the banks or levees of large rivers like the Mississippi.
- The sound is 'cre-VASS' (IPA: /krə (or ɪ) ˈvæs/).
- A crevice is
The sound is 'KREVV-iss' (IPA: /ˈkrɛ vɪs/.
((wip}}
