NICHE

[Q] From David Kosofsky: I have always pronounced niche with a long E vowel and a terminal SH sound, on the analogy of microfiche or nouveau riche. When I recently used the word, a friend seemed surprised at my pronunciation, saying he’d always heard it pronounced to rhyme with ditch or glitch. I was not convinced until I checked in a few dictionaries and discovered that he was right. I could only find one that had the French-styled pronunciation I use, and that one listed it as a second pronunciation. How do you pronounce the word niche, and how would you explain the dictionaries’ deviation from what one would expect, based on nouveau riche or microfiche?

[A] Well, I’m with you, since I pronounce it /nɪːʃ/ . But I’ve just checked half a dozen British dictionaries, with some interesting results. They all give both of your pronunciations, but the order varies.

Oxford has recently changed its advice, with the OED of 1988 giving /nɪtʃ/ as its preference, as does the Ninth Edition of the Concise Oxford of 1996, but the recently published New Oxford English Dictionary (NODE) lists /nɪːʃ/ first. The Chambers Dictionary agrees with NODE, as does its stable-mate the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary. However, the new edition of the Collins English Dictionary and of the Cassell Concise Dictionary both favour /nɪtʃ/.

This suggests that in Britain at least we are seeing a move back towards a French style of pronunciation after a period in which the word had become Anglicised, but that there’s as yet no very great degree of consensus. I can’t comment on the American position very usefully, but from what you say it appears that dictionaries there are maintaining the older Anglicised version.

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