What is the difference between «utènsile» and «utensìle»?

They are the same word, with two different pronunciations. In fact, the correct spelling is utensile, without accents.

The pronunciation "utènsile" is the only correct one when utensile is used as an adjective (e.g. "una macchina utensile").

According to Treccani, "utensìle" should be used when referring to the noun ("la scatola degli utensili"), but honestly it seems incorrect to me to require this pronunciation as the "utènsile" form is very commonly used as a noun, too.

Come aggettivo (quasi esclusivamente in coppia con il sostantivo macchina), utensile è parola sdrucciola, cioè con l'accento che cade sulla terz'ultima sillaba: utènsile. Come sostantivo, utensile è parola piana (come edìle): utensìle.

--source

See also the word "edile".

Sklivvz

Posted 2013-11-06T10:20:24.500

Reputation: 2 281

2@Lamberto Basti. It does count, it marks the difference between correct and incorrect pronunciation. No matter how many people say "édile", it is still wrong, as much as "mòllica", "rùbrica" and many others. – Paola – 2013-11-14T00:23:55.293

Sklivzz is right, but in the everyday life this difference does not count. – Lamberto Basti – 2013-11-09T03:20:51.883

2‘Edile’ is not the same: the pronunciation ‘èdile’ is still widely considered incorrect. – egreg – 2013-11-06T12:06:50.093

1@egreg not according to the Treccani page above – Sklivvz – 2013-11-06T12:19:49.737

In http://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/edile1/ we read “comune, ma non corretto, èdile”. And the page you quote doesn't say “èdile” can be used as an adjective, but rather tells this pronunciation is not accepted as correct by Devoto-Oli and Treccani.

– egreg – 2013-11-06T12:27:02.887

What is the difference between «utènsile» and «utensìle»?

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