(2016-06-09, 4:01 pm)Kuroro Wrote: Quick question, how do I read 市立? Because my dictionary gives しりつ as the standard pronunciation but then adds "いちりつ spoken to avoid confusion with 私立", does it really depend on whether I'm reading or speaking? Seems absurd to me
From what I can gather just by checking around, people will use いちりつ particularly when they are trying to avoid confusion with 私立, which can happen very easily in speech. If you are just reading it to yourself or are in a setting where everyone knows what you are talking about, しりつ is what's used.
There are similar issues that can happen with English homophones. We might go out of our way to say "they made an exception for her," so as not to confuse someone into thinking we are saying "they accepted her" (excepted/accepted). I'm sure there's a better example, this was just the first that came to mind.
Edited: 2016-06-09, 4:36 pm