This tag is for questions about the sounds, intonation, and stress of how words are uttered or produced.
1
vote
0answers
13 views
Are the different pronunciations of “species” regional differences?
As far as I know, the word "species" can pronounced either as spee-sheez or as spee-seez. I understand that neither of these is incorrect: they're just two different ways to say the same thing. I also ...
2
votes
0answers
23 views
Distinguishing /f–t–θ/ in th-fronting and th-stopping dialects
In standard English, the digraph th is a dental fricative [θ, ð]. Several dialects feature th-fronting, where th becomes a labiodental fricative [f, v]; others feature th-stopping, where th becomes a ...
119
votes
7answers
9k views
How are “i.e.” and “e.g.” pronounced?
How are i.e. and e.g. pronounced?
11
votes
2answers
856 views
Why is “sergeant” pronounced “sargent”?
I remember when I first came across this word, I thought it was pronounced /'sɜr-dʒint/ (SER-jeent). Now I am curious as to why the first syllable is pronounced /sar/ rather than /sɜr/. I looked at ...
5
votes
6answers
662 views
Words starting with a 'gw' sound
There seems to be only a few words starting with the 'gw' sound, though the only ones I can think of are proper nouns, for example, Gwyneth. Are there any non-name words starting with a 'gw'? Is there ...
7
votes
2answers
2k views
Why is “plaid” pronounced “plad”?
Why is there an 'ai' in plaid if it is pronounced "plad"? That's a word that used to trip me up when I was a little tyke. (This time, unlike my previous question, I hope I'm right in saying that ...
11
votes
1answer
2k views
Why is the “J” in San Jacinto pronounced like an English “J” instead of an “H” in Texas?
Many Spanish words taken into English have a "J" sounding like "H", but San Jacinto follows a different rule:
San Jose
La Jolla
San Juan
Jiminez
Why is San Jacinto not pronounced San Hacinto in ...
2
votes
4answers
124 views
How should one pronounce “Brichester”?
I know that there is this issue where Worcestershire and Leicester are pronounced as "Wustersher" and "Lester", so I wonder how Brichester is pronounced.
Also, is there any special rule which could ...
9
votes
3answers
775 views
British pronunciation of “plait”
Having only seen this word in writing, I assumed it's pronounced "plate". howjsay (whose author is british) suggests the pronunciation that rhymes with "flat", but also offers the "plate" one. This ...
0
votes
0answers
56 views
Why can't I understand even a word of the song In The Bleak Midwinter? [closed]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0aL9rKJPr4
It is incomprehensible to me. I keep losing track of the song even with lyrics.
1
vote
1answer
53 views
Correct pronunciation of the word “Mature”?
I need to know the correct pronunciation of the word "mature". Is it məˈtʃʊr, məˈtjʊə(r) or məˈtʊr? And which one is mostly used, across the globe.
5
votes
1answer
162 views
Why is “accidentally” pronounced “accident-ly” instead of “accident-tal-y”?
Why is accidentally pronounced accident-ly and not accident-tal-ly?
Incidentally, some other adverbs have this same phenomenon, where some dictionaries show the second-to-last syllable as being ...
69
votes
25answers
5k views
How to read “E = (mc)²” so as not to mistake for “E = mc²”
According to one of the questions already asked on EL&U, “E = mc²” is read as
E equals M C squared.
How do we read “E = (mc)²” so that it is not mistaken for “E = mc²”?
20
votes
2answers
4k views
Use of “f ” instead of “s” in historic, printed English documents
I was at a museum in London yesterday, and one of the items on exhibit is a document from the eighteenth century. It uses the letter f a lot where s should be used—for example, in Majefty.
Did the ...
11
votes
8answers
6k views
What is the correct pronunciation of the word “solder”?
I have been listening to a podcast where the host pronounces the word solder as "sodder" or "sod-der", even "saw-der". Same thing happened when the lecturer of one of my EE classes pronounced the word ...
5
votes
2answers
640 views
How should “often” be pronounced?
I heard people saying "Of-fen" as well as "Of-ton".
Till now I have been using the first one but few days ago I had an interviewer who pronounced often "Of-Ton" while interviewing.
2
votes
3answers
3k views
Pronunciation of foreign words in American vs. British English?
One of the differences between modern US English (hereafter referred to as "American English") and British English is the way in which we pronounce foreign words, particularly those of French origin ...
0
votes
0answers
46 views
1
vote
0answers
78 views
pronunciation US-UK in words like semi
I am trying to find a document that explains pronunciation differences en /E/ and /I/ sounds between UK and US styles. I think US pronunciation does a lot /'sɛmay/ than UK /'sɛmi/. Where can I find an ...
0
votes
0answers
65 views
Names: Julio vs Julia [closed]
Why are the names Julio and Julia pronounced differently (Hoo-lee-oh vs Jew-lee-ah)? What is their relation to each other - masculine and feminine forms of the same base name, or something else?
3
votes
3answers
284 views
Elision in the pronunciation of “probably”
A student of mine has pointed out that in casual speech, my tendency is to pronounce the word "probably" as something like prah-lee.
I am a native speaker of American English without a specific ...
1
vote
2answers
119 views
What is the pronunciation of the 'a' in aqueous?
My teacher pronounces aqueous as "ay-kwee-ous", and as a result that's what my class has learnt.
However, I've become aware through several pronunciation guides (including Howjsay.com and a ...
1
vote
1answer
108 views
Pronunciation of “again”
What is the Standard British English1 pronunciation of "again"? I looked in Wiktionary and it gives two UK pronunciations, /əˈɡeɪn/, and /əˈɡɛn/.
1 I mean Standard British English as in the tag ...
-2
votes
1answer
313 views
Pronunciation Of Volkswagen and Vento [closed]
Why is "Volkswagen" pronounced as "Folks-Vagen" but "Vento" as "Vento" ? The question came to my mind as both of these are used combined as a name of a German Car and they say that Germans pronounce ...
14
votes
3answers
3k views
What does “Do you haz teh codez?” mean?
There is a banner in StackOverflow pointing to the careers website (programmers):
Do you haz teh codez?
My questions about the sentence/question are:
What's the question in plain English?
Why ...
3
votes
2answers
134 views
Can “pussy” be pronounced with /ʌ/ (uh)?
My friend insists it can be. Here is a video he provides as a proof (watch it cautiously, brain damage is possible). Is this nonsense or not? Maybe it is a local phenomenon? Or just a speech defect?
2
votes
1answer
84 views
Is there a word that means “over-enunciate the k sound”?
I am trying to say the word week but focus on the k sound at the end and really emphasize it. I tend to do this naturally in my everyday speech. It kinda sounds like an odd throat sound when I do it. ...
-1
votes
1answer
75 views
Pronunciation of “Oceania” in British English
How is Oceania properly pronounced in British English? Is it /ˌəʊʃɪˈɑːnɪə/, or /ˌəʊʃɪˈɑːnə/? I know a lot of people who use the latter, but I have always been taught the former.
0
votes
1answer
70 views
Which syllable is stressed in word “comparatively” in British usage?
British syllable emphasis on "comparatively"?
1
vote
1answer
95 views
Why are we supposed to say the “a” as an “e” in “any” and “many”?
I speak Australian English, but I seem to pronounce the words many and anything differently from how the vast majority of people here do so.
I pronounce it using an a sound rather than an e sound ...
3
votes
1answer
38 views
Name, Conditions, and Pluralization of “Conscience' sake”
In some versions of the Bible, 1 Cor. 10:25 contains the phrase conscience' sake with no s following the possessive apostrophe of conscience, which does not end with s, as in:
New American ...
2
votes
1answer
56 views
Why do I not hear /k/ in sanctuary?
sanctuary (Oxford) /ˈsæŋktʃuəri ; ˈsæŋktʃueri/
It is /k/ that I don’t hear in the website’s pronunciation. Do they drop /k/ under some pronunciation rule? - it happens that /ŋ/ and /k/ all are ...
6
votes
2answers
242 views
Whence came the different varieties of long /i/?
What is the origin of “long long /i/” before voiced consonants (the [ai] of wide, while, & tribe) versus “short long /i/” before unvoiced consonants (the [ʌi] of white, wife, & ...
0
votes
4answers
5k views
Pronunciation of “Porsche” over time
Is there an official pronunciation for Porsche? I grew up pronouncing it with a silent final e ("Porsh"). However, I've increasingly heard it was pronunced with a neutral e sound at the end ...
6
votes
2answers
865 views
Dropped g's in upper-class 1930s Britain
‘Now take huntin'…’ ‘Oh, bull-fightin' — that's quite a different kettle of fish.…’ Italics bred italics. Dropped g's fell as thick as confetti.
(Jan Struther, Mrs Miniver, 1939; 4th chapter, ...
-4
votes
1answer
95 views
Do people with a lisp write in the same way they pronounce?
Just curious to know whether people having a lisp (speech defect) write in the same way as they pronounce the word. For example they pronounce s as /θ/ and z as /θ/. So, do they write 's' as 'th' like ...
-1
votes
0answers
48 views
Getting Phonetic alphabets from speaking with some software? [closed]
I want to practice pronunciation and learn how different non-English words are said in English. For example, my friend Ville -- it should be manotonous [Ville] -- is called [Vill] or [Villi] by Siri. ...
10
votes
3answers
1k views
Why is “does” sometimes pronounced “is”? [duplicate]
I'm watching a movie at the moment and I came across something that I've always found strange in the English language.
In some questions, mostly something like "What does he look like?", the does is ...
-4
votes
0answers
69 views
What's the most common used English dialect nowadays? [closed]
I would like to know what the most common English dialect is in the world today, because in a few days I start an English pronunciation course.
3
votes
2answers
156 views
Palatalization of the initial “s” in words starting with “st-”
Sometimes I hear native speakers pronounce the s at the beginning of a word as [ʃ]. For example, straight as [ʃtreɪt], or struggle as [ʃtrʌɡl]. It sounds like German words.
Is it a certain English ...
3
votes
4answers
528 views
What loan-words keep their native pronunciation?
Being a non-native English speaker I recently discovered that for some words you don't use English pronunciation. For instance you seem to be omitting the l's when saying tortilla.
Yet this isn't ...
22
votes
5answers
6k views
Why are Greek letters pronounced incorrectly in scientific English?
In Greek, for example, the letter β is pronounced "veeta", but in science, people use "beta". Some other offenders are η "eeta", ι "yiota", μ "mee", ν "nee", π "pee", τ "taf", χ "chee", ψ "psee".
I ...
0
votes
1answer
149 views
How to pronounce the final “s” in plural nouns
Could you please help find which word below is pronounced differently from the rest with regard to the final s?
caves
marks
exams
days
I choose number 2, marks.
3
votes
4answers
975 views
How to read parentheses equation [closed]
I have problems with reading mathematical equations in which there are parentheses; could anybody help me?
For example:
(x−a) (x+b) = 5
(x−a) + 2 (a+10) = z
2 + (10−a) d ...
1
vote
1answer
111 views
't' pronounced as 'ch'
In some words, the pronunciation of t is actually closer to ch, as in fortune.
Is this is a recognized phenomenon in English pronunciation? Does it have a name? What other prominent examples can be ...
12
votes
3answers
7k views
How do you pronounce “melee”?
I've heard meelee, meyley (maylay), and mehlay. Is there any "correct" way to pronounce it in the U.S.?
-2
votes
2answers
105 views
how do we read this sentence '50X better software quality'
I am browsing a website. There is one sentence:
50x better software quality
here x should mean times, but I don't know how to read it. Can someone explain it to me?
18
votes
5answers
1k views
What is the pronunciation of “the”?
I read that the definite article is pronounced differently depending on the word that follows it.
Which is the exact pronunciation of the?
2
votes
2answers
145 views
What’s the word for the habit of writing “play’d” or “revolv’d”?
I’m working on an 18th-century manuscript, and I’m trying to explain to others the use of ’d in past tense verbs.
Is there a word that encompasses the usage of ’d in early 18th-century manuscripts? ...
2
votes
2answers
99 views
Character vs Charm - Pronunciation
Is there a rule to understand how the group "Cha" has to be pronounced?
"Character" sounds with a hard first syllable, while "Charm" sound softer, but I don't find how to tell which sound to use ...
