This tag is for questions about the sounds, intonation, and stress of how words are uttered or produced.
3
votes
0answers
242 views
What's the best resource for improving everyday speaking? [closed]
I'm having a job interview in a month. My writing, reading and listening are good. However, I have weak conversation skills. I need an efficient resource to improve my speaking. Any resource is ...
18
votes
2answers
495 views
Is there a rule for pronouncing “th” at the beginning of a word?
Consider the th in thistle versus the th in this: the former is unvoiced, while the latter is voiced.
Is there a rule or reason for the differences?
5
votes
1answer
191 views
About pronouncing the 's' in plural nouns
A general rule of English pronunciation states that the 's' in plural nouns is to be pronounced as /z/ if it is preceded by a 'voiced consonant' such as /n/ or /g/, and as /s/ if it is preceded by a ...
22
votes
3answers
721 views
Words with a leading silent w
My eldest is a beginning reader. Yesterday we read one of my favorite books, The Wreck of the Zephyr. He pointed at wreck and asked me why that one looked like it said "wuh-reck." I explained that ...
3
votes
1answer
156 views
How good is my pronunciation? [closed]
I am not sure if this is the place to post this. If it is not, forgive me. But I need your help.
I need to create some instructional videos and do not have the budget to hire a voice talent to dub it ...
-1
votes
1answer
170 views
Is an acronym is always pronounced as a single word? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Difference between an acronym and abbreviation?
Can a word that sounds the same as the way it is spelt be an initialism and an acronym?
With reference to this question ...
6
votes
3answers
240 views
What is the correct pronunciation of “regex”?
The term regular expression is often shortened to regex. What is the correct pronunciation of the g in regex?
Is it like the g1 in gallium, or is it like the g2 in giraffe? I’ve heard it said both ...
-1
votes
4answers
223 views
The plural of “conch”? [closed]
There is a lengthy thread on the pronunciation of "conch" however I am curious about the plural form "conches." I've noticed that it can be found as "conchs" as well, but "conches" appears to be the ...
0
votes
1answer
190 views
/u/ and /uː/ in pronunciation
What is the regularity of appearance of /uː/ and /u/ (or /ʊ/ in RP)? How can I be most sure deducing from spelling alone, that, say, "ooze" is pronounced /uːz/ and "wool" as /wul/? I know that English ...
1
vote
1answer
117 views
The use of “Que” in pronunciation
In most (or many) words that start with the letters "que", there's generally a Kw sound, such as in "question", "queen" or "quest". However, with the word "queue", it's more of a "Ky" sound. Is there ...
0
votes
2answers
182 views
What are the different ways an accent mark can go over the letter A & how are they pronounced? [closed]
I've found specifically these ones: á, à, â, å, ä. I believe they COULD be used in the English language, or root ones such as Celtic & Germanic, but I don't know how they are pronounced.
Oh, and ...
3
votes
1answer
123 views
meaning of - rite - at the companies names
There is bunch of companies that use rite at theirs names, like Rite Aid or Shop Rite, I was thinking about it like
Right => Rite
They looks like similar to pronounce, and you could think Right Aid ...
2
votes
1answer
178 views
Pronunciation of onomatopoeia, pharmacopoeia, etc
Words such as onomatopoeia and pharmacopoeia incorporate the Greek suffix -poeia, meaning to make or to prepare. Wiktionary's provided etymology for onomatopoeia reads:
From Ancient Greek ...
7
votes
2answers
223 views
Pronunciation of “Celt”: /kɛlt/ vs. /sɛlt/
Both /kɛlt/ and /sɛlt/ are considered acceptable pronunciations of the noun Celt and similarly of the adjective Celtic. Is there a reason for the different pronunciations? Which is the more common? Is ...
7
votes
4answers
5k views
Syllable division of VCV pattern in words such as “salad” and “lemon”
In words such as salad /sæləd/, you have a VCV pattern (vowel-consonant-vowel), in which the first vowel is short. The syllable division of such words is generally done after the consonant, i.e, as ...
0
votes
2answers
326 views
Long vs. short vowels in English words of Latin origin
Is there any way to determine if a vowel is short or long in English words of Latin origin? I've noticed that u is usually long in Latin words (e.g., Jupiter) but what about other vowels?
3
votes
2answers
195 views
What is the origin of the different pronunciations of C and G before different vowels?
In English the letters C and G usually have different pronunciation before a/o/u and before e/i. The same is true for Romance languages - French, Spanish, Catalan, Italian etc.
What is the origin of ...
2
votes
2answers
157 views
Pronunciation of Bank, Tank, etc.: Bay-nk, Ray-nk or Baen-k or Raen-k?
What is the standard US pronunciation for words such as the following:
Bank
Rank
At least in my dialect of US English (Inland Northern), the following seem like close transcriptions:
Bank: ...
2
votes
1answer
294 views
Why does the letter “a” correspond to /ɪ/ in words like “image”, “private” and “surface” (American English)?
In American English, in words ending with -age, -ate and -ace, the ‹a› correspond to /ɪ/ (short i). Examples: image, village, damageprivate, senate, separatesurface, preface, palace
(It should be ...
4
votes
1answer
654 views
Proper pronunciation of Neanderthal
Why is Neanderthal pronounced with a /t/ sound instead of a /th/ sound?
6
votes
5answers
311 views
LEDs and the correct pronunciation
The LED is quickly becoming a standard light source alternative to incandescent lights, when speaking to others, I have always pronounced any reference to LED as the acronym "L E D", but increasingly ...
10
votes
3answers
339 views
Pronouncing the “N” as separate syllable at the end of words like “known” and “pattern”
Over time, I have heard people pronounce the "n" on words like "known" (NO-en) and "pattern" (PAT-r-en), as though it were a separate syllable. The instances of my hearing such have been rare ones, ...
0
votes
2answers
97 views
Pronunciation of OS X versions [closed]
I don't feel like this belongs on SU, so I put it here.
I know that "OS X" is pronounced "oh-ess ten," but how should the common construction "OS X 10.9" be pronounced?
The primary possibility I can ...
1
vote
2answers
118 views
Pronunciation of “harass”
I am confused about the pronunciation of "harass". Dictionaries list it as
ˈherəs
həˈræs
ˈhærəs
Is it about BrE and AmE difference? Which one is more prevalent?
2
votes
2answers
423 views
Why there is an “h” in proper names like Afghanistan, Baghdad and Lamborghini?
An "h" may be used to prevent the "g" from being soft, as in spaghetti, but there is no need for an "h" in the mentioned proper names.
3
votes
5answers
1k views
How is 'via' pronounced and where did these variations come from? [closed]
Over the years, I've heard people say 'v-ē-ə', 'v-ī-ə', and sometimes the 'uh' is an 'ah' sound. (edit- It has come to my attention that 'via' was once a 'wee-ah' from Latin, but I don't feel like ...
1
vote
3answers
344 views
How do I pronounce “wrong” correctly instead of “long”?
When I say "wrong" people always mishear as "long". Pronouncing "r" and "l" correctly is always a big challenge for me. In Chinese we also have a syllable pronounced like "r" and a syllable pronounced ...
2
votes
2answers
220 views
Plural forms which end in -x such as tableaux
Words borrowed from French and ending in -eau originally had plural forms which appended an -x rather than an -s. For e.g., the plurals of tableau, beau, and plateau were tableaux, beaux, and plateaux ...
0
votes
0answers
111 views
Do average people know how to pronounce the word “auteur”? [closed]
auteur
1 : a film director whose practice accords with the auteur theory; broadly: director c
2 : an artist (as a musician or writer) whose > style and practice are distinctive
I was ...
6
votes
1answer
453 views
Do “hull” and “full” rhyme?— rules for “short U” sounds before L
I grew up speaking a variety of American English that merges the "short U" sounds before L. The "short U" sounds are the vowels in the words STRUT and FOOT. For me, before an L sound, all words have ...
1
vote
3answers
388 views
Pronunciation of “lorry”, “worry” and “sorry”
I have always pronounced lorry as "lur-ee" (as if to rhyme with worry), for as long as I can remember. Everyone else I know pronounces it as "lor-ee" (as if to rhyme with sorry).
Which one is ...
25
votes
7answers
2k views
How are 'marry', 'merry', and 'Mary' pronounced differently?
The way I pronounce these words is the same. Similarly for other words like these: I pronounce ferry and fairy the same, carrot and caret. Yet, dictionaries show different pronunciations for these ...
2
votes
3answers
206 views
Why are all acronyms accented on the last syllable?
When saying acronyms out loud, almost always the last syllable is accented (no matter how long the acronym is): US*A*, U*N*, RSV*P*, etc.
Accenting any syllable but the last makes you sound silly ...
2
votes
1answer
126 views
Is /æ/ pronunced like the shortened version of /ɑː/?
Is /æ/ pronounced like the shortened version of /ɑː/? Or are they totally different?
3
votes
0answers
243 views
How do I write certain IPA sounds using Gregg Shorthand? [closed]
Migrated: http://linguistics.stackexchange.com/questions/2752/help-me-convert-the-english-phonetic-alphabet-to-gregg-shorthand#comment7397_2752
I've found a several descriptive images of the various ...
2
votes
1answer
269 views
about pronunciation of 'g' at end of words
Some people pronounce the g at the end of words like spring and listening as [g] (as in guard) instead of [ŋ]. First, I thought only some Russians tend to do this, but the other day I heard a British ...
7
votes
3answers
220 views
Latin pronunciation [closed]
(You may well say this doesn't fit into an "English language" site, but the scientific Latin terms could be said to be part of English.)
My young daughter loves snails; I would like her to learn the ...
2
votes
2answers
278 views
Pronunciation of “catch”
I was curious about the different pronunciations of the word catch; more specifically, the difference between /kætʃ/ and /kɛtʃ/.
The Oxford dictionary lists both pronunciations as correct; is this ...
0
votes
1answer
133 views
Practice tool or package for stress and pronunciation [closed]
I think I'm not bad at written English. However, recently, as I started speaking English on a daily basis, I am noticing that my pronunciation, especially on where to put the stress, does not align ...
13
votes
4answers
425 views
Has elision revised the standard spelling of any words in the past century?
Elision ("the omission of one or more sounds in a word or phrase") produces the following:
going → goin(')
going to → gonna
Worcester → Wuster (ˈwʊstər)
However, this hasn't affected the ...
-2
votes
1answer
515 views
What is the origin of the “should of” instead of “should have” mistake? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How did the use of “could of” and “should of” originate, and is it considered correct?
Recently, I tend to stumble a lot over the mistake that people write should of ...
5
votes
1answer
91 views
How did “invoice” end up with an 's'-sound?
The Etymonline entry for invoice states (source):
apparently from M.Fr. envois, pl. of envoi "dispatch (of goods),"
Although my French is pretty poor, my understanding is that the 's' is silent. ...
3
votes
1answer
257 views
Pronunciation of “Nevada” [closed]
People in the state of Nevada insist that it should be pronounced /nəˈvædə/ (with the vowel of TRAP)—this "issue" always comes up during campaigns—while much of the country typically pronounces it ...
2
votes
1answer
273 views
Are “there” and “their” pronounced alike? [closed]
By comparing the phonetic of "there" with "their", it seems that they are pronounced alike, aren't they?
2
votes
5answers
272 views
Pronunciation difference between “cycle” and “psycho”
When I speak English, I can't tell the difference between cycle and psycho, I pronounce them the same.
And it's not only cycle vs. psycho; when words end in -le or -o, I always confusee them.
How to ...
3
votes
3answers
370 views
Retroflex approximants in AE dialects
While looking up the best way to describe the aboriginal pronunciation of Uluru (/uluɻu/), I stumbled across retroflex approximants. The linked Wikipedia page states:
The retroflex approximant ...
14
votes
2answers
776 views
Why is “str” sometimes pronounced as “shtr”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Pronunciation of voiceless alveolar fricative /s/ as ʃ (/sh/) in slang?
My understanding was that the cluster "str", for example in "stress", is usually pronounced ...
1
vote
5answers
257 views
Is there a term or short description for an accent you “can't place”?
Some examples of this might be Standard American English (though this may still be tied to geography) or, more likely, Received Pronunciation. The speaker's language doesn't have to be English, of ...
0
votes
1answer
308 views
When spelling something phonetically, how do you convey letter case? [closed]
Say you need to read someone their password over the phone and you spell it phonetically so that there is no confusion between M and N etc.
Now that is straight forward but what if the password is ...
7
votes
1answer
201 views
Where is “Wednesday” pronounced “Wedinzday”?
I recently heard a BBC radio announcer pronounce "Wednesday" in a peculiar way. The 'd' wasn't dropped, resulting in something like "Wedinzday" (wɛdnzde).
I've read some Scottish dialects use this ...
