This tag is for questions about the sounds, intonation, and stress of how words are uttered or produced.
45
votes
8answers
10k views
When should I use “a” versus “an” in front of a word beginning with the letter h?
A basic grammar rule is to use an instead of a before a vowel sound. Given that historic is not pronounced with a silent h, I use “a historic”. Is this correct? What about heroic? Should be “It was a ...
11
votes
4answers
4k views
What is the pronunciation of the possessive words that already end in s? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When did it become correct to add an ‘s’ to a singular possessive already ending in ‘s’?
Which singular names ending in “s” form possessives with only a bare apostrophe?
...
18
votes
5answers
2k 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?
22
votes
4answers
1k views
Pronunciation of “have” in “I don't have to” [do something]
Normally when I say "I don't have to do that" (meaning I'm not obliged to), I find that as well as putting heavy stress on the word "have", I pronounce if haff.
Is this common? If so, why does the ...
11
votes
1answer
383 views
“A” vs. “An” in writing vs. pronunciation
When starting a word with a vowel, the preceding "a" becomes an "an". I often find that when writing words that start with letter "N" or "M", I will pronounce them "EN", "EM", etc. (This is because in ...
15
votes
1answer
4k views
Why is “ask” sometimes pronounced “aks”?
We've recently moved from New Zealand to New York City, and have noticed that many people (most of whom have good English) pronounce "ask" as "aks". For example:
Could you please go aks her ...
9
votes
7answers
5k views
How does one pronounce the '@' symbol?
How can I pronounce @ symbol: At / At the rate?
Can I use it in a sentence? Please explain with an example.
11
votes
5answers
3k views
What are the rules for pronunciation of years in English?
We pronounce 1923 as nineteen twenty-three; but 1900 as nineteen hundred. Why isn't year 2000 pronounced as twenty hundred instead of two thousand?
What are the rules for pronunciation of years in ...
17
votes
3answers
7k views
What is the correct pronunciation and spelling of “asterisk”?
Every now and then I get caught out by a spellchecker around the word asterisk.
I can accept that this is the correct spelling, however I hear a lot of people pronouncing it as asterix also.
Is it ...
11
votes
4answers
993 views
Reading out numbers in English
What are the accepted guidelines for reading out numbers in English?
For example, should 1351 be read out as "one thousand and three hundred and fifty one", or should the "and"s be removed ...
26
votes
6answers
1k views
Pronunciation of the English alphabet
Why are there inconsistencies in the pronunciation of the consonants of the alphabet? For example: 'b' is pronounced like 'bee' but 'm' is pronounced as 'em' rather than 'me'. The pronunciation of 'h' ...
10
votes
3answers
1k views
How can I distinguish “can” & “can't” from pronunciation?
It's very difficult for me to separate them.
I was just listening to some video and it said
"Fat cells can’t reproduce themselves."
What I thought I've heard is "... CAN reproduce ..."
Frankly, ...
8
votes
3answers
2k views
pronunciation of “a”
I'm really confused about the pronunciation of "a" letter. Why is there a difference when it is used in a sentence and when "a" is single? when it is single, we read it like dwelling on it, like /eɪ/. ...
8
votes
1answer
579 views
Rhyming conventions of Early Modern English
I was reading the poem "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell when something struck me as odd. Let me quote two passages:
Thou by the Indian Ganges' side
Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide
...
9
votes
4answers
910 views
Why we say “an historical” but “a history” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When should I use “a” versus “an” in front of a word beginning with the letter h?
Why do we say an historical but a history? This question was ...
6
votes
7answers
6k views
How do you properly pronounce 'mall'?
In America, it's pretty much universally pronounced "moll" but in the UK, I have heard a few different ways of pronouncing it:
Mall (rhymes with pal)
Maul (rhymes with ball and hence the American ...
4
votes
4answers
944 views
Pronouncing acronyms
I've noticed that some people in my office spell out "data import tool" as D. I. T., whereas others will say "dit" (like "ditty"). Is trying to pronounce an acronym as a word, as opposed to spelling ...
25
votes
7answers
15k views
What is the correct way to pronounce 'router'?
Merriam-Webster lists both ˈrüt and ˈrau̇t as possible pronunciations for route but only
ˈrau̇-tər for router.
Is it really wrong to pronounce router as 'rüter ?
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 ...
12
votes
5answers
8k views
How to pronounce the letter 'i'
Every time I read a new and unknown word containing the letter 'i' I wonder how I should pronounce it. What's very frustrating for me is that, when I look up the words, I find out that my gut feeling ...
4
votes
3answers
398 views
How should “aargh” really be pronounced?
The common interjections "argh!", "aargh!", "aaargh!", etc., is pronounced, as far as I know, the same as "aaa!" For most of my life, however, I (and I imagine many other second language speakers) ...
7
votes
2answers
568 views
English letter sequence with most pronunciations
The letters -ough- can be pronounced a ridiculous number of different ways in English. Here is a possibly incomplete list:
tough, enough
cough, trough
bough, plough
though, dough
thought, bought
...
5
votes
1answer
356 views
How did “defect” and “defect” come to have different pronunciations?
There are many interesting events in the history of the English language. Which one of them gave us “defect” (noun, /diːˈfɛkt/, imperfection) and “defect” (verb, /dɪˈfɛkt/ , change allegiances)?
2
votes
3answers
837 views
Pronunciation of letter y: asylum vs syrup
I want someone to clarify if there is a rule about how to pronounce the letter Y
I've read in another stackexchange post that when it is in a Greek-origin word it is pronounced as uh e.g. analysis, ...
2
votes
3answers
2k views
How do I pronounce “s's” and “s'”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicates:
What is the correct possessive for nouns ending in s?
Pronouncing possessive words that already end in s
How do I pronounce possessives that end with the awkward ...
15
votes
4answers
1k views
New Zealand pronunciation of “women” vs “woman”
I have read in a number of places that the NZ pronunciation of "women" must be rather peculiar. Quoting from just one such place:
For some years I've noted the tendency of Kiwis to pronounce ...
11
votes
4answers
2k views
What is the correct pronunciation of the word “Islam”?
Some people pronounce the S in Islam as Z, and others pronounce it as S.
Which is correct?
9
votes
5answers
5k views
How does one correctly pronounce the letter 'H': “Aych” or “haych”?
What is the correct sound of the letter H when reading the alphabet - is it 'aych' or 'Haych' ?
9
votes
5answers
1k views
What is the commonly accepted pronunciation of FAQ?
I hear FAQ(s) pronounced like a word in "FACK(s)", while I go letter by letter. In usage, what is more common?
(Similar to SQL vs Sequel)
8
votes
2answers
4k views
Why is “albeit” pronounced the way it is?
I've previously (and am now embarrassed because of this) pronounced this word "ahl-bite" and now realize it is pronounced "ahl-bee-it." Why is it pronounced like this, and not the way I previously ...
8
votes
5answers
4k views
How to pronounce “tuple”?
A recent question has reminded me of something I've been wondering about for a while: what is the correct way to pronounce tuple?
6
votes
1answer
627 views
Is pronouncing “The” as in “Thee” still correct in titles?
When saying the title of JRR Tolkien's masterpiece, which is the correct pronunciation (Yes, I know that they're spelled wrong, but I'm trying to emphasize the pronunciation):
Thuh Lord of thuh ...
5
votes
2answers
479 views
Pronunciation of GUI in British English
I've heard a lot of Americans pronounce abbreviations like GUI as goo-ey. Is this the same with British English, or is it more common to spell out the word, like gee-you-eye?
5
votes
5answers
992 views
How do you pronounce the H in “an historian”?
A lot of people I know argue that you should use the article "an" before words such as "historian", "history", "hotel", "hospital", "heretic". I don't want to debate whether or not this is correct or ...
5
votes
2answers
869 views
“supposed to” or “suppose to”?
What is the actual spelling/pronunciation? What is the origination of this phrase?
4
votes
8answers
2k views
What is the correct pronunciation of the word “route”?
I have always used both "root" as in route 66 and "rooter" as in the networking device. The latter has gotten me funny looks often, however I could not bring myself to accept the inconsistency. Today ...
3
votes
1answer
698 views
Pronunciation of voiceless alveolar fricative /s/ as ʃ (/sh/) in slang?
Observed some words get pronounced with a /sh/ rather than /s/ in certain situations.
Stripes as "Shtripes" (from some "The Wire" episode)
Screw it as "shcrew it" (from a rap song)
In both ...
15
votes
4answers
1k views
Pronunciation of “er” in “farmer” vs. “earth”
I'm confused about the difference in pronouncing "er" in words such as "farmer" and "earth". I hear them the same, but they have different phonetic symbols. Is there any difference in pronouncing "er" ...
11
votes
2answers
2k views
Why is “t” sometimes pronounced like “d” in American English?
Why, in American English, is the word Italy is pronounced /ˈɪdəli/ and not /ˈɪtəli/?
What is the rule that is followed in the pronunciation of Italy to make the letter t pronounced like a d? Why is ...
4
votes
2answers
597 views
Website giving pronunciations of English words recorded in different dialects?
I'm aware that there are certain websites around that provide recorded examples of English words pronounced in different accents/dialects. Could anybody list some of them?
21
votes
4answers
3k views
Why are “sugar” and “sure” pronounced with an SH?
As far as I know, those are the only two. They should be pronounced Soogher and Soor, shouldn't they? I looked them up on Dictionary.com, and their etymologies reveal no trace of an SH, except where ...
14
votes
6answers
960 views
How do you pronounce “fifths”?
I find it very difficult to pronounce the words fifths (as in four fifths or parallel fifths). The consonant cluster [fθs] is very difficult for me to utter.
I know that in some cases the ...
11
votes
6answers
1k views
How would you spell “Tehran” in English for it to be pronounced “correctly” (i.e. as in Persian)?
Native English speakers do not pronounce the h in Tehran so it is pronounced like "Teran". But in the original pronunciation in Persian the h is pronounced, resulting in /tehˈɾɒːn/.
Is there any ...
21
votes
7answers
8k views
Is “forte” pronounced “fort” or “for-tay”?
I've always heard people say something like
"Pronunciation is not my [for-tay]"
... but I feel that I've heard that the correct pronunciation is
"Confusing people is my [fort]"
What is the ...
12
votes
5answers
4k views
How is SQL pronounced?
When I was learning SQL, I remember reading that it should be pronounced just like the word sequel; however, I worked with a bunch of techs who seemed to prefer S-Q-L. Is there a proper convention for ...
12
votes
5answers
2k views
Pronunciation of “Short-lived”
What is the correct way of pronouncing the i in "short-lived"?
Particularly, I'm looking for whether it's a short or long sound for this vowel. I've heard it both ways.
9
votes
5answers
2k views
How do I pronounce “ratio 1:1”?
How do I pronounce "ratio 1:1"?
Should I pronounce it "ratio 1 to 1"?
8
votes
2answers
987 views
What makes a word offensive? [closed]
Whilst I was sat on the bus yesterday, I overheard a group of teenagers discussing various things. As per the usual social requirement at that age, every 5th word was an expletive. Not exactly the ...
6
votes
1answer
2k views
Why is The Mall (Westminster, London) pronounced like mawl?
Why is The Mall pronounced differently even though it shares the same spelling as mall (shopping)?
5
votes
1answer
501 views
Why is the verb form of “record” pronounced [ri-kawrd] but the noun form is pronounced [rek-erd]?
Is there a different origin of pronunciation style for record as a verb and as a noun?
Fun fact: in OS X, if you type say "this record" and say "record this" — the text to speech system picks up the ...
