The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread

[TaylorS]

I have noticed that when I say "mom" the vowel has a slight /w/-like on-glide, so it's pronounced something like [mʷɑm] or even [mɒm].

[ol bofosh]

emersion
immersion

[I."m3:.Z@n] the two of them.

I've only just learnt there was a difference between the two. The former I never actually use, but "emergence" instead.

[StrangerCoug]

product /ɒ/
productive /ə/
productivity /ɒ/

and...
produce (v) /ə/
produce (n) /ɒ/

Same here except that the first vowel in the noun "produce" is [oʊ] for me.

emersion
immersion

I distinguish those two and use [iː] and [ɪ] respectively for their first vowel.

[linguoboy]

emersion
immersion

[I."m3:.Z@n] the two of them.

Emersion is such a rare word, I'd almost invariably give it a spelling pronunciation with initial [ɛ]. Same goes for emigrant.

[StrangerCoug]

Emigrant I pronounce with [ɛ].

[Viktor77]

Is there anyone else out there who adds an [5] to "both?" I was recently made aware of this by a Midlands speaker. I was previously unaware I did this. I Googled this phenomenon as I know it to be known, but I cannot find any sort of isogloss to explain where it is found or if it's a feature of the Inland North dialect (my dialect). If you add the [5] can you say your location? Or perhaps someone can shed light?

[Viktor77]

Does anyone else have movie /miu.vi/ (or it might be [mju.vi], sound as in 'pew' and often 'you')? I typically have /mu.vi/ but sometimes I slip into the former and I cannot figure out why. I've only otherwise heard the former among one person from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

[Nortaneous]

Is there anyone else out there who adds an [5] to "both?" I was recently made aware of this by a Midlands speaker. I was previously unaware I did this. I Googled this phenomenon as I know it to be known, but I cannot find any sort of isogloss to explain where it is found or if it's a feature of the Inland North dialect (my dialect). If you add the [5] can you say your location? Or perhaps someone can shed light?

that's a thing, yes, and it's old enough and widespread enough that my mother talks about having been made fun of once for *not* having it

search "bolth" on twitter

[ol bofosh]

house
houses
owl
owls
bright
bride
boy
boys
goat
goad
bay
bays
beer
beers
cure
cures

I'm asking because I think there's a lengthening of the dipthong when its followed by a voiced vowels in my speech.

One exception:
arrow
arrows
Possible because its not in a stressed position. And I'm not sure about beer and cure above.

[R.Rusanov]

That doesn't surprise me on account of English voicing is primarily reflected by length bleeding onto the surrounding sounds, a lack of aspiration, and some kind of growl or breathy voice, I'm not sure which. Like vocal fry but not quite as distinct.

It's not pure voicing by any stretch of the means.

[ol bofosh]

Thanks, makes sense. I've got a partial jam-jam split, the TRAP vowel usually lengthens before voiced consonants.

[Sexendèƚo]

house [hɛʉs]
houses [haəzɪz]
owl [æəl]
owls [æwlz]
bright [bɹəɪt]
bride [bɹæːd]
boy [bɒɪ]
boys [bɒɪz]
goat [gɛʉt]
goad [goʊd]
bay [bei]
bays [bɛɪz]
beer [biəɹ] or [biə]*
beers [biəz]
cure [kjɝ] or [kjə]*
cures [kjəːz]

*My r-dropping is inconsistent.

My knowledge of vowel phones isn't perfect, but this is what I hear. The diphthong before the voiced consonant definitely sounds longer to me.

[Zaarin]

Semi-on-topic, anyone know why Mesopotamia is generally pronounced with /s/ when most words with meso- are pronounced with /z/ (Mesoamerica, Mesozoic, mesothorax, etc.)?

[Bristel]

I pronounce mesocyclone with a /s/. I think I hear that pronunciation more than /z/

[Matrix]

I pronounce all of those words with an s.

[Copperknickers]

Semi-on-topic, anyone know why Mesopotamia is generally pronounced with /s/ when most words with meso- are pronounced with /z/ (Mesoamerica, Mesozoic, mesothorax, etc.)?

I pronounce all with an /s/ apart from Mesoamerica (which I actually never connected with the Greek prefix meso until now, I always assumed it was Spanish). Although 'Mesopotamia' is the only one of those that was in common use back when it was common for people to learn Ancient Greek so I guess that has something to do with it.

[Zaarin]

Huh, Mesopotamia is the only one I pronounce with /s/--not that I commonly use any other meso- word except Mesoamerica. Maybe I pronounce them wrong? Most meso- words are fairly technical and don't exactly come up that often.

[finlay]

I don't think I've ever heard any of those words spoken aloud... In fact the other thing I'd be unsure about is whether to pronounce /e/ or /i:/.

[Matrix]

I don't think I've ever heard any of those words spoken aloud... In fact the other thing I'd be unsure about is whether to pronounce /e/ or /i:/.

British people tend to use /i:/, while North Americans tend to use /e/.

[ol bofosh]

Southern England and I would pronounce them all with /e/ and /z/, although I've never had to use them much.

[linguoboy]

I pronounce mesocyclone with a /s/. I think I hear that pronunciation more than /z/

Huh, just realised I have [z] here even though I have [s] in most other meso- words. Dissimilation? What are some other meso- words where the second element starts with /s/?

[Zaarin]

I pronounce mesocyclone with a /s/. I think I hear that pronunciation more than /z/

Huh, just realised I have [z] here even though I have [s] in most other meso- words. Dissimilation? What are some other meso- words where the second element starts with /s/?

English words prefixed with meso-.

I don't think I've ever heard any of those words spoken aloud... In fact the other thing I'd be unsure about is whether to pronounce /e/ or /i:/.

British people tend to use /i:/, while North Americans tend to use /e/.

Can't confirm the British, but I'm North American and tend to use /e/ (well, /ɛ/).

[Ryan of Tinellb]

I pronounce the prefix meso- as /ˈmiːzoʊ/, but my internal lexicon does not recognise the first part of Mesopotamia as a prefix, so it gets the /s/.

[L'alphabētarium]

How do you pronounce twerk?
I've heard many rhotic English speakers (mainly American & Canadian) say [twɔɹk] making it rhyme with York.
It sounds a bit "off" to me, since it always made sense to make it rhyme with work [wɜɹk/wɝk].

Maybe the difference isn't big enough for my ears to catch, but I distinctly hear them say an [ɔ] vowel there...

[ol bofosh]

For me it rhymes with work, Turk, in the conventional way. No /O:/ for me (non-rhotic).