The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread

[Travis B.]

To me the two cannot rhyme, because even when most reduced, neon ends in [ã] and Indian ends in [jɘ̃], which never merge.

[Atrulfal]

How do you pronounce the name "Mainus" ?

[Travis B.]

How do you pronounce the name "Mainus" ?

See, that's not a name I have ever heard or seen (and I suspect that is the same for most here), so my initial impulse is to pronounce it [ˈmãːẽˌnʌs], i.e. /ˈmaɪˌnʌs/.

[Sglod]

Elaine: [ɜˈlɘɪ̯n]
Neon Indian: [ˈnijʌ̞̃n ˈɘ̃ndjɜ̃n]

[Zaarin]

How do you pronounce the name "Mainus" ?

[ˈmɛɪ̯nʌs]?

[Znex]

/oul/ and /o:l/ have merged for me, so realisations down below only reflect the more common pronunciation for me. [oːʊ̯] is the other pronunciation.

[woːk] - walk
[mɔʊ̯] - maul
[dɔʊ̯] - doll
[gɔʊ̯f] - golf
[mɔʊ̯d] - mold/mould
[bɔʊ̯d] - bold
[bɔʊ̯d] - bowled
[dɔʊ̯d] - doled
[ɻʷɔʊ̯d] - rolled
[dɔʊ̯d] - dolled
[mɔʊ̯d] - mauled
[hɔʊ̯t̚] - halt
[skɔʊ̯d] - scald
[vɔʊ̯t̚] - vault
['kʰɔʊ̯dʐɻʷn̩] - cauldron
['ɔʊ̯dɐ~'æʊ̯dɐ] - alder
['bɔʊ̯,dʐɻʷɪk] - baldric
[fɔʊ̯s] - false
['θɻʷɔʊ̯dm̩] - thraldom/thralldom
[ɔʊ̯'tʰœ̃nəɾəv~ɔʊ̯'tʰœ̃nə,tʰɨv] - alternative
[bɔʊ̯d] - bald

[ə'lɛːĩn] - Elaine
['nijɔ̃n 'ɪ̃ndiːən] - Neon Indian

[jmcd]

I was watching the EU referendum debate and noticed they pronounced Crimea [kɹʷaɪmiə] whereas I pronounce it [kɾɪmeə]. How do yous pronounce it?

[jal]

I was watching the EU referendum debate and noticed they pronounced Crimea [kɹʷaɪmiə] whereas I pronounce it [kɾɪmeə]. How do yous pronounce it?

The latter. Or possibly [kɾɪmiə]. But ianans. Wikipedia says it's /kraɪˈmiːə/, and so do the Oxford Dictionary and Merriam Webster (though the latter allows a reduced first vowel).


JAL

[Viktor77]

The way Wikipedia, Oxford and MW mentioned in Jal's post. I was unaware there was another pronunciation.

[Zaarin]

[kɹ̠ˤɪˈmiə], but I can't say it's a word I use often.

How do you pronounce Tsimshian? I have [ˈʦɪmʃjən] (I'm reasonably certain that is [ən] not [n̩] in this case) or [ˈʦɪmʃn̩]. Not pronouncing the initial t as Wikipedia directs sounds so wrong to my ears, even though I know it's standard English to delete pre-sibilant initial plosives. (I sometimes reintroduce them to words like psychology, too, but I'm inconsistent with it...)

[Vijay]

I think I pronounce it the same way you do.

[vokzhen]

['tsɪm.ʃi.an], which I think I got "right" by accident: it's not a word + a suffix -an and I don't pronounce it like it was, though I don't think I knew that when I started pronouncing it that way.

I definitely say ['krɪmiə], but it's one of those words I had exposure to well before I heard it pronounced. I presumably it's in part analogy to words like Germania, Italia, Britannia.

[Zaarin]

['tsɪm.ʃi.an], which I think I got "right" by accident: it's not a word + a suffix -an and I don't pronounce it like it was, though I don't think I knew that when I started pronouncing it that way.

Yes, it comes from Ts'mksian "around the Skeena [Ksian] River." Gitksan has a similar etymology meaning "up the Skeena River," I understand.

[Pole, the]

Have we had “can” vs ”can't”?

[Zaarin]

Is there likely to be much variation? [ˈkʰæn] [ˈkʰænt]

[Pole, the]

Isn't it more like [kɛn] vs [kɑn(t)]?

[Matrix]

Isn't it more like [kɛn] vs [kɑn(t)]?

That distinction is a rather English thing. As a North American - specifically, Canadian - I also use [æ] in both cases, but I only actually pronounce the vowel in 'can' if it is at the beginning or end of an utterance. Medially, I drop the vowel and syllabicize the nasal.

[Zaarin]

Isn't it more like [kɛn] vs [kɑn(t)]?

Didn't realize that was a feature of English English. Unlike Matrix, I rarely drop the vowel in can unless I'm talking very fast; can is nearly always [ˈkʰæn]. Not sure if it's dialectal or idiolectal, but I never unrelease or debuccalize t after a resonant word-finally, except utterance-medially before /t d/.

can talk [ˈkʰæn ˈtʰɒ̜k]
can't talk [ˈkʰænː ˈtʰɒ̜k] or [ˈkʰænˈtːʰɒ̜k] or [ˈkʰænt̚ ˈtʰɒ̜k] -- not entirely sure about that one

[vokzhen]

I'm near-GA and mine is [kʰɨn~kʰn] versus [kʰẽə̃ɾ̃~kʰẽə̃nʔt̚ ~ kʰẽə̃ʔ]. The former is just depending on how you transcribe the transition between the two tongue positions, I'd say it's phonemically /kn/. The latter depends on what the following consonant it: before a vowel it's flapped, before a coronal stop or a pause it's an unreleased stop, but before most consonants there's no coronal contact at all.

[Zaarin]

I'm near-GA and mine is [kʰɨn~kʰn] versus [kʰẽə̃ɾ̃~kʰẽə̃nʔt̚ ~ kʰẽə̃ʔ]. The former is just depending on how you transcribe the transition between the two tongue positions, I'd say it's phonemically /kn/. The latter depends on what the following consonant it: before a vowel it's flapped, before a coronal stop or a pause it's an unreleased stop, but before most consonants there's no coronal contact at all.

Now that you mention it, I think I have [ˈkʰænɾ] before a vowel.

[Znex]

can [kʰæ̃ːn]
can't [kʰɑ̃ːt̚]
I can do that [ɐɪ̯ kʰn̩ dʉː ðat̚]
I can't do that [ɐɪ̯ kʰɑ̃ːt̚ dʉː ðat̚]

[KathTheDragon]

How about "hole", "whole", "holy", "holey", and "wholly"?

[Zaarin]

How about "hole", "whole", "holy", "holey", and "wholly"?

[ˈhɔʊ̯l] [ˈhɔʊ̯l] [ˈhɔʊ̯li] [ˈhɔʊ̯li] [ˈhɔʊ̯li] ... [ˈlɔɹ̠ˁd ˈgɔd ˌɑlˈmɑɪ̯tʰi] >_>

[Vijay]

[ˈhɔʊ̯li] [ˈhɔʊ̯li] [ˈhɔʊ̯li] ... [ˈlɔɹ̠ˁd ˈgɔd ˌɑlˈmɑɪ̯tʰi] >_>

I think it took me a full minute to get the reference. (My pronunciation is a bit different from yours, I think, but "hole" and "whole" are also homophones for me, as are "holy," "holey," and "wholly").

[Matrix]

[hɔɫ] [hɔɫ] [hɔɫi] [hɔɫi] [hɔɫi]