The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread

[Frislander]

In the word horseshoe, do you pronounce the sibilant portion as [sʃ], [ʃː], [ʃ], or something else?

I think I normally have [ʃː], but I'm not 100% confident that thinking about it isn't throwing off my pronunciation from normal.

I say [sʃ] when I'm being careful about it, but probably run it into [ʃ] in running speech.

[Chengjiang]

In the word horseshoe, do you pronounce the sibilant portion as [sʃ], [ʃː], [ʃ], or something else?

I think I normally have [ʃː], but I'm not 100% confident that thinking about it isn't throwing off my pronunciation from normal.

I say [sʃ] when I'm being careful about it, but probably run it into [ʃ] in running speech.

Well, yes, if I'm enunciating the word I'll probably say [sʃ], but I'm asking about more natural speech.

[alynnidalar]

I think it's just [ʃ] for me, I don't think it's geminated.

[Travis B.]

I have [ɕː] in horseshoe; [ɕ] for me is an allophone of /ʃ/, in this case before /u/.

[Zaarin]

Since horseshoe is a word I virtually never have occasion to use, I don't think I've ever pronounced it otherwise than [sʃ].

[vokzhen]

[ʃː] in careful pronunciation, normally just [ʃ]. So horseshoe and whoreshoe are identical

[Pole, the]

A related question:

Who pronounces “stronger” with initial [ɕː] / [ʃː] (as in this song)?

[Travis B.]

I can see pronouncing initial /str/ as [ɕːɻ͡ʁ] at times in particularly uncareful speech, but my normal pronunciation is [ɕtɕɻ͡ʁ].

[Frislander]

A related question:

Who pronounces “stronger” with initial [ɕː] / [ʃː] (as in this song)?

I pronounce it with an affricate: [stʃɹɒŋgə]

[Sumelic]

fur
lure
floor
flurry
lurid
fluorine

I'm mainly wondering if any North American speakers have /flɝrin/. That would be consistent with how I normally pronounce words in the "lure" lexical set (which is distinct from "poor"), but for some reason "fluor-" is an exception.

My pronunciations:
fur /fɝ/
lure /lɝ/
floor /flɔ˞/
flurry /flɝri/
lurid /lɝrid/
fluorine /flɔ˞rin/

[KathTheDragon]

fur /fɜ:/
lure /lʊ:/
floor /flɔ:/
flurry /flʌri/
lurid /lʊ:rɪd/
fluorine /flʊ:ri:n/ [-ʊ:- ~ -ɔ:-]

[Matrix]

fur [fɹ̩]
lure [lʊ̆ɹ]
floor [flɔɹ]
flurry [flɹ̩.i]
lurid [lʊ̆ɹ.ɪd]
fluorine [flɔɹ.in]

[Frislander]

I'm mostly like Kath, but I do show a bit of northern variation.

fur [fɜ:]
lure [lʊ:]
floor [flɔ:]
flurry [ˈflʌ.ɹi]~[ˈflʊ.ɹi]
lurid [ˈlʊ:.ɹɪd]~[ˈljʊ:.ɹɪd] (the ʊ often verges on o)
fluorine [ˈflɔ:.ɹi:n]

[alynnidalar]

Something akin to:

fur /fɹ̩/
lure /lʊəɹ/
floor /flɔɹ/
flurry /ˈflɹ̩.i/
lurid /ˈlu.ɹɪd/
fluorine /ˈflɔɹ.in/

[Travis B.]

fur: [fʁ̩(ː)]
lure: [ʟ̞u(ː)ʁ]
floor: [fwɔ(ː)ʁ]
flurry: [ˈfɰʁ̩ːʁi(ː)]
lurid: [ˈʟ̞uːʁɘːt]
fluorine: [ˈfwɔːʁĩ(ː)(n)]

[opipik]

Please note that I'm a non-native speaker.

fur lure floor flurry lurid fluorine
[fɚ̞ ɭə̞˞ flɔˑɻ flɐɻɪ̝ l̠ə̝ɻɪd̥ fl̠ɔəɻɪ̠n]

[ˈd̪ʲɛ.gɔ kɾuˑl̪]

Three
Arthritis
Asthma
They
Brother

I pronounce them as closely as I can to RP (sorry America, I don't like [ɹ̠ʷ]): [ˈθɹ̠ʷiː] [ˈɑːθɹ̠ʷäɪ̯tɪs] [ˈæsθmə] [ðe̞ɪ̯] [bɹ̠ʷɒðə], but I still (it's 3 years since I discovered IPA etc.) can't distinguish 'three'-'free' and 'breathe'-'breve' and I want to ask you - how do you hear the difference between these two places of articulation.

[Travis B.]

three: [θɻ͡ʁi(ː)]
arthritis: [ˈɑʁˈθɻ͡ʁəeɾɘs~ʌʁˈθɻ͡ʁəeɾɘs]*
asthma: [ˈɛːzʲmə(ː)]
they: [ðe(ː)~te(ː)]
brother: [ˈpʁʌːðʁ̩(ː)]

* I can't decide which this should be; most words from historical /ɑːr/ + fortis obstruent have [ʌʁ] for me but certain words such as farce and Martha still have [ɑʁ], while this seems to be acceptable with either, even though in more careful speech I am more likely to say [ɑʁ] whereas in less careful speech I am more likely to say [ʌʁ].

[Sumelic]

Phonemic
three /θri/
arthritis /ɑrθraɪtɪs/
asthma /æzmʌ/
they /ðeɪ/
brother /brʌðər/

Broad Phonetic
three /θɹʷiː/
arthritis [ɑ˞θɹʷaɪɾɪs]
asthma [aːzmɐ~aːzmə] *
they [ðe̞ɪ̯]
brother [bɹʷɐˑðɚ~b̥ɹʷɐˑðɚ]

* I can use the vowel of "cut" (which I think is closest to [ɐ]) at the end of this word if it is said slowly in isolation, but reduction towards a schwa-like value (with a shorter, more raised vowel) is also possible.
It seems to be a general pattern that "th" and "s" are voiced before "m" in words derived from Greek (like rhythmic /ˈrɪðmɪk/ and organismal /ɔrgəˈnɪzməl/), which is why the pronunciation of isthmus with a voiceless s (usually /ɪsməs/, sometimes /ɪsθməs/ or /istməs/) has always seemed odd to me. But looking at the OED, it seems like "asthma" traditionally had a voiceless "s" (as in /ˈæstmə/, /ˈasθmə/) which yields the modern British /ˈasmə/, while the American pronunciation with /z/ is an innovation. I guess "sth" doesn't behave the same way as individual "s" and "th."

[Frislander]

Three [θɹiː]
Arthritis [ɑːθ.ˈɹaɪ.ts̩]
Asthma [ˈas.mɐ]
They [ðeɪ]
Brother [ˈbɹʊ.ðɐ]

[Zaarin]

Three [ˈθɹ̠ˁi]
Arthritis [ɑɹ̠ˁˈθɹ̠ˁɑɪ̯ɾɪ̆s]
Asthma [ˈæzmə]
They [ˈðɛɪ̯]
Brother [ˈbɹ̠ˁʌðɹ̩̠ˁ]

[opipik]

three arthritis asthma they brother
[θɻɪː ɑ˞θɻa̠ɪ̯tʰɪ̠s æ(s)θmə ðɛɪ̯ bɻʌðɚ]

[vokzhen]

fur [fɻ̍ˁ]
lure [lʶʉwɻ̍ˁ]
floor [flʶo̞ɻˁ]
flurry [flʶɻ̍ˁ(ɻˁ)i]
lurid [lʶʉɻˁɨd]
fluorine [flʶo̞ɻˁĩn]
Three [θʷɹ̠ʷˁɪi̯]
Arthritis [əɹθʷɹ̠ʷˁəɪ̯ɾɨs]
Asthma [æzmə]
They [ðeɪ̯]
Brother [bɻʷˁəðɹ̠̍ˁ]

All /r/s are slightly rounded, those with [ʷ] are almost as rounded as /w/. There's some intermediate, as there's noticable unrounding during the /r/ of flurry. My /r/ is normally apical and just before the transition from bumpy to smooth on the hard palate, but adjacent /θ ð/ they instead appear to be apical (when vocalized) or laminal (consonantal, offglide) and either at or just behind the alveolar ridge, at least in these examples. In arthritis, I also can't feel nearly as strong a constriction in the pharyngeal-epiglottal area for the first /r/. Unmarked is that they're all sulcalized, lightest in dipthongs (floor arthritis) and strongest in the onset of a stressed syllable (three). With an onset of /θr/ there can also be very light contact, though it doesn't quite seem right to call it an actual flap.

[Znex]

fur [fœː]
lure [lyə̯]
floor [floː]
flurry ['flɐɻʷi]
lurid ['lyːɻʷəd̥~'lyə̯ɻʷəd̥]
fluorine ['flyːɻʷɪĩ̯n~'flyə̯ɻʷɪĩ̯n]
three [θɻʷɪi̯]
arthritis [ɐː'θɻʷɐɪ̯ɾəs]
asthma ['aθsmɐ]
they [ðɛɪ̯]
brother ['bɻʷɐðɐ]

[œ(ː) y(ː)] have protruded rounding unlike the typical Eurolinguistic realisation.

[Sumelic]

coherent
inherent
adherent
spherical
heroism