The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread

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The second, it's understood by the fact that it's already been mentioned on this thread (I think it was this thread) that IPA [oʊ] is represented by /ow/ or something.

[linguoboy]

/'foyey/

IPA is really easy to learn; you should try it.

Look, I have a degree in linguistics from the University of Chicago. I learned IPA back when you were still shitting your diapers, I just prefer not to use it when phonemicising English. If you have a problem with that, there's a simple solution: Ignore my posts. (Another solution would be, of course, to learn Americanist notation yourself, but I get the impression that learning new things would be anything but "simple" for you.)

[ná'oolkiłí]

Out of curiosity, why do you prefer Americanist notation for phonemicizing English?

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I would likely think that it would be for a reason similar to because most English speakers could comprehend the full measure of what's going on without much investigation in 'Americanist notation' since the way the sounds are written is natural to any English speaker; while (at least for me, and I'm assuming quite a few other people) you'd have to read IPA a lot slower to not make any mistakes in pronunciation, especially in a heavily phonologically complex language such as English.

[linguoboy]

Out of curiosity, why do you prefer Americanist notation for phonemicizing English?

Because it's easier and, in some respects, less misleading. There's no reason to use notation that's more precise than suits your purpose.

[----]

How do you guys pronounce "wool"? It appears like it would be pronounced with a /ʊ/ but I say it something like [wɤ̝ɰˤ]

[faiuwle]

Well, I definitely have /ʊ/ phonemically, but the actual phone is distorted into [ɔ] or something by that [ɫ]. Sometimes it even seems like it's actually [wɫ̩].

[----]

Sometimes it even seems like it's actually [wɫ̩].

This is very similar to what it sounds like for me, I thought it was a syllabic /l/ but I can definitely hear some sort of diphthong in there which is where I got my transcription of how I say it.

[sirdanilot]

A while ago, I heard a Dutch speaking person (Den Haag dialect) pronounce 'googlen' (inflected form of 'to google', usually pronounced [gug@l@], with the original phoneme) as [kuX@l@].

I've heard /g/ in English words be replaced by [k] before, and to a lesser extent by [X] (which is probably due to the orthography) but both in one word is quite special. Perhaps it's analogous to the word <garage> which is pronounced almost invariably as [XAraZ@] (and also "bagage" as [bAXaZ@])

[Travis B.]

I have:

wool: /ˈwʊl/ > [ˈwʊ(ː)]

Note that it is clear it ends in an /l/ there as not only is the vowel backer than that from /ʊ/ alone, but also it behaves as if it had an /l/ at the end in context. E.g.:

wooly: /ˈwʊli/ > [ˈwʊːʊ̯i(ː)]~[ˈwʊɯ̞̯i(ː)]
woolless: /ˈwʊllɪs/ > [ˈwʊːʟ̞ːɨs]

[----]

My /l/ is freaking weird man. In the word 'woolless' it turns out to be uvular: [wɯʁɨs(ː)], or [wɤ̝ɰˤɨs(ː)], a pharyngealized velar. For wooly I have [wɯɫˤi]

[TaylorS]

Just heard a variation on foyer I'd never come across before: /'foyey/.

(Yes, it's Americanist notation. GET A LIFE AND DEAL WITH IT.)

Whenever somebody says it "frenchy" I assume they are being pretentious pricks.

[TaylorS]

How do you guys pronounce "wool"? It appears like it would be pronounced with a /ʊ/ but I say it something like [wɤ̝ɰˤ]

[wʊʟ̞]

[Jetboy]

I just realized that I have, I think, /ð/ for the verb version of <scythe>, as in, "it scythed through the air", but /θ/ for the noun. So "The scythe scythed" would be /ðǝ saiθ saiðd/. Am I just freaky that way? I feel like this is part a more extensive pattern of English derivation, but if so, I'm forgetting other examples right now.

[Lyhoko Leaci]

Wreath/wreathe, breath/breathe, bath/bathe? There's a vowel change in some of those, though, aside from the [θ] to [ð] change...

Edit: Oops, not all of those have a vowel change...

[Ser]

Just heard a variation on foyer I'd never come across before: /'foyey/.

(Yes, it's Americanist notation. GET A LIFE AND DEAL WITH IT.)

Whenever somebody says it "frenchy" I assume they are being pretentious pricks.

I've only heard that word like three times and from two people only: a teacher and the principal of my high school, and they both used /ˈfɔɪeɪ/, didn't know it was uncommon. The real frenchy way would be /fwaˈjeɪ/ anyway.

[Jetboy]

Yeah, that's the kind. I have /i/ (FEET) for both wreath and wreathe, though (I never actually thought about them being different before). Also, the other's finally come to me: the Greek -sis/-ze pairs, like analysis versus analyze.

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wreathe (noun): [ʁʷiθ]
wreathe (verb): [ʁʷi:ð̞ ]
A couple notes:
You might notice that my /r/ here is different from what it is in all of my other glosses, and that is because after saying some words I've noticed that there's almost never coronal contact with my /r/, so the one that it is here is far more accurate.
Also, the [ð̞ ] is approximant-ish only in the citation form here, in all other forms e.g. wreathed, wreathes it's a fricative.

[faiuwle]

I just realized that I have, I think, /ð/ for the verb version of <scythe>, as in, "it scythed through the air", but /θ/ for the noun. So "The scythe scythed" would be /ðǝ saiθ saiðd/. Am I just freaky that way? I feel like this is part a more extensive pattern of English derivation, but if so, I'm forgetting other examples right now.

Huh, I actually acquired <scythe> as /sai/, without the /ð/ at all, though googling it now does confirm that that's wrong, or at least non-standard.

[Xephyr]

Out of curiosity, why do you prefer Americanist notation for phonemicizing English?

Because it's easier and, in some respects, less misleading. There's no reason to use notation that's more precise than suits your purpose.

How about the fact that almost every person who will be reading your posts uses and is used to IPA? "Write for your audience", anyone?

[AnTeallach]

I just realized that I have, I think, /ð/ for the verb version of <scythe>, as in, "it scythed through the air", but /θ/ for the noun. So "The scythe scythed" would be /ðǝ saiθ saiðd/. Am I just freaky that way? I feel like this is part a more extensive pattern of English derivation, but if so, I'm forgetting other examples right now.

I have /ð/ in both. But perhaps my dialect is more accepting of nouns ending in /ð/ than some others, e.g. booth /bu:ð/, where I know a lot of people have /θ/.

[spats]

re: θ vs. ð

I have the distinction in all of the following:
wreath / wreathe
bath / bathe
scythe (the tool) / scythe (to slice)
teeth / teethe

There's probably a few more I can't think of.

I really like the closed syllable/voiceless final noun vs. open syllable/voiced final verb alternation in English - I wish it were more productive.

[Jetboy]

If someone said /buð/ to me, my first reaction would be to take it as a verb, since it reminds me of another alteration: shelf and shelve.

[Astraios]

How about: 'olive oil' and 'soy sauce'? I've noticed that my parents both have olive "oil and soy "sauce, whereas me and both of my sisters have "olive oil and "soy sauce (please excuse the notation...).

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[ˈɑlɘvɔʏ̯ɔˤ]
[ˈsɔʏ̯ sɑs]

I have the same stress pattern as you and your sisters. I've never heard it the way your parents say it.