The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread

[----]

eagle: [iɣʕ̩ ]
seagull [siːɣəʕ]

my coda /l/ varies from pharyngeal to uvular, but it's always somewhere way back.

[TaylorS]

can I: [kʰɛ̃.aɪ]
can you: [kʰɛ̃jʉ]
can he: [kʰɛ̃.i]
can she: [kʰɛ̃ʃi]
can it: [kʰɛ̃.ɪʔ]
can we: [kʰɛ̃wi]
can y'guys: [kʰɛ̃jaɪz̥]
can they: [kʰɛ̃.eː]

[finlay]

eagle
seagull

/ˈigəl/ [ˈi(ˑ)ɡəɫ]~[ˈi(ˑ)gɫ̩]~[ˈi(ˑ)gəw]~[ˈi(ˑ)gu]
/ˈsi#gʌl/ [ˈsiːgʌɫ]~[ˈsiːgʌw]

[Bob Johnson]

eagle: [iɣʕ̩ ]

Pull the other one, it's got bells on.

[----]

I think I'm missing a joke or something, what

[Timmytiptoe]

I think I'm missing a joke or something, what

If you meant

Pull the other one, it's got bells on.

It's an idiom expressing disbelief. Something like "Yeah, right".

[----]

Oh. Well I'm not sure what part of that is especially unbelievable, but I'm assuming it's the [ʕ] for /l/. I don't have a microphone so there's no way to prove it, but my coda /l/ is in fact, like most people around here, usually a pharyngeal or uvular approximant; there's free variation. It's not a particularly strong sound which might be what you're imagining, I could understand where the disbelief would come from that.

[derkins]

<s'mores>, <ewe>?
/∫morz~smorz/, /iu/

Every person from my area I've checked with would say "an ewe" rather than "a ewe", but "a union" rather than "an union", so they aren't just illiterate or something.

[Rui]

CALLING ALL BRITISH ENGLISH SPEAKERS

I have a friend who has a half-English accent (her mother is English) who pronounces the country "Nicaragua" funny. She pronounces it something like [nɪ.kə.rə.ˌɡju.ə]. I can't wrap my head around how that pronunciation could have possibly come about, and I'm wondering how common (if found at all) in the UK it is...

She also has a diphthong in the second syllable of "porpoise"...is that a British thing as well?

[finlay]

CALLING ALL BRITISH ENGLISH SPEAKERS

I have a friend who has a half-English accent (her mother is English) who pronounces the country "Nicaragua" funny. She pronounces it something like [nɪ.kə.rə.ˌɡju.ə]. I can't wrap my head around how that pronunciation could have possibly come about, and I'm wondering how common (if found at all) in the UK it is...

She also has a diphthong in the second syllable of "porpoise"...is that a British thing as well?

The short answer is that they're not words we're exposed to that often, so people often use spelling pronunciations of them.

Personally I have /nɪkaˈragju.a/ for the country, although I'm aware that it's "meant" to be /nɪkaˈragwa/ – I pronounce the <u> as a long one, so it's perfectly conceivable that she's just taken it one step further and stressed the /ju/.

"Porpoise" will have /ɔɪz/ on analogy with "tortoise" – they could be pronounced with a reduced schwa, but often aren't. I realise this perhaps just raises more questions... but yeah, it's probably a British thing.

[Astraios]

"Porpoise" will have /ɔɪz/ on analogy with "tortoise" – they could be pronounced with a reduced schwa, but often aren't. I realise this perhaps just raises more questions... but yeah, it's probably a British thing.

/z/ ? No. It's definitely with /s/, whether it's with a diphthong or a schwa.

[finlay]

"Porpoise" will have /ɔɪz/ on analogy with "tortoise" – they could be pronounced with a reduced schwa, but often aren't. I realise this perhaps just raises more questions... but yeah, it's probably a British thing.

/z/ ? No. It's definitely with /s/, whether it's with a diphthong or a schwa.

You weirdo. It's got to be /ɔɪz/ or /əs/... the two are connected. If it was /ɔɪs/ it would have to be spelt "porpoice" and the vowel would be much shorter.

[Astraios]

... I've never ever heard anyone pronounce either of them with /z/, and I've spoken to a lot of people about them both (because there is a running joke in my house that we're going to get a pet one of each), from people from Leeds to from Plymouth. And yes, it has a short diphthong. You're the weirdo!

[----]

You're both weirdos for not pronouncing porpoise with a schwa.

[Astraios]

But I do... I was saying that for people who have a diphthong it's never with /z/ IME.

[finlay]

possibly because people aren't really sure how to pronounce it, which brings me back to my original point...

[----]

But I do... I was saying that for people who have a diphthong it's never with /z/ IME.

Oh, well then Finlay's the only weirdo here.

[Mr. Z]

How do you pronounce "last" (verb)?

[Bob Johnson]

How do you pronounce "last" (verb)?

Seriously?

/læst/ > [læ(ː)st] ~ [læ(ː)s] ~ [læ(ː)s.t‿]

[linguoboy]

Question for German-speakers: Wie sprecht ihr Star aus? Benutzt ihr diesselbe Aussprache für die Bedeutung "berühmtem Künstler" als für "Singvogel" oder unterscheidet ihr sie?

[MisterBernie]

I have [ʃtaːɐ̯] for 'starling; cataract; glaucoma', and usually [staːɐ̯] for 'celebrity', though it occasionally does shift over into the former; particularly <Stars und Sternchen> is liable to result in something like [ʃtaːɐ̯s ʊnt ˈʃtɛɐ̯nçɲ̩] .

[derkins]

<enchilada>
/ænt͡ʃɪlɑɾə/ > [ɛ̃(n)t͡ʃɨlɑɾə]
<crayon>
/kræn/ > [krɛ̃n]
<sandwich>
/sænwɪt͡ʃ/ > [sɛ̃wɪt͡ʃ]
<-ound>
/aʊnd/ > [æ(ʊ)n(d)]
<-owl, -oul>
/aʊl/ > [æ(ʊ)l]
<horror>
/horər/ > [hɔɹː]

I really question historic /æ/ before /m, n/ still belonging to that same phoneme, and I doubt that /aʊ/ will remain distinct from /æ/ for long. I personally hope that /aʊn, aʊnd/ eventually become /æŋ, æn/ to replace historic /æŋ/ that shifted to /eŋ/.

[Mr. Z]

How do you pronounce "last" (verb)?

Seriously?

/læst/ > [læ(ː)st] ~ [læ(ː)s] ~ [læ(ː)s.t‿]

My father scolded my brother for pronouncing it with an [e], saying it should be pronounced with /A/. Of course my brother wasn't trying to pronounce it correctly since he was actually speaking Hebrew at the moment, and [e] is a common replacement for /{/ in Hebrew.

[Bob Johnson]

How do you pronounce "last" (verb)?

Seriously?

/læst/ > [læ(ː)st] ~ [læ(ː)s] ~ [læ(ː)s.t‿]

My father scolded my brother for pronouncing it with an [e], saying it should be pronounced with /A/. Of course my brother wasn't trying to pronounce it correctly since he was actually speaking Hebrew at the moment, and [e] is a common replacement for /{/ in Hebrew.

... Huh. /ɑ/ I think is more BrE... yeah, BATH words, of which this appears to be one. [e] or even [ɛ] shouldn't step on any other words though. (Closest is <lace> I think)

[TaylorS]

How do you pronounce "last" (verb)?

[ɫɛəsː]