The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread

[Sglod]

canyon: [kʰanʲ.jɜn]
Enya: [ʔænʲ.jɜ]
onion: [ʔɜnʲ.jɜn]

[linguoboy]

Apropos of a recent Language Log:

poinsettia
forsythia
dahlia
fuchsia
schefflera

[Travis B.]

poinsettia: /pɔɪnˈsɛtə/ [pʰɔ̃ɪ̯̃nˈtsɜːə̯]
forsythia: /fɔrˈsɪθiə/ [fɔʁˈsʲɘθiːə(ː)]
dahlia: /ˈdæliə/ [ˈtɛːɯ̞̯iːə(ː)]
fuchsia: /ˈfjuʃə/ [ˈfjʉʃə(ː)]
schefflera: /ʃɛˈflɛrə/ [ʃɜˈfɰe̞ːʁə(ː)]*

* This is actually my parents' pronunciation, not being familiar with the plant myself.

[Zaarin]

poinsettia [pʰɔɪ̯nˈzɛɾə]
forsythia [fɔɹ̱ˁˈsɑɪ̯θiə] (this is just a guess)
dahlia [ˈdɑliə]
fuchsia [ˈfjuʃə]
schefflera [ʃɛfˈlɛɹ̱ˁə] (also a guess)

[Sumelic]

This is tough, since I only learned a few of these by ear, and I have revised my pronunciations of several to match my prescriptive opinions about what's "correct." Some of them aren't in my active vocabulary at all, and only in my passive vocabulary as types of flowers that I know nothing more of than the name. I'll be going with phonemic transcriptions only, since I assume that's the main thing you're interested in (and anyway, I'm not that great at analysing my pronunciation phonetically).

poinsettia: growing up I had /pɔɪ̯ntˈsɛtiɐ/, but nowadays I aim for /pɔɪ̯nˈsɛtiɐ/
forsythia: not familiar with it growing up. Looking at it I would guess /fɔ˞ˈsɪθiɐ/; looking it up I see /fɚˈsɪθiɐ/ which seems basically the same. But /fɔ˞ˈsaɪ̯θiɐ/ or /fɚˈsaɪ̯θiɐ/ seem defendable also.
dahlia: I'd guess /ˈdɑliɐ/. Apparently /ˈdeɪliə/ also exists in the UK; it seems justifiable.
fuchsia: growing up I had /ˈfjuʃɐ/, which really seems indefensible to me now. If I could, I'd use /ˈfʌkʃɐ/, but I don't really think I could get away with it. Maybe /ˈfʊkʃɐ/ would be a bit safer (and a better approximation to the German name I guess), but it would still be kind of dangerous. Taboo avoidance is annoying...
schefflera: I'd guess /ˈʃɛflɚrɐ/. Looks like I guessed right!

[----]

[pʰɔɪn'tsɛɾə]
not sure, never heard of it
['dɑ:ɫiə]
['fjʉʃə]
['ʃɛfɫɜɹə]

[Sglod]

poinsettia: [pʰɔʏ̯nʔˈsæʔiɜ]
forsythia: [fo̞ˑˈsɒʏ̯ðiɜ]
dahlia: [ˈdɜɪ̯liɜ]
fuschia: [ˈfɘʊ̯̈ʃɜ]
scheflera: [ʃæfˈlɘˑɹʷɜ] A guess from the spelling

[ol bofosh]

poinsettia [pʰɔɪ̯n.ˈsɛ.tʰɪi̯.ɜ] or [ˈpʰɔɪ̯n.sɛ.tʰɜ] (not sure)
forsythia [fɔː.sɐɪ̯.θɪi̯.ɜ]
dahlia [ˈdɛɪ̯.lɪi̯.ɜ]
fuchsia [ˈfjʏʉ.ʃɛ]
schefflera [ˈʃɛf.lə.ʋɹɛ]

Last is a guess, first is a semi-guess (I know I've heard it, but not sure how I've heard it said).

And don't forget the misleading cotoneaster [kʰə.tʰɜʉ.nɪi̯.ˈæs.tɜ].

[jmcd]

[pʰɔinsɛʔeɐ] poinsettia
[daɫeɐ] dahlia
[fjʉʃə] fuschia

The other two would be spelling pronounciations if attempted.

[Sumelic]

How about:

walk
maul
doll
golf
mold/mould
bold
bowled
doled
rolled
dolled
mauled
halt
scald
vault
cauldron
alder
baldric
false
thraldom/thralldom
alternative
bald

I know it's a long list. I'm mainly interested in the phonemes and phonemic contrasts you feel exist among these, if that makes it easier for anyone to write a response.

[Nortaneous]

wOk
mOl
dOl
gOlf
mold
bold
bold
dold
rold
dOld
mOld
hOlt
skOld
vOlt
kOldr@n
Old@r
bOldr1k
fOls
TrOld@m
Ol"t@`n@41v
bOld

----

poin"sEt(i)@ (-Et@ and -Eti@ are both valid)
for"sITi@
"dAli@
fjuS@
???

k{nj@n
Enj@
Vnj1n

[Sglod]

[woːk] - walk
[moːɫ] - maul
[dʌ̞ɫ] - doll
[gʌ̞ɫf] - golf
[mʌ̞ɫd] - mould
[bʌ̞ɫd] - bold, bowled and bald
[dʌ̞ɫd] - doled and dolled
[ɹʷʌ̞ɫd] - rolled
[moɫd] - mauled
[hʌ̞ɫʔ] - halt
[sg̊ʌ̞ɫd] - scald
[vʌ̞ɫʔ] - vault
[ˈkʌ̞ɫdʒɹʷɜ̃n] - cauldron
[ˈʌ̞ɫdɜ] - alder, older
[ˌmɘstɜˈɹæs ˈbʌ̞ɫdʒɹʷɘk] - Mr. S Baldrick
[ˈfʌ̞ɫs] - false
[ˈfɹoɫdɜm] - thralldom (the 'f' is not a mistake)
[ˌʌ̞ɫˈtɜ˞nɜʔɘf] - alternative

[Zaarin]

How do you pronounce the name "Elaine"? I don't actually know anyone with this name. I assumed it would be [əˈlɛɪ̯n] or [ɛˈlɛɪ̯n], but the internet seems to insist it's [iˈlɛɪ̯n]. I was thinking of using the name for a character in my book (after Elaine of Astolat, aka The Lady of Shalott), but if the name really is pronounced [iˈlɛɪ̯n], I'll look for something else...

[jmcd]

I'd pronounce it [əˈɫen] or [ɘˈɫen] myself.

Why would the pronunciation influence your choice?

EDIT:forgot velarisation

[Vijay]

I think I'd say [ʔɪˈleɪ̯n].

[Zaarin]

I'd pronounce it [əˈlen] or [ɘˈlen] myself.

Why would the pronunciation influence your choice?

Because [iˈlɛɪ̯n] sounds painful to my ears. I want an Arthurian name (but one less obvious than Guenevere or Morgan), so I'm also considering Vivian or Evienne (both among the names given to the Lady of the Lake).

[Vijay]

Someone once misread my name as "Vivian." I don't know how, but they did!

[Zaarin]

Someone once misread my name as "Vivian." I don't know how, but they did!

I think people blur together every name that begins with "V"--my mom's name is Veronica (no, she's not Hispanic, Italian, or Catholic ), and she regularly gets called "Victoria" or "Vivian." I also knew a Victoria who said she regularly got called "Veronica" and "Vivian."

[Travis B.]

I pronounce Elaine as [ɯ̞ːˈʟ̞ẽ(ː)(n)], corresponding to underlying /əˈleɪn/.

[jmcd]

I think I'd say [ʔɪˈleɪ̯n].

That seems to be pronunciation given on Merriam Webster.

And this shows differing pronunciations being unfairly called "wrong".

[jal]

Because [iˈlɛɪ̯n] sounds painful to my ears. I want an Arthurian name

Well, "Arthurian" is a very imprecise term. Iirc, Arthur is original from Welsh legends, but Elaine is from a later date. The name itself is from Old French (which didn't exist yet in the time of King Arthur, who wasn't really a king anyway), so it would be pronounced something like (a guess) [eˈlɛːn] or [eˈlɛɪn].


JAL

[jmcd]

What about Olwen if it's Arthurian you're thinking of?

[Zaarin]

I pronounce Elaine as [ɯ̞ːˈʟ̞ẽ(ː)(n)], corresponding to underlying /əˈleɪn/.

Yay, I'm not alone.

Because [iˈlɛɪ̯n] sounds painful to my ears. I want an Arthurian name

Well, "Arthurian" is a very imprecise term. Iirc, Arthur is original from Welsh legends, but Elaine is from a later date. The name itself is from Old French (which didn't exist yet in the time of King Arthur, who wasn't really a king anyway), so it would be pronounced something like (a guess) [eˈlɛːn] or [eˈlɛɪn].


JAL

Well, I'm not writing an Arthurian romance. I'm actually writing sci-fi; I just want an Arthurian name for her. I want her name to sound slightly old-fashioned in a romantic sort of way. Other names I considered for her include Imogen and Geneviève (I actually haven't ruled that one out). ETA: But I did consider spelling it "Élaine."

What about Olwen if it's Arthurian you're thinking of?

I actually don't want a particularly Welsh-sounding name. But at this point I'm leaning towards Elaine as a middle name, with one of the following for a first name: Vivienne, Evienne, or Geneviève. Geneviève isn't explicitly Arthurian, but apparently some sources suggest it may come from Guenevere. And it still has an old-fashioned romance sound, IMO.

(Note: Here I'm using "romance" in the sense of "Arthurian romance" or "chanson de geste" or the artistic movement, not "love story" romance.)

[Pole, the]

Are there people pronouncing “Neon Indian” as [niən ɪniən] so it rhymes?

[Sumelic]

For me, rhyming words have to be the same in the stressed syllable nucleus and everything after that, so " ˈNeon ˈIndian " is not a possible rhyme because they have different vowels in their stressed syllables. Besides that, I also have /ɑn/ in "Neon," at least in slow speech.