The English language pronunciation thread

[say1988]

It rhymes with "moths."

Then how do you pronounce "moths"?
There are two common pronunciations I know of and use interchangeably, differing in the pronunciation of the "th" and I don't know how to describe the difference.

I agree on meme, I use the long "e" even though I have always been led to believe it is supposed to be one syllable with a soft "e", as in men.

Privacy and vitamin with long i or with short i?

Both long, though I accept variation in "privacy" but not "vitamin" (which I have rarely if ever heard).

 

[Bill3000]

IPA required for this thread, otherwise it is utterly, utterly pointless.

Pretty much. At most you can say "rhymes with X" but that doesn't say anything about how you pronounce that!

 

[Cato the Elder]

privacy = long
vitamin = short

that is the English way.

I've heard Brits say "privacy" with a short i though. Is that some kind of regional dialect or were they using incorrect pronounciation for some reason?

 

[dannyshenanigan]

How does everybody pronounce February? Feh-byu-airy, Feh-brew-airy.

 

[Cynovolans]

How does everybody pronounce February? Feh-byu-airy, Feh-brew-airy.

The first way, with the first r silent.

 

[Zkribbler]

Feh-byu-airy...except when I get lazy and pronounce it "Feb-ya-wary."

 

[Bill3000]

Learn IPA, fewls!

 

[Elta]

Learn IPA, fewls!

Post of the day.

 

[civ_king]

How do you (as in where your from not necessarily what is 'correct' since that is subjective)

pronounce swaths?


Ibuprofen


Gass street.

There is a street called Gass st. here in Vegas, when I live on it in the pre internet era it was hell giving directions because everyone had a different idea of how it was pronounced.

I've heard.

Gas
Gase
Gause
Ghos
Ghase
Gooss

And everyone is always absolutely sure they are saying it the proper way.

swaths rhymes with moths

I beau(as in beautiful) pro fen

I pronounce Gass as Gas

 

[cardgame]

I-byew-pro-fin

that.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

I learned what each of those letters mean in detail not one year ago and I've already forgotten

Learn them? That's like memorizing the Periodic Table. They're just references.

 

[gugalpm]

Learn them? That's like memorizing the Periodic Table. They're just references.

What's the problem with memorizing the PT?

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

It's a waste of time?

 

[classical_hero]

Swaths does not rhyme with moths. It is pronounced sway-ths.

 

[pesgores]

In Portuguese you rarely have different pronounciations for each word. There is the difference between PT PT and PT BR, but inside each, it rarely (or even never) changes.

In my Portuguese style, ee-boo-proh-f-eh-n.
F-eh-brew-air-ee.
Sw-oh-th-ss.
G-eh-ss.

Can you English native speakers say "João", while reading the "ã" correctly? I can't find any phonetic corespondant in English. Huumm, maybe the "a" from "main".

Also can you speak the "j" like us? Not "djason", but just "jason". That sound is often used, especially in the end of words as an "s" when it is plural (or not, in some rare cases).

 

[Cato the Elder]

Is the Portuguese "j" like the "s" in "pleasure" or like the "j" in the French name "Jean"?

 

[Lillefix]

Seems like it from wiki. The real way to pronounce j by the way is with y like in "you".

 

[pesgores]

Is the Portuguese "j" like the "s" in "pleasure" or like the "j" in the French name "Jean"?

Yes, it's like the French name "Jean". But we call it "jota", not "ji". The Germans call it "jot" and read the "j" like a "y".

Seems like it from wiki. The real way to pronounce j by the way is with y like in "you".

In what language? Spanish say "jes" instead of "yes", but we don't.

 

[tycoonist]

I've heard Brits say "privacy" with a short i though. Is that some kind of regional dialect or were they using incorrect pronounciation for some reason?

ok, what i say is in BBC English a.k.a. London-ish, public schoolboy. i think most of my friends would agree with me on the pronunciation, but i guess someone from Liverpool or Newcastle might disagree massively.

 

[Lillefix]

In what language? Spanish say "jes" instead of "yes", but we don't.

I noticed it was like that in IPA(the alphabet you use to show exact pronounciation) when I checked the pronounciation of João.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palatal_approximant