The English language pronunciation thread

/ ə.ˈlu.mɪ.ˌnm̩ /

next? :p
 
uh-loo-meh-num
 
English, Bill, English.

:shake:

That is English; it's just how you pronounce it. :p English spelling says absolutely nothing about how one pronounces individual words.
 
An upside down and reversed 'e' is not in the English alphabet.
 
An upside down and reversed 'e' is not in the English alphabet.

Are we writing words? No, we're not; this is a pronunciation thread. The point isn't that it's in the English alphabet, the point is that it represents the central middle vowel - /ə/. "uh", for example, can be either /ə/ or /ʌ/, and for non-rhotic speakers, sounds exactly the same as "er". This "spelling pronunciation" that you are using is entirely uninteresting and prevents real discussion on how each individual actually pronounces words.
 
sigh... Did anyone else learn about pronunciation symbols in elementary school?

You know, like a flat line over an o = a long vowel, like in over?

over can only be pronounced one way; therefore it and similar words like 'uhh' and 'umm' are perfectly acceptable reference points in pronouncing certain words. :wallbash:

Besides, Bill, I don't think anybody knows that language besides you. That prevents real discussion on how each individual actually pronounces words more so than what we are currently doing, imho.
 
sigh... Did anyone else learn about pronunciation symbols in elementary school?

No, those are stupid for various reasons. Stick with the IPA.

cardgame said:
over can only be pronounced one way

WRONG. It is pronounced /ˈoʊ.vɚ/ in General American, and /ˈəʊ.və/ in Received Pronunciation. Ignoring the fact that Received Pronunciation is non-rhotic, and thus the final vowel is different, the o-vowel you talk about are completely different in the two dialects!
 
/ˈoʊ.vɚ/ in General American, and /ˈəʊ.və/ in Received Pronunciation. Ignoring the fact that Received Pronunciation is non-rhotic, and thus the final vowel is different, the o-vowel you talk about are completely different in the two dialects!

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Besides, Bill, I don't think anybody knows that language besides you. That prevents real discussion on how each individual actually pronounces words more so than what we are currently doing, imho.

this is where you err. it is not a language but rather a universally agreed upon way of transcribing sounds (hence the "I" in IPA, it stand for international)

anybody who has ever studied a language at college level has at least has contact with this way of describing sounds in whatever language they studied. it is, for better or for for worse, the only way to discuss how each individual is pronouncing not only certain words but rather specific phonemes.
 
IPA 5 chars
Tell that to the person I was responding too. I stand by my statement no matter what vowel sound he was referring to with the "e", though most native English speakers probably know what he meant (i for you IPA people).
 
Aluminium. Say it like you see it. No need for this pretentious IPA crap.
 
Aluminium. Say it like you see it. No need for this pretentious IPA crap.

There's no "say it like you see it" in English. For every vowel, there's a bunch of different sounds possible.

This thread is worthless without IPA.
 
Aluminium. Say it like you see it. No need for this pretentious IPA crap.

No, you say it like I see it! Otherwise it'll just come out all strange and Irish.
 
I recall from my freshman year Economics class (the professor had worked for years in an aluminum smelter and so spoke of metallurgy in most of his examples) that two different men (one American, one French iirc) separately developed nearly identical methods of refining the metal. They both tried to file patents in Britain, but the American made a typo in his telegraph, omitting the final "i" in aluminium. he then decided he liked the sound of it better without the i, and so refused to correct his spelling. As his methos was that used in America, we used his misspelling/pronunciation.
 
Humphry Davy (the discoverer of aluminum) called it "aluminum". Don't bother him about it.
 
I see this fire needs a bit more fuel. The preferred spelling is aluminium according to IUPAC who is the main authority on naming such things. Although aluminum is acceptable(probably only barely :) ).

According to wiki.
 
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