How are these words said?

[radiantquest]

Another post got me thinking about this. How are these words pronounces correctly?

Applicable: A-Plick-able or app-lick-able

Neither: knee-ther or nye-ther

Carribean: Care-i-be-an or Ca-rib-e-an

I''m sure there are more that I cannot think of right now. Am I dumb? I have heard all these words both ways and am not sure what is correct or is this another came of to-may-toe and ta-mat-toe?

 

[lyra]

Neither can be pronounced both ways, although the posh way is nye-ther.

I'm unclear about the other two, although my husband spends a lot of time in the Carribean, so he would know how the locals pronounce it. I can never answer these questions because I end up second guessing myself!!!

ETA: some are different regionally. I say tah-may-toe.

 

[chiapet]

I think all those words can be pronounced all those ways. People pronounce various words differently depending on where they live and where they''re from (background, culture, etc).

 

[brightlight]

Date: 8/18/2009 5:52:05 PM
Author:radiantquest
Another post got me thinking about this. How are these words pronounces correctly?

Applicable: A-Plick-able or app-lick-able

Neither: knee-ther or nye-ther

Carribean: Care-i-be-an or Ca-rib-e-an

I''m sure there are more that I cannot think of right now. Am I dumb? I have heard all these words both ways and am not sure what is correct or is this another came of to-may-toe and ta-mat-toe?

I wanna say Caribbean is supposed to be pronounced Care-i-be-an b/c I think it''s named for the Carib (Care-ib) Indians. However, I think both ways are accepted.

 

[VRBeauty]

Date: 8/18/2009 11:05:22 PM
Author: brightlight

I wanna say Caribbean is supposed to be pronounced Care-i-be-an b/c I think it's named for the Carib (Care-ib) Indians. However, I think both ways are accepted.

Ditto that -- Care-eh-bee-an with the accent on the bee -- because of the Carib Indians. The other two I think can go eether (or eyether) way.

So much of pronunciation is local or national... Canadian pronunciation of English, for example, often sounds very clipped to my Californian ear. One situation in which different pronunciations really bug me though is when a professional (TV or radio personality) pronounces local place names phonetically... or something... rather than using the local pronunciation. Yes, I know that in most parts of the world, Don Julio Street would be pronounced Don Hulio, but in this tiny corner of the world we call it Don Julio. So if you're in our part of the world, talking about our street.... please have the courtesy to mispronounce it as the locals do!

 

[D&T]

how bout
Often: Aww -fin or Off - Ten

 

[packrat]

I say aww-fin..is the fancy way to say it off-ten maybe? Like Lyra said about nye-ther being the posh way to say it..off-ten sounds more posh hehe!

There''s a town out in Nebraska, Norfolk..everyone calls it Nor-fork. Except me. Good thing I don''t live anywhere near there so I''m not irritated by it all the time..like now, when I have to think about it. If someone would please tell me where the R figures in, I''d be happier. Maybe I''ll start saying Fork Tales instead of Folk Tales...If someone says to me, hey how''re your folks doing? I''ll say, Oh, you mean my forks? They''re pretty good, goin to Vegas again..

Ooo sorry..bit of a rant there! Who knew pronunciation could evoke such anger in someone normally so docile?

 

[D&T]

Date: 8/18/2009 11:40:06 PM
Author: packrat
I say aww-fin..is the fancy way to say it off-ten maybe? Like Lyra said about nye-ther being the posh way to say it..off-ten sounds more posh hehe!

There''s a town out in Nebraska, Norfolk..everyone calls it Nor-fork. Except me. Good thing I don''t live anywhere near there so I''m not irritated by it all the time..like now, when I have to think about it. If someone would please tell me where the R figures in, I''d be happier. Maybe I''ll start saying Fork Tales instead of Folk Tales...If someone says to me, hey how''re your folks doing? I''ll say, Oh, you mean my forks? They''re pretty good, goin to Vegas again..

Ooo sorry..bit of a rant there! Who knew pronunciation could evoke such anger in someone normally so docile?

lol... Norfork!

DH - keeps reminding me to say aww - fin (since I learned english back in the grade school days, I tend to enunciate every letter almost...lol, but I am starting to say aww -fin now)

 

[atroop711]

when it comes to the word Caribbean..the way I say it is Caribb-ean. It''s the way I''ve heard the ppl from the Caribbean pronounce the word.

I think all of the words you listed can be pronounced both ways. I chalk it up to regional choices.

I personally say NYE-ther (neither)

ANother word I hear said differently is Advertisement ( adverTISEment and adVERtisement )

 

[jet2ks]

Lots of regional pronunciation differences. The fastest way I know to get made fun of in school after you move to a new town is to pronounce something "wrong".

Date: 8/18/2009 11:40:06 PM
Author: packrat
I say aww-fin..is the fancy way to say it off-ten maybe? Like Lyra said about nye-ther being the posh way to say it..off-ten sounds more posh hehe!

There's a town out in Nebraska, Norfolk..everyone calls it Nor-fork. Except me. Good thing I don't live anywhere near there so I'm not irritated by it all the time..like now, when I have to think about it. If someone would please tell me where the R figures in, I'd be happier. Maybe I'll start saying Fork Tales instead of Folk Tales...If someone says to me, hey how're your folks doing? I'll say, Oh, you mean my forks? They're pretty good, goin to Vegas again..

Ooo sorry..bit of a rant there! Who knew pronunciation could evoke such anger in someone normally so docile?

Actually, packrat, I can help you there--it is kind of an interesting story about that one. Originally the town founders wanted to name the town North Fork because it was on the north fork of the Elkhorn River. For whatever reason they couldn't use that name, so submitted Norfork as the alternative. Postal authorities, either thinking it was a misspelling or not being able to read the application, entered it legally as Norfolk and it stuck. Of course, Nebraskans being stubborn like they are, the locals refer to it by the historical name. (Yes, it kinda drives me nuts, too)

Now in Kansas, we have Arkansas City, no, not ar-ken-SAW City, ar-KAN-sas City and the flow of water that starts in Colorado as the ar-ken-SAW River instantly becomes the ar-KAN-sas River when it hits the state line and then changes back as soon as it exits.