I learned that we have to pronounce /ðə/ before consonants & /ði/ before vowels. For example, the /ðə/ car, but the /ði/ earth. But it seems that a lot of American people pronounce the /ðə/ before vowels, for example the /ðə/ era. Are these native speakers pronouncing wrong? or it is a dialect or something? … Read more
/ɑ/ is called open back unrounded vowel, however it appears in the center bottom of the vowel trapezoid of General American English at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American#Phonology . Why? If GA English indeed uses that bottom central vowel, why not represent it with /ä/ (open central unrounded vowel)? The cot-caught merger is out of the scope of this … Read more
Is there a name for the extra “uh” syllable that is sometimes added as emphasis on the end of words? From looking for examples this is an extra schwa syllable added to words. From further searching it seems to be more common among younger people. Children, teens, and young adults more than anyone else. Examples: … Read more
So, I have always pronounced rectilinear with a long i sound (recteelinear), until the other day when, much to my embarrassment, I heard it pronounced with a short i (rectuhlinear). How would I prevent this pronunciation mistake in the future? What rules are there regarding the long/short i in cases like rectilinear vs rectify? Answer … Read more
A pet peeve of mine is that a colleague at work keeps pronouncing “height” the same as the word “hate” whenever he speaks English. I corrected him once, but he keeps using his pronunciation. We have been working together for years now and it’s a funny little thing that I keep to myself because I … Read more
Mueller, Mueller, Mueller? Why isn’t Robert Mueller’s last name pronounced like “Bueller” of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” fame? Is there a correct pronunciation? I’ve been pronouncing it like Bueller for nearly 2 years. I’ve heard some people on TV pronounce it like I do, but most pronounce it “Muller.” Answer The simple answer is that … Read more
For words ending in the -ing suffix, is the suffix stressed? Unstressed? Does adding the -ing suffix affect the stress of the other syllables? Example: (u is untressed, ‘ is stressed) Deteriorate is (U ‘ U U ‘), is deteriorating (U ‘ U U ‘ U)? Is it (U ‘ U U ‘ ‘)? Answer … Read more
This question is prompted by another question on Stack Exchange regarding the addition of a last letter for no apparent reason during transliteration from Aramaic to Greek : We have the Aramaic given (חקל דמא haqel d’ma, field of blood) (Acts 1:18–19)—but again, with an otherwise inexplicable χ attached to the end: Ἁκελδαμάχ. It made … Read more
As a native French speaker, I used to pronounce the end of all the English words ending in “-ey” as [eɪ] instead of [i]. Most noticeably, such of those words that are directly used in French are almost automatically mispronounced as ending in [eɪ] by even good English French speakers: hockey, jockey, (silicon) valley… or … Read more
For example, if I have the word “carrot,” I can create a new word by appending an “s,” to make “carrots.” However, it takes longer to say the word “carrots” than it does to say “carrot.” Are there any words where you can add a letter (to make a new word), and saying the original … Read more
