Aunt, adult, pajamas: Why can't we agree how to pronounce ...

Aunt is another one that's pronounced differently depending on where you're from: If you say it "ahnt" you're probably from Britain or one of just a couple ... SkiptoheaderSkiptomaincontentSkiptofooterSkipadvertAnalysisAunt,adult,pajamas:Whycan'tweagreehowtopronouncecommonwords?Callittheproblemoftoilet-paper-rollwords(Thinkstock)byJamesHarbeckJanuary11,2015ShareonFacebookShareonTwitterShareviaEmailHowdoyoupronounceeachofthefollowingwords?Andisthereanothercorrectwaytopronouncethem?adult,address,almond,amen,arctic,aunt,banal,Caribbean,diabetes,either,envelope,harassment,herb,homage,mayonnaise,neither,niche,nuclear,pajama,potato,produce(asinproducedepartment),schedule,tomato,UranusTheseareall(touseanon-technicalterm)toilet-paper-rollwords.Youknowhowthetoiletpaperrollcangooverthetoporunderthebottom,butmostpeoplewillpreferoneway—andmayevenhatetheotherway?Toilet-paper-rollwordshavetwocommonpronunciations,butpeopletendtocommittooneortheother…sometimesquitevehemently.SkipadvertI'mnottalkingabout"thiswayisBritishandthatwayisAmerican."TheaboveareallwordsyoucanhearbothwaysinthesamepartofAmerica.Well,OK,I'vetossedinafewfamousBritish-Americandistinguishers:tomato,potato,andpajama.TheAmericanswentwithapronunciationmatchingwhatwouldbeexpectedfromanEnglishwordspelledthatway,andtheBritswentwithsomethingclosertothepronunciationinthelanguagewegotthewordsfrom.Foranotherclassicpair,eitherandneither,therearepeopleonbothsidesoftheAtlanticusingeachpronunciation,andbothhavesomehistoricalbasis.Wewouldexpectittobe"ee"goingbyhistoricalpatterns,butthe"eye"versioncametobepreferredinLondon,whichmadeitthehigher-classversion.Auntisanotheronethat'spronounceddifferentlydependingonwhereyou'refrom:Ifyousayit"ahnt"you'reprobablyfromBritainoroneofjustacouplepartsoftheU.S.(notablytheBostonarea).Infact,the"ant"pronunciationistheolderone,butitshiftedto"ahnt"inEnglandafterthecoloniesweresettled.Thosecoloniesthatretainedstrongertieswith—andrespectfor—Britainacquiredthe"ahnt"versionandhavetendedtokeepitasamarkofdistinction.SkipadvertSkipadvertThetruthis,mosttoilet-paper-rollwordpronunciationdifferencescomefromBritshandlingawordonewayandAmericanshandlingitanother—andthentheBritishpronunciationgettingusedintheU.S.aswell(andsometimesviceversa).Andforquiteafewofthem,it'sbecausetheBritishtookaFrenchwordandre-pronounceditaccordingtoEnglishspellingrules,whileAmericanspreferredapronunciationthatsoundedmoreFrench,evenifthewordisstillheavilyAnglicized.SkipadvertInwordslikeadultandaddress,theFrenchinfluenceistoputthestressonthelastsyllable(buttherealFrenchspellingsareadulteandadresse).Inenvelope,theFrenchinfluenceistosaythefirstsyllablelike"on"ratherthan"en,"butwesaytherestofthewordEnglish-style.TheFrenchstyleforherbistodroptheh(buttheFrenchspellitherbe).Samewithhomage(buttheFrenchspellithommageandsayittorhymewithgarage—nottheBritishwayofsayinggarage,though).Withniche,theAmerican"neesh"versionmatchestheFrenchquiteneatly,whiletheBritishstylerhymeswithitch.Withbanal,thelongstandingBritishwaywastosayitlike"bane-al,"butsayingittheFrenchwayisnowbackinvogue,evenoverthere.AnotherwordthattheBritishAnglicizedfromFrenchisharassanditsrelatednounharassment.Theyshiftedtheaccenttothefirstsyllable,soundinglike"harris."TheAmericanspreferredtheFrench-stylesecond-syllablestress,nodoubtfurtherencouragedbythedoubles.ButtheBritishstyleisbecomingmorepopularwithpeoplewhodon'twanttosoundlikethey'resaying"herass"—sortoflikehowtheBritish"urine-us"pronunciationofUranus,basedontheLatinandGreekstresspattern,issometimespreferredbyAmericanswhodon'tlikehowtheAmericansay-it-like-it-looksversionsoundslike"youranus."LatinandGreekstressesandlongvowelshavealsoledtodivisions,thankstothehistoryoftheEnglishlanguage.Ifavowelis"long"inthesourcelanguage,theBritishhavenormallyusedtheEnglish"long"equivalent—whichissodifferentfromtheLatinorGreekbecauseour"long"vowelswentthroughtheGreatVowelShiftinthelatemedievalera.Forexample,weusedtosaylongaas"ah"butitmovedupto"eh,"longewentfrom"eh"to"ee,"andlongiwentfrom"ee"to"eye."Soawordsuchasamen—whichcamefromHebrewbywayofLatin—sawitslongachangefrom"ah-men"to"eh-men."Buteveryoneinothercountries,includinginalotofmusic,stillused"ah-men,"soitdidn'tgoaway.Itcametobetheversiontypicallyusedbythe"higher"churches,whilethemore"popular"oneshavegonewith"eh-men."Butit'snotasharpdivide.SkipadvertSkipadvertSkipadvertLikewise,thelongeattheendoftheGreeksourceofdiabetesresultedinafinal"ease"sound,butmanypeople,especiallyintheU.S.,havereduceditto"iss."Butif,totrytostaveoffdiabetes,youheadtotheproducedepartment,howyousaythenameofitwillbeinfluencedbydifferentprecedents:Thenounproducewasoriginallystressedonthesecondsyllableliketheverbproduce,andwhenthestressshifted,theokepta"short"sound.ButintheU.S.,itgaineda"long"soundtomatchallthoseotherwordsthatstartwithpro.Somepeoplehavegoneanotherstepandreducedthesecondvowelfromthe"you"soundtoits"short"version,asin"us."Ambiguousspellingisacommonfactor.ConsiderCaribbean.EvenintheCaribbean,somepeoplesaythenamewiththestressonthefirstsyllable,andsomewiththestressonthesecond.Wedoknowthattheversionwiththestressonthefirstsyllableistheolderone;thesecond-syllable-stressversionlikelygainstractionfromthedoublebinthespelling.Butthatpronunciationhasbeenaroundlongenoughthatit'sestablishedandaccepted.Beforeyousaythattheolderversionhastobetheonlycorrectone,perhapsyoushouldknowthatthatpositioncommitsyoutodroppingthelinfalconandalmond—inbothcasesitwasaddedlaterbutisacceptednow.Oh,andschedule?InEnglish(whichgotitfromOldFrench)itusedtobecedule,not"sh"or"sk"but"s"…whichiscompletelywrongnow.AfewcenturiesagoitwasrespelledandrepronouncedonthebasisoftheLatinschedula,whichtheFrenchgotitfrom.SkipadvertAndthentherearesomewordsthathavegainedcommon"wrong"pronunciationsduetonormalchangeprocessesovertime—mainlyspeakers'tonguesgoingwithwhatiseasierintheiraccent.Themayonninmayonnaisegetsleveledoutto"man";thearctinarcticgetssimplifiedto"art";and,perhapsmostfamously,innuclearthetonguekeepsthesameoverallmovementpatternbutshiftsaconsonantsothere'samoreeven—andeasier-to-say—alternation:"nucular."Alloftheseattractscornnow.Butjustrememberthis:Ifthewordsbright,thrill,andaskhadtheirvowelsandconsonantsinthesameorderastheywereinOldEnglish,wewouldnowbesayingthemas"birght,""thirl,"and—yes—"aks."Sometimesthe"wrong"versionsticks.SkipadvertShareonFacebookShareonTwitterShareviaEmailLanguageSkipadvertRecommendedAwordtotheY'sonUkrainianandRussianJamesHarbeckAwordtotheY'sonUkrainianandRussianHaveyourselfacrackingSt.Patrick'sDayJamesHarbeckHaveyourselfacrackingSt.Patrick'sDayTheproblemwithmaskmandatesforspeechtherapyJasonFieldsTheproblemwithmaskmandatesforspeechtherapyThetrialsandtravailsof'travel'JamesHarbeckThetrialsandtravailsof'travel'MostPopular3signsPopeFrancismightbepreparingtoresignBriefing3signsPopeFrancismightbepreparingtoresignElonMuskthreatenstodropTwitterdealbillionsinthebalanceElonMuskthreatenstodropTwitterdealShrinkingGreatSaltLakethreatensSaltLakeCitywithpoisonousdustclouds'environmentalnuclearbomb'ShrinkingGreatSaltLakethreatensSaltLakeCitywithpoisonousdustcloudsSkiptoheaderSkiptomaincontentSkiptofooter