The Fine Art of Arguing Pronunciation
January 25, 2012
I love words. I love them so much that sometimes I make up my own*, drop them in random conversation, and watch people stare back at me in disbelief.
One phrase you’ll hear me utter quite a bit is, "Is this the correct way to pronunciate that word?"
The looks I get for that one! Does she really think ‘pronunciate’ is a word? Well, no, but I sure wish it was! And as much as I want to sell you on this fantastic word, what I’m really interested in is its (made-up) meaning. Pronunciate: A combination of pronounce and enunciate. This totally-not-real gem fills a void in my vocabulary and leads me to my real point:
How much blood has been shed over the disagreement of the correct pronunciation of words? How many families torn apart? How many decades-long feuds? Well, probably not that many, but we all know things can get heated when two people disagree about words. Words like PEONY, LITERALLY, and what about the oft argued NUCLEAR?
In our Research Databases, we have a whole slew of awesome dictionaries and thesauruses, but let me point you toward one you’ll find useful in bloodlessly defusing a pronunciation-related argument: Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary. Simply look up a word, click on the red speaker icon, and in addition to finding its definition, you’ll hear the pronunciation(s) as well. Sometimes, you’ll even find you were both right!
Happy pronunciating!
- Mariah H.
Information and Reader Services
*There's some argument around the web that this is a real word, just not in American English. So I don't think I can really claim ownership.
Tags: online resources, dictionaries, databases
Comments
pronuncations
I think ly-bary for library is my favorite mispronunication.
dialect
Dialect came about when foreigners came to America,tried to learn the English language, weren't corrected when they pronounced a word wrong, learned the word improperly and passed that pronunciation down through the generations. Their strong foreign accents were the cause of pronouncing words wrong. People have accepted their way of pronouncing words improperly and called this "dialect".
A. K. Lange
I think that my parents are often having problems because of this. It's too bad they can't take it like a joke. It would alleviate a lot of tension in the house if they could.
Just for fun
I, too, enjoy making up silly words, but only in company I know will appreciate them! We must be careful to set the correct example in front of children or others who look to us for guidance.
What's wrong with making up your own words?
I too make up my own words. My husband who reads the dictionary like a novel is always laughing at my made up combined words. But he knows what I mean when I say them, so maybe someday they will become real words too. Who knows.
Thanks for the info on the speaking dictionary.
good job
Pronunciate....
People will look at you funny because you say:
"Is this the correct way to pronunciate that word?"
When you should use ‘pronounce’ in its place. Correction:
“Is this the correct way to pronounce that word?”
See how much more sense that makes? I understand that you may be joking about this situation, but it is a little insulting to be corrected on the pronunciation by someone who doesn’t use the word correctly.
Jeez..........
From what I can tell, she was just (1) telling a silly story at her own expense and (2) highlighting a website for the public to use. What I think is much more insulting is the "See how much more sense that makes?" as if the author did not clearly state that she knew this was wrong usage and only did it for fun. Besides, if she was asking someone "is this the correct way to "pronunciate" that word" wouldn't she be asking for clarification for herself? Not correcting anyone or telling them how to speak... Come on...
Even if I've never said "pronunciate" myself, I still think it's a fun and silly post and I like the ability to listen to the pronunciation of the words on Merriam-Webster.
Good job!
------ E. Archer
Pronunciate
It is real! Using the Oxford English Dictionary database I found that it means "to pronounce, or to annouce beforehand". Here's the url: http://www.oed.com/search?searchType=dictionary&q=pronunciate
Awesome!
This just makes my day! I'm still using it wrong, but it exists ;)
-Mariah
This is sooo cool! I love
This is sooo cool! I love this dictionary!
Thank you so much. This will be very helpful!
Love the speaker icon!
Snarky comment
Should that be "dictionaries and thesauri"?
;)
Isn't it either way?
Isn't it either way?
Thesauri
I wondered about that when I was writing it! :)
-Mariah
So perhaps I should say that
I refudiate the idea that there's only one correct way to pronunciate a word.
:)
Ps. This makes me smile!
Dialect matters
I'm not one to say that there is a "correct" pronunciation.
Something as simple as the word "car" can have multiple pronunciations depending on the regional dialect: "cah" in Boston and I've heard it said as "co-er" right here in Kansas City. Perhaps we should just look for the egregious mistakes like nuke-you-ler that completely ignore the spelling.
You are more than right on
You are more than right on this point, in all actuality, for myself, my pronunciation often deviates from M-W.com simply because I'm so strongly accented. It will change too by my setting. Formal? Informal?.I thought about bringing dialect into the original discussion but didn't for space reasons. I don't think I could have worded the point better than you did anyway - excellent!
-Mariah
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