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List where you grew up/where you're from and how you pronounce the following:
I grew up near Portland, Oregon, although even then people thought I had an accent. I have lived in Chicago for most of the past 20 years, though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thirty All
Detail: di-TAIL or DEE-tail
DEE-tail
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thirty All
Direction: die-REC-tion or dir-REC-tion
DIR-ection
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thirty All
Because: be-CUZ or be-CAUSE
bee-CUZ
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thirty All
Economic: eh-co-NOM-ic or ee-co-NOM-ic
I use both. In casual reference, mid-sentence, I say EH-co-NOM-ic, but in more formal discussion of economics, I will pronounce it EE-con-OM-ic for emphasis.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thirty All
Mobile: MO-bile or MO-bill or MO-beel
These are actually four words, and so rightly deserve multiple pronunciations, all of which I use thusly:
The adjective describing something portable:
MO-buhl
The adjective describing something that is moving:
MO-bile
The proper noun name of the city in Alabama:
mo-BEEL
Bonus: The noun of the thing you hang over a baby's crib:
MO-beel
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thirty All
Sure: SHORE or SHER
SHUHR
Unless I'm mimicking a Southerner, in which case I say "SHORE" as in SHORE DO LOOK LIKE RAIN.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thirty All
Twenty: TWEN-ny or TWUN-ny or TWENT-ty
Usually TWUN-y in casual speech.
When I want to emphasize the number, I say TWENT-ty.
Detail: di-TAIL or DEE-tail.
Direction: die-REC-tion or dir-REC-tion
Because: be-CUZ or be-CAUSE
Economic: eh-co-NOM-ic or ee-co-NOM-ic
Mobile: MO-bile or MO-bill or MO-beel
Sure: SHORE or SHER Neither, more like SHOOR
Twenty: TWEN-ny or TWUN-ny or TWENT-ty
Roof: ROOF or RUFF
Tomato: tuh-MAY-toe or tuh-MAH-toe also commonly heard is "tuh-may-tuh"
Others:
Route: ROOT or ROUT
Aunt: ANT or AWNT
Orange: AH-rinj or OAR-inj Same for Florida: FLAH-rih-duh or FLOAR-ih-duh"
Insurance: in-SHUR-ance or IN-shur-ance
Quarter: QWAR-ter or COR-ter
Detail: di-TAIL or DEE-tail
Direction: die-REC-tion or dir-REC-tion
Because: be-CUZ or be-CAUSE - either depending on my mood
Economic: eh-co-NOM-ic or ee-co-NOM-ic
Mobile: MO-bile or MO-bill or MO-beel - Mo-BEEL (for the city in Alabama), MO-bull otherwise
Sure: SHORE or SHER
Twenty: TWEN-ny or TWUN-ny or TWEN-ty
Roof: ROOF or RUFF
Tomato: tuh-MAY-toe or tuh-MAH-toe - Never heard anyone except Brits say "tuh-mah-toe"
Here comes the second generation Indian born and raised in the northwest suburbs in DC. You might not think it from my answers, but my accent is very "nerdy American" (I enunciate every syllable, so I say "watt-ter" for water instead of "wah-der" and "twent-ty" instead of "twen-ee.")
Detail: dee-tail
Direction: dir-REC-tion
Because: (be-CUZ when talking to friends/colleagues, be-CAUSE when talking to Indian parents)
Economic: eh-co-NOM-ic, again courtesy of Indian parents
Mobile: MO-bile for the adjective/cellphone, MO-bill (schwa) for T-Mobile and MO-beel for the hanging thing and the city.
Sure: shur (almost a schwa)
Twenty: TWENT-ty, courtesy of British friends.
Roof: ROOF, courtesy of Indian parents.
Tomato: tuh-MAY-toe with friends/colleagues, toe-mat-toe (yes, pronounced like "mat") with family, courtesy of Indian parents.
Other additions:
aluminium -- al-loom-MIN-yum, courtesy of Indian parents
sorry - SOAR-ry, courtesy of Canadian teachers in high school. I started using it to make fun of them, but now it's part of my normal vocabulary! It's really weird.
Bathroom -- BAHTH-room with family, bath-room with friends/colleagues
When I talk to my family: Soar-ry, can you pass the alumin-yum foil with the toe-mat-toe in it, please? Also, I'd like twent-ee glasses of watt-ter be-cause of eh-conomic reasons.
Yes, it was awkward when I had friends over at my house. I'd have a half-Indian accent with my parents and a completely American accent with my friends.
Is there a correlation with location and the pronunciation of these words?
I wouldn't consider it an accent because a New Yorker and a Southerner might pronounce the following words the same way despite having different accents:
List where you grew up/where you're from and how you pronounce the following:
Detail: di-TAIL or DEE-tail
Direction: die-REC-tion or dir-REC-tion
Because: be-CUZ or be-CAUSE
Economic: eh-co-NOM-ic or ee-co-NOM-ic
Mobile: MO-bile or MO-bill or MO-beel
Sure: SHORE or SHER
Twenty: TWEN-ny or TWUN-ny or TWENT-ty
Roof: ROOF or RUFF
Tomato: tuh-MAY-toe or tuh-MAH-toe
Any others?
Central London, U.K., born and raised,
a) DEEtail
b) dieRECtion
c) beCAUSE, or beCOZ
d) eckonomick
e) MObile
f) SHAW, maybe SHORE
g) TWENNY, or occasionally TWENTy
h) ROOF
i) tuhMAHtoe, or tuhMARto, or even tuhMARta
Different to U.S. Fragile as frajisle, not frajuhl
Vehicle as veerkall, not vehuhcall
Day Moyn, not Duh Moyn, for Des Moines,
although a lot of Brits would be unaware that
it's French, and may say Dez Moynes.
Although almost all Brits know what a beverage
is, you'll rarely, if ever, hear it as a description of
a drink, although bevvy is northern slang for an
alcoholic drink, usually a beer.
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