Pronunciation of "our" in Texas (West: transplants, dates)

[GayleTX]

That's funny...it bothers me when people put the T in 'often'! I believe that "offen" (as in 'listen' and 'soften') is the preferred pronunciation in most parts of the country but either pronunciation is acceptable and certainly communicates the meaning. It's pretty amazing that people do as well as they do when English is their second language....even we 'native speakers' don't agree on so much of it!

[snuffster]

Looking at the poll I can tell alot of imports are voting. It's pronounced "are" in Texas.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by snuffster

Looking at the poll I can tell alot of imports are voting. It's pronounced "are" in Texas.

Not necessarily......I'm no import (5th generation), and I don't pronounce "our" the same way as "are."

[Willsson]

Originally Posted by tofurkey

I think they get it from Texans R Us.

Originally Posted by snuffster

Looking at the poll I can tell alot of imports are voting. It's pronounced "are" in Texas.

I was born in Texas, to other Texans, but learned my early English from the Brits. I use 'our', any 'hour' of the day.

[Spade]

somewhere between hour and are but closer to hour. At least for me.

[Watchful]

I'm afraid I do a little of both. In my experience, the more "country" the accent, the more likely to pronounce it like "are." But my accent is not very "country," and I think I sometimes say "are." Like if I were to say "welcome to our house" - it would probably sound a lot like "are." I'll have to listen to myself for a while!!

I also have always understood that leaving the "t" out of often was the "preferred" pronunciation. An interesting note on dictionary.com...

>>>>Often was pronounced with a t -sound until the 17th century, when a pronunciation without the [t] came to predominate in the speech of the educated, in both North America and Great Britain, and the earlier pronunciation fell into disfavor. Common use of a spelling pronunciation has since restored the [t] for many speakers, and today [aw-fuhn] and [awf-tuhn] exist side by side. Although it is still sometimes criticized, often with a [t] is now so widely heard from educated speakers that it has become fully standard once again.

[gobrien]

This reminds me of the BP oil spill commercials, how they are talking about cleaning up the "ole" in the gulf.

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by gobrien

This reminds me of the BP oil spill commercials, how they are talking about cleaning up the "ole" in the gulf.

No, it's not gulf, it's guff.

[bluenoter]

I just realized I say "are" when some people were making fun of my pronunciation. Maybe the pronunciation is different in different parts of the state.

Originally Posted by snuffster

Looking at the poll I can tell alot of imports are voting. It's pronounced "are" in Texas.

[SacalaitWhisperer]

sheeeyt, what ya'll talkin bout, i telluwhut.

(said in a boomhauer drawl)