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Dilemma of pronunciation

English Language & Usage Asked by SpamChop on December 8, 2020

As a non-native speaker of English, I am often confused about pronouncing words. Is there any standard of pronunciation in the English language? As in, if I give a completely new word to some random people in a native English speaking population, would they speak it the same way?

3 Answers

Congrats to you for learning the English language, and yes, it will get harder (sorry!) If you are considering a completely new word as that that has never been spoken, than no, not all English speakers will pronounce it the same. Some have accents, which results in different usage of grammar and expression (both in writing and speech.) So, especially when considering a completely different word, they would all probably try to say it completely differently. However, most of us do abide by most of the more widely known grammatical rules, which aid us when examining a new word. For example, the word elephant. Ph usually is pronounced in an f sound, which makes elephant, elefant. Then, the word ant is another animal, pronounced the same, combined with el- which is the literal pronouncation of the letter. Good luck, and have fun (whatever language you speak!)

Answered by Harry Potter on December 8, 2020

If you ever go to the UK (British Isles), you'll quickly realize that there is no "standard" of pronunciation even there. You can travel very small distances and get a noticeable difference in accent. At one time, the BBC mandated that all of their broadcasters speak in a certain "standard" way and it became known as "BBC English". These days, it is called "Received Pronunciation" or just "RP". And even if you disregard the differences in the accents, there are the terms that they use for things that even varies around the country. For example, there might be a sign saying "No Fly Tipping" behind a building. I wondered about that when I first saw it. Was it like "Cow Tipping"? Turns out that it means to not illegally dump refuse around there.

So, "English Standard"? LMAO... Not bloody likely... :)

Answered by Grumpy OldMan on December 8, 2020

English is a language greatly affected by the collision of cultures and is a language that has been spread around the world more widely than any other. Thus, there is a great degree of variation in pronunciation from region to region, with some regional dialects developing into languages in their own right (e.g. Caribbean Creole languages). There are few words which are pronounced the same among all native speakers. This concept affects all languages, but especially those in widespread use such as English, French, and Spanish.

Answered by Jeff Semmens on December 8, 2020

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