Pru-nun-see-ay-shun (and language usage)

[Phil_Stein]

From each group of choices in the poll, choose the one that most closely matches your pronunciation/language usage.

Then, add comments in the thread complaining bitterly about the cases I've omitted, and labeling your own speech patterns as vastly better than those hicks/snobs over yonder.

Also, mention the region(s) primarily responsible for your speech patterns (where you grew up and/or places you've lived for a long time).

[metta]

My accent arrived from Ireland, by way of England, and 20+ years in Canada, so my fuxked up patois doesn't fit any of your choices. (Although, I guess I refer to coke, etc, as 'pop' because that's what my peers use.

I think word choice is more interesting than pronunciation, and reveals much more about who you are. But then, my wife is a linguistics prof. so I would think that :}

[BobJustBob]

Nuclear has three syllables. But the correct pronunciation isn't up there.

[extarbags]

The first three are a straight matter of correct vs. incorrect pronunciation. Also, you forgot to mention the correct option for the one that I ended up choosing "you guys" for, which is just "you."

Anyway, I'm from the Philly area, and I went with correct pronunciations, "you guys," and "soda."

[BobJustBob]

Also, you forgot to mention the correct option for the one that I ended up choosing "you guys" for, which is just "you."

Yeah, I had to choose "something else" for that one.

[metta]

There is no 'correct' or 'incorrect'. They're all just regional differences. American English isn't normative, any more than demotic Anglo Saxon. What are you gonna use as the standard for 'correct' pronunciation? Websters? The OED? You say 'grass', and I say 'grarse'. You say 'ass' and I say 'arse'. And we're both correct.

[Mr_PeaCH]

Thanks to my mom's Texas roots (rutz) but a SoCal upbringing I say "you guys" but unconciously greet people with a warm "howdy".

[BobJustBob]

There is no 'correct' or 'incorrect'.

Incorrect.

[Phil_Stein]

IIUC, a lot of 'silent' letters in words used to be pronounced...

niGHt
KnoWledge
Wrong

...and so on. (I'm not sure about the three words above, I'm just using them as examples of words with unpronounced letters.)

Usage and pronunciation evolve - often faster than spelling does. While it is true that certain pronunciations are preferred in certain contexts (including professional/business/"the king's english"), I think most folks deviate from such conventions at least some of the time.

Helping my young kids read really puts the spotlight on how large the difference is between spelling and pronunciation. My boy (6), tries to read words phonetically or a syllable at a time, but that yields the wrong result for a LOT of words.

[metta]

Incorrect.

Oh, well argued. I know you think you're the centre (or I guess 'center' would be 'correct' in your tiny mind) of the Universe, but you're really not.

[Zylon]

I picked "com-furt-a-bul", but what I actually say is closer "comf-tur-bul".

Anyone who seriously says "com-fra-ta-bul" should be sterilized on the spot.

[biclops]

Most of the words with 'ough' in them used to have a similar throaty sound to them.
Now: cough, through, bough, enough, though, thought all have different sounds.

[Phil_Stein]

Zylon, I think comf-tur-bul is closer to what I was trying to capture with com-fra-ta-bul. I pretty much say comf-tur-bul.

[Phil_Stein]

The problem is that spelling (with minor differences for 'American' vs. 'English' spelling) is basically frozen and based on patterns of pronunciation that are pretty much extinct.

If I remember my German correctly, this is less of a problem with that language - pronunciation more closely matches spelling. I don't know about other languages.

[Demon G Sides]

Mid-state New York, where we have no discernible accent, other than that its different than Long Islanders.

[Lunch of Kong]

I say "Comf-ter-bull". three syllables. not four. ah. i just saw your posts. ty for clearing that up, but i think that mistake means you can no longer depend on the 'comfortable' poll choices to indicate anything.

[Athryn]

Mid-state New York, where we have no discernible accent, other than that its different than Long Islanders.

You can't tell your own accent, silly. I don't have an accent to myself, but I know I have a California/West Coast accent to others, especially in the part of the country I now find myself (Virginia.)

Another interesting regional word is the one for the name of the shoes you wear to play sports. I call them tennis shoes, but other people call them different things such as sneakers or trainers.

[Pishtaco]

cumftabl
juul-ree
new-clih
you
soft drinks

I have a slightly posh English accent, like a helpful British politician in a Hollywood movie.

[Phil_Stein]

I think many parts of the US don't have a clearly definable accent. I'd define a 'non-accent' as sounding like a typical anchorperson for a TV news or talk show.

Flipping it around, I'd say that in the US, I can often/usually detect the following accents:
1) Suthurn
2) New Yawk (metro area)
3) Bawston
4) Minnesoooowwwta/Wisconsin

In addition, there are other accents associated with foreign born/raised folks, and with some ethnic groups, but those aren't entirely consistent (for that matter, regional accents in general aren't entirely consistent).

Sometimes a Chicago accent is parodied (like the old 'Da Bearsszz' skit on SNL) as a sort of choppy accent with a 'd' sound replacing 'th', among other things. But I visit Chicago reasonably often and don't really notice this. Maybe I'm too close (St. Louis). St. Louisans, in turn, are sometimes parodied for displacing the 'or' sound to 'ar' - forty supposedly becomes farty, but that's kinda rare in practice. I suspect the differences among regional accents within the US have diminished since the advent of radio and television.

[Athryn]

I think many parts of the US don't have a clearly definable accent. I'd define a 'non-accent' as sounding like a typical anchorperson for a TV news or talk show.

Flipping it around, I'd say that in the US, I can often/usually detect the following accents:
1) Suthurn
2) New Yawk (metro area)
3) Bawston
4) Minnesoooowwwta/Wisconsin

In addition, there are other accents associated with foreign born/raised folks, and with some ethnic groups, but those aren't entirely consistent.

You forgot the "omigod" valley sound, and the "duuude" surfer variant of California accents, which most CA natives have to some degree or another. :P

[Lunch of Kong]

You can't tell your own accent
That's true for me when I'm speaking English, but I'm acutely aware of my own accent when I'm speaking a foreign language.

[Roger Wong]

I'd define a 'non-accent' as sounding like a typical anchorperson for a TV news or talk show.

That's called a Northern accent. A lot of military brats who grew up entirely overseas, including myself, have a variant of that Northern accent.

I have what I think is a peculiar quality in that I unconsciously mirror some aspects of the accent of whoever is talking to me. I think I get that from growing up overseas also. I'm pretty sure it's something that I developed as a way to more easily find common ground with all the new faces and voices I'd meet every year.

[Aeon221]

Holy crap, I've got pertinent information!

There are three primary linguistic areas in the US: Northern (bounded by the Appalachians and the Mason-Dixon), Southern (Mason and Appalachia again) and Western, which is, well, everywhere west of the Appalachians.

There are hundreds of mini dialect areas, such as the accents/word choices of people who live in small towns in Appalachia, but there are really just three biguns.

Also fun are words like "teeter-totter" or "spider" (here meaning the cooking implement). There are something like 15 different ways to say it, and most people use exactly one all their lives.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Crystal

That guy does lots of work on the subject, and I highly recommend his (pictured) book.

[Demon G Sides]

I guess I have a northern accent.

But everyone around here has a Long Island accent and oh my god you people need to learn how to speak.

Holy, shit.

[UncleSmoothie]

New-kew-lur in particular makes my headspin. Especially when the god-damned president of the United States says it. It makes me want to kill myself.

[Jojo]

A spider is a cooking implement?? What is it?

Anyway, what would be really cool is if someone took the poll results and plotted them visually according to the respondents' area. I don't have time, but its the sort of thing I would do if I did.

And for the record - British accent, moved to California 9 years ago, hence I now say "soda".

[Demon G Sides]

ALSO, its Pro-Noun-Shee-Aye-Shun

Pronunciation.

[Zep--]

Several people = "Yins" where I am from (Pittsburgh PA.)

Where yins goin?

Zep--

[Karen]

I guess I have a northern accent.

But everyone around here has a Long Island accent and oh my god you people need to learn how to speak.

Holy, shit.

Hey do you go to SU?

Yep, youzse got dis....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inland_Northern_American_English

I have a great ear for accents. I lived on the North Shore (Boston) until I was 5 and developed a 'North Shore' Boston accent. Mass accents can be North shore, South Shore (think Kennedy) or Mainer. When I lived in central Jersey (1st grade) I had speech therapy to gain back lost R's. I then lived in Connecticut and Chicago Land. I'm not sure what my accent is now - the last time I lived in Chicago Land, my friends thought I had a Toronto accent - but I definitely do not.

However, I love listening to regional accents, from the California accent (There is one...), to the Virginian accent, to the Dallas accent - I could listen to people speak for hours. The funniest accent I heard is the one a family friend has. She grew up on the North Shore (Mass.) so she had a heavy Mass accent. She has lived in Dallas for at least 25 years and has picked up a bit of Dallas accent. The Dallas / Boston combo is great.

[Murph]

Comfortable = com-furt-a-bul
Actually, I pretty much say it com-fur-ta-bul, but that's as close as I could get

Jewelry = juul-ree
Actually joo-ul-ry, with three distinct syllables.

Nuclear = new-clear 77 90.59%
Three syllables...noo-clee-ur

Several people (male and female) = You guys 51 60.00%
Yes, I am from Oklahoma, and no, I don't say "Ya'll."

Coke, Pepsi, etc = Pop
People who call all pop (or soda is also acceptable] "coke" irritate me, because coke is a brand...though I admit I am guilty of calling all tissues Kleenex, but usually that's what we buy, so I'm usually still right.

Born and raised in Oklahoma, but I still speak properly, mostly. And no, I don't have an accent, either...I was on the phone with someone in Denver yesterday, and he said "Have you always lived in Tulsa" and I said "or the surrounding areas, yeah," to which he told me "You don't sound like an Oklahoman at all." I thanked him, and I get that a lot.

[Dirt]

However, I love listening to regional accents, from the California accent (There is one...)
Dude.

[EvilIdler]

"Comfortable" has silent vowels, R, and possibly other letters, depending on state of inebriation.

[Rimbo]

Didn't vote for the first three, because I pronounce them:

Comf-ta-bull
Jew-ll-ree, and
New klee err

[Phil_Stein]

Apparently, St. Louis (where I've lived most of my life) has distinctive enough vocal patterns to merit its own mini-section in this Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English_regional_differences#St._Louis_an d_vicinity).

Here's one part I don't quite understand:

"Since this is in the Midland, "on" rhymes with "dawn," "

Yes, "on" does rhyme with "dawn" in my speech. Isn't that pretty much the norm? What am I missing?

[metta]

'On' rhymes with 'Jon' when I say it. It's a short 'o' sound, not a long one, for my tribe :]

[Zylon]

Yes, "on", "dawn", and "jon" all rhyme with each other. Talk sense, man!

[shift6]

I was unable to vote in this poll. I pro-nun-skee-ayt thusly:

Comfortable: kumf-tur-bull (3 syl)
Jewelry: joo-ull-ree (3 syl)
Nuclear: noo-klee-er (3 syl)
Several people = all y'all (I'm not Southern but it's stuck with me ever since a Sir Mix-A-Lot rap song)
Coke, Pepsi, etc = so-dee pop (another institutionalized memory which started as something funny, as above)

Oddly, I pronounce the "h" in vehicle: vee-hi-kul (3 syl). Always tripped out my teachers in high school.

[Jojo]

Yes, "on" does rhyme with "dawn" in my speech. Isn't that pretty much the norm? What am I missing?
So do you pronounce dawn as "don"? Or do you pronounce on with a longer o sound like "awn"?

[Demon G Sides]

Hey do you go to SU?

Yep, youzse got dis....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inland_Northern_American_English

I have a great ear for accents. I lived on the North Shore (Boston) until I was 5 and developed a 'North Shore' Boston accent. Mass accents can be North shore, South Shore (think Kennedy) or Mainer. When I lived in central Jersey (1st grade) I had speech therapy to gain back lost R's. I then lived in Connecticut and Chicago Land. I'm not sure what my accent is now - the last time I lived in Chicago Land, my friends thought I had a Toronto accent - but I definitely do not.

However, I love listening to regional accents, from the California accent (There is one...), to the Virginian accent, to the Dallas accent - I could listen to people speak for hours. The funniest accent I heard is the one a family friend has. She grew up on the North Shore (Mass.) so she had a heavy Mass accent. She has lived in Dallas for at least 25 years and has picked up a bit of Dallas accent. The Dallas / Boston combo is great.

Syracuse? No, I live about an hour from it though. I go to Binghamton University, though it used to be part of SU, so I guess it really doesn't change that.

But seriously, i have a very neutral accent, that doesn't seem to have the flaring distinguishing traits that some others do.

[Aeon221]

A spider or spyder is a frying pan. I can't remember where, though. I should just go find the book and look all this shit up.

[Athryn]

A spider or spyder is a frying pan. I can't remember where, though. I should just go find the book and look all this shit up.

Close, it's a frying pan with legs that is meant to go directly into a fire. The legs make it look like a spider. :)

[metta]

Yes, "on", "dawn", and "jon" all rhyme with each other. Talk sense, man!

My people say 'dorn'.

[Demon G Sides]

Dorn? wtf?

On dawn and jon, all the same.

Merry, mary, marry are all the same as well.

[MattKeil]

Merry, mary, marry are all the same as well.

Utterly fucking wrong.

[Demon G Sides]

Utterly fucking wrong.

Why??

[Phil_Stein]

I'm not sure what's up with the unconventional spelling jon (for John, I assume)...

For me, the following words rhyme:
on, dawn, lawn, Shaun (the name)

And the following rhyme with each other, but not with the above list:
John, Don, Icon, con

[Cronox]

I'm my Australian/English way of talking:

Mary rhymes with airy and fairy.
Marry rhymes with Barry and parry.
Merry rhymes with.... I’m not sure but it sounds very similar, thought slightly different, to Mary.

dawn rhymes with lawn, Shaun and scorn
on rhymes with John, con and don.

[Zylon]

For me, the following words rhyme:
on, dawn, lawn, Shaun (the name)

And the following rhyme with each other, but not with the above list:
John, Don, Icon, con
That's cute, listing a whole bunch of words that all rhyme with each other, then claiming they don't. Well played.

[Athryn]

Utterly fucking wrong.

Guess I am utterly fucking wrong also then, because I pronounce them all the same way.

[Demon G Sides]

Like, honestly, how else are you supposed to pronounce them, except exactly the same?

:(

Dawn, on, gone, con, shaun all rhyme as well.

[Rimbo]

dawn rhymes with lawn, Shaun and scorn


wtf...

to me, "scorn" rhymes with boar, more, lore; lawn, Shaun and dawn rhyme with blonde.

[Cronox]

wtf...

to me, "scorn" rhymes with boar, more, lore; lawn, Shaun and dawn rhyme with blonde.

When I say scorn is sounds like skawn, similar to how it is pronounced in the recording at http://www.answers.com/scorn&r=67, which is the same way I say things like dawn, lawn and shaun.

Edit: Thinking about this, I have come to the interesting realisation that I pronounce words ending in awn the same way as ones ending in orn. For example porn and pawn sound exactly the same when I say them.

[Peter Frazier]

Give up mate, those Yanks just speak funny.
'On' rhyming with 'dawn', sheesh.

[Rimbo]

Now my Dad's from Missouri, and around there they'll say "wash" like "warsh." So it's not that weird.

[Cronox]

Give up mate, those Yanks just speak funny.
'On' rhyming with 'dawn', sheesh.

lol, my thoughts exactly.

[Gremlinclr]

A spider or spyder is a frying pan. I can't remember where, though. I should just go find the book and look all this shit up.

Close, it's a frying pan with legs that is meant to go directly into a fire. The legs make it look like a spider. :)

Actually you're both wrong. It's a Asian cooking utensil.

Spider (http://www.amazon.com/Helens-Kitchen-5-Inch-Spider-Skimmer/dp/B000PKQ3YW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1204115966&sr=1-1)

Or it could just be that I've never heard of a frying pan with legs before. But since I'm always right, I doubt it.

[jerri blank]

I have a Southern accent. You can actually hear banjos playing in the background when I talk.

[RightWrong]

Honestly, who says every syllable in comfortable? You sound crazy. Do you actually pronounce the 'd' as a 'd' in "education" and fully enunciate the "u"?

Western American has a "back a" merger, so we've lost just about every distinction between

haughty
sought
saw
sot

The farther east you go in America, the older the dialects are and you're more likely to here a difference between those, especially in upper class Carolinian or Bostonian.

At my linguistic department they were constantly trying to find localized variations in Canada and the Pacific Northwest, maybe just to prove western U.S. and Canada aren't as boring as said to be. The only thing they've really hit on is that around hear "bag" sounds more like "beg" to outsiders. At least we don't have that unrounded "u" from Southern California.

The craziest American dialect I've heard is from Tangiers Island (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangier_Island), in Virginia. Only on recording, but the island is so isolated and the language is so old it sounds like Swedish.

[DoomMunky]

I say something that sounds a lot closer to "Cumfter-bull" than anything else.

I used to say "Coke" in reference to all soft drinks, but upon becoming aware of the regional differences in usage I eliminated this in favor of "Soda".

I done grew up in Ultra-Northern California, right next to Oregon, where boys on my baseball team in middle school would say "I seen that movie!" and "I don't gots any more money."

You know, sorta full of hicks.

I'm my Australian/English way of talking:

Mary rhymes with airy and fairy.
Marry rhymes with Barry and parry.
Merry rhymes with.... I’m not sure but it sounds very similar, thought slightly different, to Mary.

He's actually got a point. An acting teacher of mine used to bring up this same group of words to illustrate the subtle ways words are different. For all intents and purposes I say them all the same way, but when shooting for precision I can distinguish the different sounds.

[BobJustBob]

Do you actually pronounce the 'd' as a 'd' in "education" and fully enunciate the "u"?

Uh... what? I'm trying to imagine how you pronounce the word and I have no clue.

[RightWrong]

Like this (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/education). There's no "d", just a "j" sound, unless you're being technical and calling affricate just derivative of stops and fricatives.

In the spirit of fairness, the same dictionary lists a four syllable 'comfortable' as one of three acceptable pronunciations so I'm just biased.

[Timemaster Tim]

I pronounce it ed-jew-kay-shun

[Zylon]

Like this (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/education). There's no "d", just a "j" sound, unless you're being technical and calling affricate just derivative of stops and fricatives.
If you're going to be that anal about it, there's no "d" sound in "edge", either.

[Demon G Sides]

I pronounce it ed-jew-kay-shun

Me too.

Also; cum four tay bul

[metta]

I pronounce the 'd' in education: e-d-u-kayshun

You should all talk proper like what I does :|]

[wisefool]

The problem is that spelling (with minor differences for 'American' vs. 'English' spelling) is basically frozen and based on patterns of pronunciation that are pretty much extinct.

If I remember my German correctly, this is less of a problem with that language - pronunciation more closely matches spelling. I don't know about other languages.

Pronunciation in Spanish (and it appears Italian and Portuguese as well) is exactly the bloody same as it's written down. It may be because it has no mishmash of Germanic influences.

If you read the song of El Cid, written 12th century, you'll find it about as difficult as reading say, something William Churchill wrote.


De los sos oios tan fuertemientre llorando,
Tornava la cabeça e estavalos catando;
Vio puertas abiertas e uços sin cañados,
alcandaras vazias, sin pielles e sin mantos
e sin falcones e sin adtores mudados.
Sospiro Mio Cid, ca mucho avie grandes cuidados.
Fablo mio Cid bien e tan mesurado:
«grado a ti, Señor, Padre que estas en alto!
»Esto me an buelto mios enemigos malos.»

Alli piensan de aguiiar, alli sueltan las rriendas;
a la exida de Bivar ovieron la corneia diestra
e entrando a Burgos ovieronla siniestra.
Meçio Mio Cid los ombros e engrameo la tiesta:
«¡Albricia, Albar Fañez, ca echados somos de tierra!
»Mas a grand ondra torneremos a Castiella.»

[RightWrong]

If you're going to be that anal about it, there's no "d" sound in "edge", either.

My point is that people become anal when asked about their pronunciation. Some of the pronunciations described in this thread already sound rather unlikely to me. Not in the sense that they're unpronounceable, but that in usual, unmonitored speech they're not likely to arise.

[Rogen]

Well apparently 80% of this forum is from Virginia (including me) so, I'll just say I talk like them and let them do the 'splainin.

Actually I might be worse. I pronounce pin and pen exactly the same and apparently I say monster like Munster. I've been called on that a few times, and I do sometimes notice my horrible abuse of the letter "u" when I hear recordings of myself. Namely I'll substitute any uninflected o or u with an "uh" sound like in "money" or "hunger".

[Rogen]

Incidentally, I was reading today that up until relatively recently (17th century or so), English words always put stress on the first syllable and the vowels in the "ed" and "es" suffixes (for past tense, plural, etc.) were pronounced.

Like how we say "cursed" or "beloved" now. "Walked" or "laughed" would have had that same inflection on the last "e".

[EvilIdler]

Mary - long a, similar to bad.
Merry - e as in hell, different R to Mary.
Marry - a mix of the two above. Sorta.

I blame Ireland. Which I also pronounce funny.

[eliandi]

I'm a third generation Texan. How I speak is directly influenced by who I'm speaking to. At work with people I do not know, my accent is mild. When I get to know a person at work, the accent gets stronger and I mix in some Southern saying/word-choices. When I'm at home, it gets really strong. I'm only mildly aware I'm switching accents until someone calls me on it. I am, however, making sure my boys know the proper use of y'all, britches, over yonder, fixin' to, and other useful Southern sayings. One of my boys actually can turn on/off a Southern accent to put my kin to shame.

[Flowers]

I was raised by television.

[MikeSofaer]

It really takes a true phonetic alphabet to have these discussions effectively.

I spent a little time with that stuff when I was a Voice major in college; it's cool stuff but very tricky and technical.

The major difference between "Mary" and "Merry" when I speak is that the former is more of dipthong than the latter. (it slides into a schwa right before the r)

[jpinard]

Definately not enough choices

com-fort-able
nuc-cle-ar

I don't know of anybody who pronounces nuclear in the two pronunciations you listed (except on tv).

[Zylon]

I pronounce pin and pen exactly the same
Well knock it off already. "Pen" should rhyme with "meh". Unless, god help you, you pronounce even that as "mih".

[metta]

Pen rhymes with Men.
Pin rhymes with Sin.
Our rhymes with Sour.
Are rhymes with Jar.

I have no idea how many of you are able to communicate at all. Perhaps you're lucky and work with people who can translate your grunts and squawks into something that can be parsed by humans.

[MonkeyPunky]

my favorite is mirror = meer, I like it when I hear people say but I don't say it that way myself

[Rogen]

my favorite is mirror = meer, I like it when I hear people say but I don't say it that way myself

Haha my sisters do this.

[Zylon]

Jeet yet?
No, jew?

[Gremlinclr]

Pen rhymes with Men.
Pin rhymes with Sin.
Our rhymes with Sour.
Are rhymes with Jar.

I have no idea how many of you are able to communicate at all. Perhaps you're lucky and work with people who can translate your grunts and squawks into something that can be parsed by humans.

Or you could work with people that are all from the same region and speak the same regional dialect? Crazy talk, I know.

[Demon G Sides]

Jeet yet?
No, jew?


At home, I talk just like this with my family.

However, whenever in public, I talk a lot more proper.

Though, our sounds exactly like are, always.

[Pogue Mahone]

my favorite is mirror = meer, I like it when I hear people say but I don't say it that way myself

That is a funny set of syllables; for some reason 'mirror' gives me no trouble but I have difficulty with 'horror.' It doesn't roll off the tongue, and I either end up over-enunciating it, which makes me feel like Scooby Doo, or I just letting it drop out of my mouth like 'horrrrrrrrr ...', kind of like how my fiance can't figure out how to stop saying the word banananananana once she gets started. Though truth be told she probably just does that because it always makes me laugh.

Some words are just tough. I'll be glad when it isn't February anymore.

[charmtrap]

I used to work with a woman who pronounced "counselor" or "counselling" with an "ah" where the ou was...like, "cahn-sellor". Anyone else heard that pronounciation and is it common, cause it used to drive me nuts? I think she was from somewhere New England-y originally.

[Demon G Sides]

I used to work with a woman who pronounced "counselor" or "counselling" with an "ah" where the ou was...like, "cahn-sellor". Anyone else heard that pronounciation and is it common, cause it used to drive me nuts? I think she was from somewhere New England-y originally.

People like that need to be taken out behind the shed and put down.

No excuse.

[RightWrong]

I usually pronounce "button" without the t's or the o. When I was having dinner with my English friend from Oxford and his mother a few weeks ago, I noticed their "photo" wasn't quite a "t" either.

[Demon G Sides]

so basically you say Buh-On? Thats not too bad. Though Pho-Oh sounds funny.

[RightWrong]

Well that "button" is pretty American, as far as I know. I make a pretty hard glottal stop in between "buh" and "n". In my British co-worker's "photo" I noticed there was a length distinction between the first "o" and the last.

[Demon G Sides]

Yeah, I understand. Its hard to write exactly what I'm saying out loud to myself sitting here alone in my dorm room.

Reading a thread on linguistics.

*sigh* what have I become?

[Ergo]

I don't know if it's a regional thing or not, but around here you will hear people saying the word "hundred" as "hunnert" or "hunnered". I say it this way all the time.

"It costs about a hunnert bucks."