Wacky Pronunciations
Story by Bree Moore »
Does it drive you crazy when someone says a word differently than everyone else? Or have you ever realized that you were the only person you know who pronounces a word in a particular way??
To most Americans, midwesterners don’t appear to have an accent. Because of that, people from other parts of the country tend to be perceived as having an “accent.” Different cultural groups pronounce things differently, and that means that while there is not necessarily a right and wrong, things might sound just plain different.
Even people with no accent have trouble pronouncing words. If a student typically mispronounces a word, or fails to fully enunciate each syllable in everyday speech, it can make it difficult for the student to correctly spell the word, according to “All About Learning Press” website. On the other hand, if a student learns to pronounce a word clearly and correctly, he or she has a much greater chance of being able to spell it correctly, too.
Many words are commonly mispronounced and misspelled, including probably (probly), secretary (secertary), because (becuz), and library(libary). Some words are not pronounced clearly in everyday speech. For example, most Americans pronounce the word button as butn. The vowel sound in the unaccented syllable gets totally lost in the normal rhythm of speech, something that is very noticeable in words like different (difrent), separate (seprit), jewelry (jewlry), February (Febary), and Wednesday (Wensday).
“I think pronunciation is really important,” said English teacher Mr. Jackson, “Similar to reading and writing, pronouncing words correctly and having an ability to manipulate language in other ways helps us communicate more effectively.”
According to allaboutlearningpress.com, the problem begins when a student’s habit of pronouncing a word in a particular way—like probly—becomes permanently ingrained, leaving them with no basis to determine the correct spelling. How can a student be expected to sound out the proper spelling of the word probably if some of the letters are not pronounced?
Some additional words that people argue about are: caramel, milk, pajamas, jewelry, and there are more. There are millions of words out there that people are convinced are pronounced a certain way only because it sounds “right” to them.
But is there really a right way of saying a word? How do you pronounce words… are you different from your friends?
