Why do Americans say words wrongly?

[Bean]

Malty doesn't win. He is (correct me if wrong old horse) a teacher of English. There are definitely right ways to pronounce words. Therefore he knows better. I single handedly blame you for the dumbing down of English GCSEs and the introduction of the EBACS. I have asked Gove to send the hit squad to your location. Please do not resist.

Of course there are wrong ways to pronounce words. That doesn't actually address the claim he made--what he said is that there isn't "a right way" to pronounce words. There are a variety of right ways to pronounce most English words, many of which are tied to regional dialects (and some of which are not).

[MaltonNecromancer]

Malty doesn't win. He is (correct me if wrong old horse) a teacher of English. There are definitely right ways to pronounce words. Therefore he knows better. I single handedly blame you for the dumbing down of English GCSEs and the introduction of the EBACS. I have asked Gove to send the hit squad to your location. Please do not resist.

What? Sorry, couldn't hear you over Michael Gove's anguished screaming.

Right, I've closed his coffin, can't hear a peep now. Where were we?

*reads comment*

Okay, fine. No-one changes their mind on forum threads anyway - they just browse to have their own beliefs reflected back at them, so if it'll make you happy, fine, you're right. You are King Of The Thread. Never mind the serious research done by linguists who've spent their lives studying the way people talk and how that relates to geographic, social, and economic boundaries, you're absolutely right. I mean, why let serious scientific study get in the way of mansplained gut feeling?

Now be quiet. Gove's saying something about how I can kill his kids if I just let him live or something. As if my rage could ever be bought.

Now where did I put the gerbils and duct tape?







Oh, and thanks for the hit squad. They were delicious.

[Denzark]

LOL. OK Just in case I am unclear. I am bantering this thread. It might not be mature, it might have links to teenagers using 'Your Mum' insults. I genuinely do not want to upset anybody. Today I dropped £50 on my collectors' edition Chaos Codex and I couldn't give a rotten rat f*ck about how foreigners pronounce words really.

If I have offended anybody then I abjectly and humbly beseech your pardon. Unless you are needlessly sensitive then you can kiss my pucker.

Malty you are a funny guy. Would be happy to raise a glass and throw dice with you at the 'play date' next year - if you can countenance doing such things with someone to the right of Genghis Khan...

[scadugenga]

No worries, Denz.

[MaltonNecromancer]

Would be happy to raise a glass and throw dice with you at the 'play date' next year - if you can countenance doing such things with someone to the right of Genghis Khan...

As long as we don't talk politics or religion, I'm sure we'll be fine.

[Drunkencorgimaster]

Never mind the serious research done by linguists who've spent their lives studying the way people talk and how that relates to geographic, social, and economic boundaries...

Exactly. And good luck finding a linguist (a real one, who works at a university) who will tell you some cultures pronounce certain words "wrongly."

I admit it does kind of piss me off when Latino/Latina reporters in the US like Maria Hinojosa insist on pronouncing their names like they are back in Mexico, Puerto Rico, or NEEEEEKERAAGUA. But that's my own stupid little bias, not something rational or logical that I could justify to a linguist (a real one, who works at a university).

[Wildeybeast]

Anyone complaining that there's a "right way" to pronounce certain words hasn't really understood what language is or how it works. The only words that there is a "right way" to pronounce are the collection of phonemes that go up to make your own name. Those are the only words we have any right to claim as "ours".

So my point about getting the pronunciation of proper nouns wrong is entirely correct. Thanks Malton.

When you title your thread in an offensive manner engendered to bring argument, then you're trolling. Sorry, you can't duck that bullet. "Why do Americans say words wrongly" is meant to be an attack. If you had a general interest, you might wish to say something like "why do Americans pronounce words differently?" But you didn't. Nor, in fact, are we the only culture guilty of what you're accusing us of.

OK, I accept the title is bit accusatory, but it was meant to be light-hearted, hence my use of a made up word. And I'm not talking about producing or spelling of general words differently, which is a perfectly normal part of the evolution of language, I'm talking about the pronunciation of proper nouns which have a fixed pronunciation, dependent on how the person who 'owns' then pronounces it (see Malton's point). If you use a different pronunciation, it is fair to say you are using them incorrectly.

Does every Brit pronounce an eastern European name with an eastern European accent? How about a Karen name, or a Vietnamese name? A Hmong name, or a Saudi name? What about a Lakota name? If not, then you're just as guilty. In fact, the entire French speaking world would be guilty of not being able to pronounce an "s" correctly, and let's not even start on the Asiatic languages, which are based largely on tonal systems instead of the languages predominant in the western world. Christ, there are UK accents that aren't even intelligible to native English speakers!

No we do not, but where a proper noun is used commonly (footballers are a good example as we must have one of those from most language groups on the planet), we make the effort to pronounce it correctly, usually by asking the 'owner' how it should be pronounced. Based on my observations, Americans do not seem to go the same lengths. If I am wrong and the examples I have given are isolated incidents, please correct me.

People take a foreign word to their language and generally do one of two things: 1) try to pronounce it as intended, but with their native dialect, language and accent affecting the outcome, or 2) they "homogenize" the word and integrate it into their native language and apply said rules to it. English is simply full of examples of #2 above.

With general words, that is perfectly acceptable, but doing so with proper nouns just comes across is rude and makes you seem either lazy or arrogant to the people who 'own' them. You'd get annoyed if I consistently pronounced your name incorrectly and made no efforts to correct myself.

[Wolfshade]

Maybe for you, I'd get in all sorts of trouble.

In the interest in equality, if you ever come down to my rugby club after a match/training and want to jump in the shower I am sure i can persuade the chaps, well aside from the centres, they aren't into that sort of thing.

In terms of pronunciation there are very ittirating ones, like the way that Gordon Brown pronouces Billions, or Anne Robinson who insists in putting a th at the end of thousand.

One of my favourites, a chap I worked with was "Featherhowie" pronouced Fenshem.

What does irritate me more than pronunciations, is using z instead of s and make nouns verbs by adding ize to it.
"Let me diarize that for you" NO! "Let me put in my diary" yes.

[Psychosplodge]

Diarize? WTF is that supposed to be?

[Wolfshade]

Diarize? WTF is that supposed to be?

I know right, we also had agendaize, I was like what? you mean put it on the agenda.

Management speak v2.3