Pronunciation Only Matters When You Speak
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
Pronunciation Only Matters When You Speak
A cautionary tale for those who are cavalier about pronunciation: In 2003, the then president of the United States made his first presidential visit to Nevada and repeatedly pronounced it “nuh-VAHD-a.” Residents of the state got testy—it’s nuh-VAD-a, and they felt that the commander in chief should know it. The next time he spoke there, he made sure to say “nuh-VAD-a,” adding archly, “You didn’t think I’d get it right, did you?”
Here are some other pronunciations to ponder:
Vase The Brits say “vahz,” but we don’t. It rhymes with face or phase in American speech.
Decadent Given the state of things, this is a word you hear a lot, but not its traditional pronunciation: dik-CAY-dint (first two syllables pronounced like decay), rather than DECK-a-dint. We have to admit that this one is all but a lost cause, although if you think about it, it makes sense to stress the decay in decadent.
Cadre We recommend CAD-ree. Yes, we know cadre is now commonly pronounced KAH-dray, but it wasn’t always so. In the 1960s the preferred pronunciation was KAH-der, with CAD-ree as an alternative. KAH-dray was not an option.
Culinary You can’t go wrong with KYOO-lin-ary, although these days you are more likely to hear CULL-in-ary, or even COO-lin-ary. In 1956, Webster’s New World listed only KYOO-lin-ary. In 1966, The Random House Dictionary of the English Language preferred KYOO-lin-ary but made CULL-in-ary a second option. Regrettably, the online American Heritage dictionary now leads with CULL-in-ary, but it lists KYOO-lin-ary second.
Acumen This word for “keen insight” is usually pronounced “ACK-ya-min,” but many sticklers object. The 1956 Webster’s allowed only uh-KYEW-min (rhymes with luck human), but ten years later, Random House listed ACK-ya-min as a second choice. The Oxford online dictionary accepts ACK-ya-min but still prefers uh-KYEW-min. So do we.
Schizophrenia We prefer skit-sa-FREE-nia, and so do we (joke). Nowadays there is general agreement on the first two syllables: skit-sa. But are the next two syllables pronounced “FREE-nia” or “FREN-ia”? The 2014 Webster’s New World and the online American Heritage accept both. But going back a few decades, the 1968 Random House American College Dictionary accepts only FREE-nia. And get this: it prefers skiz-a-FREE-nia, the “skiz” rhyming with whiz. It lists skit-sa-FREE-nia second. No FREN-ia in sight.
Halley’s Comet Make it HAL-lee’s. The two l’s make Halley an exact rhyme with valley. The last name of the astronomer Edmund Halley (1656-1742) is often mispronounced HAY-lee. That would be understandable if it were “Haley’s Comet,” a frequent misspelling. Some say HAH-lee’s or HAW-lee’s, both of which are more acceptable than HAY-lee’s.
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I enjoy your e-newsletters.
In the subject line of this message, I would have moved “Only” after “Matters” because “Only” is modifying “When You Speak”: Pronunciation Matters Only When You Speak.
Yes, you could put “only” after “matters” … or not. Only is versatile. Its placement in our title is well established in American idiom.
We’re pleased to hear that you enjoy the e-newsletters. Thank you for writing.
It’s also fun to pick up pronunciation differences in the culture of the 1920’s and ‘30s. TCM has
good old movies on and I especially like the Thin Man series with William Powell and Myrna Loy. I saw
an episode recently when Powell and Loy were referring to a guy as a suspect – but not our SUSpect, back then
he was a susPECT. They also pronounced Los Angeles as Los ANGLees.
We also like doing the old-movie thing. But many people today still say “Los Angle-eze.”
You all should come to Missouri sometime. Aside from half the state calling it “Mis-SOU-rah,”, Nevada, Missouri is pronounced “Na-VAY-da..” Versailles, Missouri is pronounced, “Ver-SALES.” New Madrid, Missouri is pronounced, New MAD-drid. I think we got Vichy, Missouri right. It’s VEE-shee.. Over in Illinois, New Athens is New AY-thens. Cadiz is KAY-deez, Cairo is KAY-roh, and nearby Cadiz, KY is KAY-deez. We have a tough time with those “furriner” words.