The "How Do You Pronounce X" Thread

[Travis B.]

Does anyone ever pronounce "ewe" as "yo"? Dictionary.com lists this as a possible pronunciation of "ewe", but I have never heard it. Not that I hear the word "ewe" much to start with.

The only pronunciation I am familiar with is /ju/ in NAE and /juː/ outside of NAE, but apparently in Irish English it is /joː/ and /joʊ/ is an old pronunciation in Southern American English.

[Zju]

back [bak ~ bæk]
black [blak]
blank [bɫɑnk]
plank [pɫɑnk]
plastic [pɫɑstɪk]

[bradrn]

blank [bɫɑnk]
plank [pɫɑnk]
plastic [pɫɑstɪk]

With back [ɑ]? Really?

[Zju]

blank [bɫɑnk]
plank [pɫɑnk]
plastic [pɫɑstɪk]

With back [ɑ]? Really?

I never said I'm a native speaker

[bradrn]

blank [bɫɑnk]
plank [pɫɑnk]
plastic [pɫɑstɪk]

With back [ɑ]? Really?

I never said I'm a native speaker

Ah, interesting. I always thought you were.

[Travis B.]

back [b̥ɛʔk]
black [b̥ɰɛʔk]
blank [b̥ɰẽ̞ʔk]
plank [pʰɰẽ̞ʔk]
plastic [ˈpʰɰɛsʲtʲɘʔk]

[Nortaneous]

/bæk/ [bæk]
/blæk/ [bɫæk]
/blænk/ [bɫæe̯ŋk]
/plænk/ [pɫæe̯ŋk]
/plæstɨk/ [pɫæsd̥ɪk]

[Darren]

back [bæʔk(x)]
black [bɫʷæʔk(x)]
blank [bɫʷæŋʔk(x)]
plank [pɫ̥ʷæŋʔk(x)]
plastic [ˈpɫ̥ʷæstɘʔk(x)]

[Travis B.]

What about planking? I ask because adding -ing changes the syllable structure of the word in such a way that its overall pronunciation changes for me.

planking [ˈpʰɰẽ̞ŋ.kɘ̃(ː)ŋ], also [ˈpʰɰẽ̞ŋ.kɘ̃(ː)(n)] as a present participle.

[Travis B.]

back [bæʔk(x)]
black [bɫʷæʔk(x)]
blank [bɫʷæŋʔk(x)]
plank [pɫ̥ʷæŋʔk(x)]
plastic [ˈpɫ̥ʷæstɘʔk(x)]

Holy affricates batman!

[Travis B.]

/bæk/ [bæk]
/blæk/ [bɫæk]
/blænk/ [bɫæe̯ŋk]
/plænk/ [pɫæe̯ŋk]
/plæstɨk/ [pɫæsd̥ɪk]

No aspiration?

Also, I am sure I would hear those [æe̯]'s as /aɪ/'s.

[Darren]

back [bæʔk(x)]
black [bɫʷæʔk(x)]
blank [bɫʷæŋʔk(x)]
plank [pɫ̥ʷæŋʔk(x)]
plastic [ˈpɫ̥ʷæstɘʔk(x)]

Holy affricates batman!

Indeed – the onset realisation of /t k/ is [tʰ~t͡θ̠~t͡s̠~s̠, kʰ~k͡x] and they tend to retain their affrication into the coda. You'll occasionally come across eye dialect spellings like "farkhing" or "shen" which reflect this.

[Nortaneous]

No aspiration?

A narrower transcription would have [pʰɫ̥-].

Also, I am sure I would hear those [æe̯]'s as /aɪ/'s.

Maybe as /eɪ/. I assume the æ > eɪ / _ŋ shift passed through an intermediate [æɪ]. I don't think [æ] can appear before nasals for me, and before [n] I think I'd interpret it as /au/, for which I have something like [æɞ]. (A Midwestern friend once joked that I pronounce "townhouse" like "tan hass".)

[Space60]

How do you pronounce?

"length"
"strength"
"penguin"
"Jenkins"
"ginseng"

[Nortaneous]

"length"
"strength"
"penguin"
"Jenkins"
"ginseng"

ˈleɪŋkθ
ˈstreɪŋkθ
ˈpeɪŋɡwɪn
ˈdʒɛŋkɪnz
ˈdʒɪnˌsɛŋ

[Travis B.]

length [ʟ̞ẽ̞ŋkθ]~[ɰẽ̞ŋkθ]
strength [ɕtɕɻʁẽ̞ŋkθ] (note the [ɻʁ] is coarticulated)
penguin [ˈpʰɜ̃ːŋɡwɘ̃(ː)(n)]
Jenkins [ˈtʃɜ̃ŋkɘ̃ːnts]
ginseng [ˈtʃɪ̈̃nˌtsɪ̈̃ːŋ]
Genghis [ˈɡ̥ɜ̃ːŋɡɘs]

[Raholeun]

Non-native here:

lɛŋkθ
sc͡çɹɛŋkθ
ˈpɪŋ.ʋɪn
ˈd͡ʒɛŋ.kɪns
xɪnˈsɛŋ

The universal ruler, evidently, is ˈχɛŋˌgɪs kaːn.

[Travis B.]

No aspiration?

A narrower transcription would have [pʰɫ̥-].

Properly what I transcribe as [pʰɰ] ought to be [pʰɰ̥] but I was feeling lazy.

Also, I am sure I would hear those [æe̯]'s as /aɪ/'s.

Maybe as /eɪ/. I assume the æ > eɪ / _ŋ shift passed through an intermediate [æɪ]. I don't think [æ] can appear before nasals for me, and before [n] I think I'd interpret it as /au/, for which I have something like [æɞ]. (A Midwestern friend once joked that I pronounce "townhouse" like "tan hass".)

I am liable to hear /eɪ/ with a rather open starting point as /aɪ/ myself.

About /æ/ before nasals, how do you pronounce pancake or mancave?

[Nortaneous]

About /æ/ before nasals, how do you pronounce pancake or mancave?

pancake [peəŋkeɪk] (~ [-nk-])
man cave [meənkeɪv]
panko [peəŋkəw]

For Bernanke I've heard both [bɚˈnæe̯ŋki] and [bɚˈneəŋki]

[Travis B.]

About /æ/ before nasals, how do you pronounce pancake or mancave?

pancake [peəŋkeɪk] (~ [-nk-])
man cave [meənkeɪv]
panko [peəŋkəw]

For Bernanke I've heard both [bɚˈnæe̯ŋki] and [bɚˈneəŋki]

I personally have:

pancake [ˈpʰɛ̃̆ə̯̃̆ŋˌkʰe̞ʔk]~[ˈpʰɛ̃ŋˌkʰe̞ʔk]
mancave [ˈmɛ̃̆ə̯̃̆ŋˌkʰe̞ːf]~[ˈmɛ̃ŋˌkʰe̞ːf]
Bernanke [b̥ʁ̩̃ːˈnɛ̃̆ə̯̃̆ŋki(ː)]~[b̥ʁ̩̃ːˈnɛ̃ŋki(ː)]

Note for all these words I have /æ/, unlike bank, blank, and plank where I have /eɪ/ ─ for me the distinction is phonemic. (It's not a syllabification thing either, though, as I have h[ẽ̞]nky-p[ẽ̞]nky, for instance.)

As for panko, that is not a word I have natively.