On topic: pronouncing "whistle"

[Redwolf]

Then there's good old "often." I grew up in the Northwest, and have always pronounced the "t." I had a teacher in high school, however, from Wisconsin, and that nearly drove her crazy. "It's pronounced "OFF-un" she'd tell us over and over again.

Redwolf

[Walden]

Uh oh! The old crick and creek debate! The crick is the body of water, but you use creek in the proper name. Like this: "Which crick you goin' to fish in today, Tom? Alligator Creek? Well, watch out for the 'gators."

As I've heard it, the debate was always branch vs. creek.

[Lambchop]

Uh oh! The old crick and creek debate! The crick is the body of water, but you use creek in the proper name. Like this: "Which crick you goin' to fish in today, Tom? Alligator Creek? Well, watch out for the 'gators."

As I've heard it, the debate was always branch vs. creek.

Ah, that must be for those west of the Mississippi.

In these here parts, it's crick and creek.

I'm certain of this. If I said "Look at how high that creek is," people who didn't know me would assume I was a tourist. If I said "branch," they'd be looking up in the trees.

[Walden]

If I said "branch," they'd be looking up in the trees.

I suppose the origin of the terminology is in reference to being branched off a river, or the like.

[Jack]

So what's everyone's verdict on "IDEA"? "I deah" or "idear"? I say it the second way (which I heard Kerry do on this last debate). My husband gives me a bad time about that - so then I get on his case about prouncing "creek" meaning a little stream as "crick" when OF COURSE it should be pronounced the same as the sound a door makes when it needs oil - a crick is what you get in your neck when you sleep wrong!

Most people who pronounce an r at the end of idea only do it when the word directly following idea starts in a vowel sound, such as "I have an idear about whistles" but "I have an idea for you". It's not just the word idea, though. In many words ending with a vowel, people who do this would tend to say "Angelar ate" and "Americar is", but not "Angelar went" or "Americar was".

That's what I have observed, at least.

[Cyfiawnder]

I prounounce all words Begining with Wh with the begining of the word being an Indrawn breath instead of an exhale. I know it sounds strange to read it, but just try say White outloud breathing out, then say it again breathing in, there's a difference, but not a big one. Wh(in)ite(out)
I say:
Work-Werk, not War-k
Water-wahd-der, not wudder, Watter
Don-Dahn
Dawn-Dahen
Pecan- peh-kahn, not pee-can, or pick-uhn
Theater- Thee-(like Theo)it-er
The sack didn't tear, it "got a rip in it"
Being close to Canuck-lund I have a tendancy to use "A" (ehee) as a question. "Lets go get a few beers a?"
Bat- Baht, not Bot
Cat- Caht, not Caught
Strength- Streh-ing-th, not like those anoying "Maximum Strenth Pinesol" commercials
Chew- Ch-oo, not Chaw
Cow- K-ow, not Kew like irish Cu' (hound)
Pig- P-ihg, not Peg, or Pug
Bitch- Bih-ch, not Beach, Be-hich, or Bee-ahch

Now let me ask, do you use the Real "f" word (around adults) or do you say Fig, Frig, Fehck, or Fudge?

[Caru]

On a related note, you might want to try this quiz. It's mostly looking at north/south distinctions, but uses a lot of the words that have been mentioned.

http://www.sonicpling.net/misc/yankee-dixie-quiz.html

[Darwin]

Sounds sort of like "hw" (which is how Merriam-Webster shows it), but could as easily be said to be a simultaneous h and w.

I'd say that if you start the "h" before you round your lips, it's "h" followed by "w". If you round your lips first, it's a single sound. The latter (voiceless bilabial fricative in linguistic terms) is the original sound in Greek that's represented by "ph" in words like "philosophy". Since English ddn't have that sound, it got changed to the "f" sound.

It can be tough to analyze this kind of thing by ear while speaking at normal speed, and sometimes when we try to slow things down, we change our articulation. If you record a bunch of those words at normal conversational speed on your computer and run them through the Amazing Slow Downer, you might be able to hear the details. (Not that anyone other than a linguist would care much, but I think that kind of detail is interesting for itself.)

[Darwin]

On a related note, you might want to try this quiz. It's mostly looking at north/south distinctions, but uses a lot of the words that have been mentioned.

http://www.sonicpling.net/misc/yankee-dixie-quiz.html

I got: 73% (Dixie). That is a pretty strong Southern score!

I did this by remembering what I would have said as a kid. Several have changed since then.

[Stine]

I skip the "h" in "whistle," but don't in "white."

I live in California...I hear people pronounce their "wh"s like odd "h's" sometimes. "White" would be like.."hw-ite, " or something close to it.

[dubhlinn]

On a related note, you might want to try this quiz. It's mostly looking at north/south distinctions, but uses a lot of the words that have been mentioned.

http://www.sonicpling.net/misc/yankee-dixie-quiz.html

59% Dixie.

Don't ask.. I have no idea!

Slan,
D(ixie).

[RonKiley]

I scored 63% Dixie. My uncle was raised in Georgia with lots of those nuts. He called them peecans. My wifes family from southwestern Virginia says peek-uns. My mother from Pennsylvania said pee-kahn. I say either pekahn or peecan and it probably depends on who I am talking to. I have no idea what you are talking about when you talk about pronouncing the h in where. Wear and where are pronounced identically and I have never heard any one pronounce it any other way. However, how about the word here. Is it heer , cheer, or hyeer?

Ron

[Darwin]

However, how about the word here. Is it heer , cheer, or hyeer?

I say "heer", unless I'm singing a Stanley Brothers song, when it becomes "hyeer". I think it's only "cheer" in "ratcheer".

How about "new"? I say "nyoo", but often hear "noo". Likewise, I pronounce "dew" as "dyoo", not "doo".

But, I've just noticed that I say "Noo York", "Noo Jersey", and "Noo Mexico". Strange...

[Walden]

So what's everyone's verdict on "IDEA"? "I deah" or "idear"? I say it the second way (which I heard Kerry do on this last debate).

It's apt to be pronounced ideal, here.

Yellow... is it yallah (first vowel, same sound as in cat) or yell-oh (first vowel, same sound as in let)? It can rhyme with tallow.

As for pecan, it's pronounced p'kahn.

[Darwin]

So what's everyone's verdict on "IDEA"? "I deah" or "idear"? I say it the second way (which I heard Kerry do on this last debate).

It's apt to be pronounced ideal, here.

When I was about 9, living in Mississippi, I recall my mother telling me to say "ideah", not "idear". Also, she didn't like my saying "warter" for "water". I still slip into that one from time to time.

To me this shows that peer influence is as important as parental. Not just in language either. You never hear one kid asking another, "If your parents jumped off a bridge, would you do it, too?"

Yellow... is it yallah (first vowel, same sound as in cat) or yell-oh (first vowel, same sound as in let)? It can rhyme with tallow.

I'd go with "yelluh".

As for pecan, it's pronounced p'kahn.

I can get behind that one.

Is somebody gonna produce an attractive graph of all these responses?