How do you pronounce "roof"?

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 8:02 am

Lark wrote:I’ve been told that it sounds like “oot and aboot in a boot” (The “O” sound in boat, unlike the other words, being like “oh”), however I believe that everyone else is simply over pronouncing certain “a” sounds

I don't know. I think Martha Stewart talks like y'all.

BrassBlower · Post by **BrassBlower** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 8:30 am

Lark wrote: I’ve been told that it sounds like “oot and aboot in a boot” (The “O” sound in boat, unlike the other words, being like “oh”), however I believe that everyone else is simply over pronouncing certain “a” sounds .

The Scorpions (German heavy-metal band) pronounce "shout" as "shoat".

Post by **Nanohedron** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 12:54 pm

BrassBlower wrote:
Lark wrote: I’ve been told that it sounds like “oot and aboot in a boot” (The “O” sound in boat, unlike the other words, being like “oh”), however I believe that everyone else is simply over pronouncing certain “a” sounds .
The Scorpions (German heavy-metal band) pronounce "shout" as "shoat".

Shoat: a newly-weaned piglet; also a cross between a goat and a sheep, also called a geep.

I kid

you not.

sandpiper · Post by **sandpiper** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 11:36 pm

doze wrote:Rewf. Southwestern Ontario. Everyone here pronounces it rewf, except (and I have no idea why) a lot of auto workers in Windsor, who pronounce it ruff (same vowel sound as "foot").

Another one people seem to have different ideas about is "hoof."

I think to the Windsor phenomenon is that they hang out with Michiganders. I grew up in MI and they all said ruf, I use both now after moving about the southwest. My husband still picks on me when I say 'about' or 'house'. I still sound somewhat like a yankee.

When living in Texas I picked up the y'all thing and said it to my mother, who asked 'what's y'all? Is that like yous' guys? '

Y'all is singular, all y'all is plural.

I'm convinced that in the south there is no distinguishable difference between the sound of pen and pin.

Cyfiawnder · Post by **Cyfiawnder** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 11:54 pm

BrassBlower wrote:
Lark wrote: I’ve been told that it sounds like “oot and aboot in a boot” (The “O” sound in boat, unlike the other words, being like “oh”), however I believe that everyone else is simply over pronouncing certain “a” sounds .
The Scorpions (German heavy-metal band) pronounce "shout" as "shoat".

I've got somethin ta say. It's better to burn out... than to fade away.

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 12:08 am

I was gonna ask if y'all pronounce "route" like "rout" or like "root", but then I recalled that some folks pronounce "root" to rhyme with "boot", but others rhyme it with "foot" (same vowel choices as "roof"), which muddies the waters a bit.

My great aunt Jessie May Hogue, originally from Missouri and Tennessee, used to make fun of people "back East" who--she claimed" pronounced "pecan" as "PEE-kan", rather than "p'KAHN", as God intended.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 12:28 am

Darwin wrote:I was gonna ask if y'all pronounce "route" like "rout" or like "root", but then I recalled that some folks pronounce "root" to rhyme with "boot", but others rhyme it with "foot" (same vowel choices as "roof"), which muddies the waters a bit.

My great aunt Jessie May Hogue, originally from Missouri and Tennessee, used to make fun of people "back East" who--she claimed" pronounced "pecan" as "PEE-kan", rather than "p'KAHN", as God intended.

http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php ... c&start=15

andreaz54 · Post by **andreaz54** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 6:30 am

Rewf.............Niagara Falls NY

Post by **Dale** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 6:36 am

I had to be part of this--so I could tell people that I have an Internet forum on which, so far, 4 pages of postings are devoted to the pronunciation of the word "roof."

In Alabama, the "r" is silent and the "f" sounds more like a "v". The "oo" sounds more like the "ou" sound in "shout". And ending consonant sound is often pronounced doubled, with the second sounding slightly fainter. So, roof if pronounced sort of like:

"OuV-v"

In certain areas of southern Alabama however, roof is pronounced;

"gart"

Dale

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 6:50 am

DaleWisely wrote:I had to be part of this--so I could tell people that I have an Internet forum on which, so far, 4 pages of postings are devoted to the pronunciation of the word "roof."

In Alabama, the "r" is silent and the "f" sounds more like a "v". The "oo" sounds more like the "ou" sound in "shout". And ending consonant sound is often pronounced doubled, with the second sounding slightly fainter. So, roof if pronounced sort of like:

"OuV-v"

In certain areas of southern Alabama however, roof is pronounced;

"gart"

Dale

I figured in Alabama they pronounced it both ways, "Rewuff." I think some people here do.

Actually, when we moved out into southwestern Oklahoma, when I was a child, there was a family in our church (family of the Gospel singer/songwriter/comedian Aaron Wilburn, who used to tour with the Happy Goodmans) who were from Alabama, and could hardly be convinced that my father wasn't an Alabama native. I'm not making this up. My father was an Eastern Oklahoma native, as were his parents and grandparents.

RonKiley · Post by **RonKiley** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 8:18 am

Sandpiper is right about pin/pen at least in some areas. In fact to distinguish them the one you write with is an ink pin. I haven't heard anyone mention the word water. Is it warder, wat-ter or wahta?

Here I say rewf, Maryland. My father said ruf, Michigan and my mother said something about halfway in between, East Pennsylvania.

Ron

satyricon234 · Post by **satyricon234** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 9:18 am

Wow. There are a lot of Michigan people here.

I say rewf and roof (as in foot) depending on the situation.

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 10:46 am

"rewf"... actually, 'roof', and NorthEast Missouri, USA

burnsbyrne · Post by **burnsbyrne** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 11:22 am

RonKiley wrote:Sandpiper is right about pin/pen at least in some areas. In fact to distinguish them the one you write with is an ink pin. I haven't heard anyone mention the word water. Is it warder, wat-ter or wahta?
Ron

I had a girlfriend about 1969-72 who was from western Pennsylvania, near Clarion who introduced me to pin vs. inkpin. She also called her mother mum. Their word for "you" plural was "you'uns". They also said, "the car needs washed" instead of "the car needs to be washed". I'm afraid that many of these regionalisms are being lost in our modern world of satelite TV and super highways.
Mike

MarkB · Post by **MarkB** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 11:29 am

Rewf in Windsor, so close to Michigan, yet so far away. It is easy to tell Michiganders when they are in Windsor and even more, those from Ohio.

MarkB

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