Comments on: The Changing Pronunciation of “Leisure”

By: jess

jess — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:48:03 +0000

My husband actually pronounces “buried” to rhyme with “hurried.” He grew up in the Twin Cities of Minnesota and we currently live in Northern Minnesota. I found it extremely funny at first, but seeing this has shown me that it is probably more common than I originally thought. (He also pronounces “bag” with the long A of “phase.”) Not everyone up here pronounces it that way (indeed, not even most people do), which is why it threw me a bit when we were dating. (I’m originally from Illinois and had never heard that pronunciation.)

By: Maeve

Maeve — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:59:32 +0000

barouche,
There’s no way to keep up changing pronunciation. You can’t go wrong with the RP you learned at school. I plan to continue to pronounce “leisure” to rhyme with “pleasure,” but I’ll understand what another speaker means when I hear the other pronunciation.

By: barouche

barouche — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:36:27 +0000

I’m not a native speaker of English. Reading the above comments ,I find myself in confusion. Are we supposed to pronounce English the way we learned at school ( according to the RP) ,or are we obliged to follow the the new trend to look fashionable and up to date ?
Learners of English face considerable difficulties related to pronunciation.

By: Paul Russell

Paul Russell — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:56:42 +0000

A major change I’ve noticed in the pronunciation of British English is the apparent shortening of words, as though there was some major rush in trying to impart information.

I regularly watch news broadcasts on BBC World, and am astonished at some of the pronunciations. Government becomes guvmunt, secretary is sectree, and my all time favorite word-shortening is innovative, which somehow gets contracted to innvtv.

There was a time when BBC broadcasters spoke good and unhurried English, but these days I have to switch to CNN to figure what’s happening in the world.

–paul

By: nutmeag

nutmeag — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:39:01 +0000

I’m in my mid-twenties, so I doubt that pronunciation has changed that much since early days, but I’ve noticed that I pronounce envelope differently than most people I know (but as people have been saying, this could be regional). I say ahn-velope, instead of ehn-velope. Not sure where that one came from.

As for leisure . . . I hear and use both pronunciations, depending on context. I use my “leezhure time” to read books, but a new movie I buy will be watched “at my lehzhure.”

And I’m from the U.S., so I’m not sure about elsewhere in the world.