Comments on: Tomayto or Tomahto?

By: Nobody

Nobody — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 02:12:31 +0000

Valerie – “I’m from northern England and the ‘anteye’ pronunciation drives me crazy, and so does ‘an ‘erb’ for ‘a herb’ for example. And pronouncing the article ‘a’ (atonal vowel as ‘ay’)”

So you find one pronunciation that deviates from its roots and the other that stays to its roots as annoying? ‘erb’ is the original pronunciation in English and true to its pronunciation in French and Latin. I think what you mean to say is that you find any accent different than your own as annoying. Also, the article ‘a’ is usually pronounced ‘uh’ (schwa sound). It’s pronounced like the letter only when adding emphasis.

By: Rogelio

Rogelio — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 01:48:14 +0000

Hello, I just want to thank….

I’m a native spanish speaker I was looking for the right explanation of those words and I found it. Great Controverse!!! and very helpfull!

I certainly prefer British English!!!, sounds Sofisticated and more polite, I say it like a Spanish Listener!!!

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 22:47:34 +0000

but many Americans pronounce tomato {and aunt ) with a broad a

Yes; the New England pronunciation of “aunt” always makes me laugh – doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of their accent at all.

By: Valerie

Valerie — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:22:11 +0000

Mand – you’re right about ‘book-learnt’ values. ‘Spelling pronunciation’ is when, instead of pronouncing a word as it has always been spoken (oral tradition if you will) the speaker renders the sound of the word’s spelling. There are lots of examples of this, and the cause is basically – literacy!
Me too. I’m from northern England and the ‘anteye’ pronunciation drives me crazy, and so does ‘an ‘erb’ for ‘a herb’ for example. And pronouncing the article ‘a’ (atonal vowel as ‘ay’) All heard from Americans (sorry!)
Valerie

By: Roberta B.

Roberta B. — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 17:59:35 +0000

Yes, the language of immigrants does have a big influence on pronunciation. For example, my home town of Montebello was named by Italian immigrants. So, the double-L is pronounced as it would be in Italian, or even in English with a slightly shorter L-sound. However, the town now has a very high residency of Spanish-speaking immigrants who say the name of the city as Montebeyo, giving the double-L the sound of Y. Their congresswoman even pronounces it that way. Talk about a monstrosity to my ears! I suppose many think it always was that way, but was named long after the area was lost as a former Mexican territory. It’s not like it’s going back to a pre-colonial pronunciation (like Mumbai for Bombay?). I don’t live there now, but I’m kind of sad about the loss of the tradition. I’m sure the same can be said for other areas.