Talk:pronunciation

Spelling: nun or noun?

Now what's right, Pronunciation or Pronounciation (see pronounce -> Related)? --Newbie (CH) 15:12, 5 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Pronunciation is the standard spelling. (I went and fixed the link at pronounce.) See Wiktionary:List of common misspellings. —Muke Tever 22:35, 5 Aug 2004 (UTC)

But isn't it said as 'pronounciation'? At least I have always heard it so. Or I think so, since I won't hear much english apart from tv. 85.217.35.178 04:04, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

No, it is not said as 'pronounciation', it is 'pronənciation'. The verb is said as 'pronounce'. —Stephen ^(Talk) 22:45, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Why it is "nun"? What is the reason for "o" to drop off? That's what I'd like to know. 85.217.45.223 13:34, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

The "o" is not dropped out of pronunciation. On the contrary, an "o" in inserted in pronounce. The "o" is added to reflect our English pronunciation of pronounce. Pronunciation < Old French pronuncier < Late Latin pronunciare < Latin pronuntiare, from pro- + nuntiare < nuntius (messenger). —Stephen ^(Talk) 22:47, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Who pronounces it "proNOUNciation"?

The article gives two ways to pronounce this word:

• /pɹəˌnʌnsiˈeɪʃən/
• /pɹəˌnaʊnsiˈeɪʃən/ (nonstandard)

Who uses the second one (which sounds like pro-nounce-ciation)? Gronky (talk) 06:09, 10 January 2014 (UTC)

pɹəˌnʌn.tsiˈeɪ.ʃən

Where does the [t] come from? <c> is pronounced as [s], why is there an affrication? Moreover, it doesn't concord with prə-nŭn'-sē-ā′-shən. --Explosivo (talk) 21:28, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

The n is a voiced nasal alveolar stop and the s is a voiceless oral alveolar fricative. The t is what you get when you replace all the characteristics of the n with the characteristics of the s, except for the stop part- in other words, it's intermediate between the two. Having this show up in the pronunciation is no surprise at all- the question is whether this is better treated as phonemic or as a minor phonetic detail to be left out, like the aspiration on the p. Chuck Entz (talk) 04:16, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

pɹəˌnaʊnsiˈeɪʃən

"Standard" and "nonstandard", what even defines these? Are we using American, British, or Australian or whatever. Are they even standardized? This seems rather problematic to me, because it how it's spelled and pronounced seems wrong to me I don't know if that's a dialectal thing or not because it's not clear what "standard" is being used here. I'm from New York, and, to me, it's always been pronounciation and it's pronounced /pɹoˌnaʊnsiˈeɪʃən/ with an /o/. That's how I say it, that's how I hear it, and that's how I write it. What is it that tells me I've been speaking and writing wrong? No one ever told me I should not say it this way or write it that way. What gives? — This unsigned comment was added by 69.206.181.191 (talk) at 05:43, 2 January 2018‎ (UTC).

Your question is well placed: language is after all dictated by usage, and a linguist's job is to describe language rather than prescribe (or proscribe) it. That said, it is also worth noting that writing is not language. Unlike many languages, for example French, English has no governing body to decide standards. There are however conventions, and these can be set by of usage, dictionaries, or style guides.

I would however encourage you to consult a dictionary. -Coreydragon (talk) 09:26, 20 March 2018 (UTC)

While the "that's how I say it, that's how everyone I know says it" argument is certainly quite relevant, it is not the whole truth. There is also such a thing as an inherited standard, which many people respect and try to adhere to. This may be traditional, intellectual, and elitist, in other words very un-American, but it is out there and relevant as well. I think the current wording "common but proscribed" is not bad. 77.13.206.43 17:47, 21 July 2021 (UTC)