Talk:geyser

Pronunciation (homographs)

It appears that the first syllable is not pronounced the same whether the speaker is referring to jets of water (1) or a water heater (2). In 1, there is a 'bye' sound and in 2 there is a 'lee' sound.zigzig20s 18:11, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

OED2 doesn't make that distinction, but implies both pronunciations are valid for both meanings. Interestingly though, it suggests that geezer developed from a dialect pronunciation of guiser (which is derived from guise and officially pronounced to match). Since these are homophones of the two pronunciations of geyser, I suggest that its pronunciations vary regionally too, rather than according to meaning. This is supported by the fact that I (mainly based in London) have heard the ee pronunciation for both senses, and do not recall hearing the other pronunciation for either. --Enginear 16:05, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

This is in response to the information currently contained on pronunciation of geysir on this Wiktionary page: Regarding pronunciation of geysir, this word is accurately pronounced gaysir -- with a long a sound. In Icelandic, the ey and ei sounds are pronounced like the English long a (ay) sound. (Think Reykjavik - it is not pronounced Rikjavik -- with the i being a long i -- as has been erroneously suggested). The s is also pronounced as an s -- i.e., not as a 'z'. I know this intimately as I am of Icelandic descent -- a Vesterheima Islenska (a western -- or North American - Icelander, and my mother was from a small rural area in Manitoba named Geysir. (My mother and grandmother, who was from Iceland, pronounced Geysir as gaysir.) (It gives me the creeps every time I hear anybody pronounce this word as gizir. That is a very anglicized pronunciation of this word.)

• But as English-speakers, anglicizing the word is to be expected. The Icelandic pronunciation is good to know, but has no bearing on how people pronounce the English word. Ƿidsiþ 21:22, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't know about that, Ƿidsiþ. I've heard (albeit only a few) fellows pronounce the word /ˈɡʌɪzɚ/, which is somewhat closer to the "ideal" /geɪzɚ/ pronunciation. Tharthan (talk) 15:38, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

South African usage

I was speaking to a South African colleague who used this word to describe the hot water heater in our office. I see that this usage is also listed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_South_African_English_regionalisms

Is this worth adding to the definition here? — This comment was unsigned.

Yep. Added. Equinox ◑ 11:04, 29 August 2010 (UTC)