Timeline for How to pronounce this word?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
6 events
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| May 3, 2016 at 0:32 | comment | added | paste | @sumelic Thankfully, the original intended pronunciation rarely matters. In fact, in the case you mention, the debate over the pronunciation of GIF has popularized both pronunciations, which means it's more likely that one will know what you mean even if you pronounce it "incorrectly". Your intention will come across, and that's what's more important. | |
| May 2, 2016 at 19:18 | comment | added | sumelic | @paste: true that there aren't strict rules, but there are tendencies, and they can't be "overuled" too much or else people will start using spelling pronunciations. When someone fabricates a word with an unintuitive or ambiguous spelling, there's no guarantee the original, intended pronunciation will end up being used. Take the case of "GIF." | |
| May 2, 2016 at 17:19 | comment | added | paste | In English, there aren't really strict rules about how letters "can" be pronounced. There are general guidelines, but any of those can be overruled by any particular word, especially a fabricated word such as ghoti. | |
| May 2, 2016 at 14:12 | comment | added | sumelic | @JonathanAllan: well, "proper pronunciation" was never defined. One person might take it to mean "the intended pronunciation," another person might take it to mean "the pronunciation suggested by the normal rules of English spelling." :) | |
| May 2, 2016 at 14:10 | comment | added | Jonathan Allan | The question was for the "proper pronunciation" :) +1 | |
| May 2, 2016 at 14:01 | history | answered | sumelic | CC BY-SA 3.0 |