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trivial pronunciation problem
Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 9:05 pm
by sheikh radlinrol
A student here in Spain was asked which of these four words had a different number of syllables from the others.
Wednesday vegetables languages excited
As I have a Scottish accent, I was stumped and embarrassed when she asked me for the answer. All comments welcome.
Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 3:55 am
by Lorikeet
Wednesday has two syllables for me. ( Sort of sounds like wenzday)
Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 3:23 pm
by sheikh radlinrol
We would pronounce it as wed-ens-day. Maybe we're in the minority and should be teaching them your version, which I suppose is easier for them. Thanks for the reply.
Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 4:05 pm
by Lorikeet
Oh! I didn't know it was pronounced as 3 syllables anywhere. I wonder why it isn't "wed-nes-day." Silly English spelling.
Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 10:58 pm
by Buddhaheart
Canadian pronunciations of these words are as follows:
Wednesday: 2 syllables. The middle ‘e’ is silent.
Vegetables: 3 or 4 syllables. The second ‘e’ may be uttered or not. If so, it’s pronounced as a schwa.
Languages: 3 syllables
Excited: 3 syllables
You might therefore say there could be 2 “words (that) had a different number of syllables from
the others.”
Wednesday Pronunciation
Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 8:36 am
by eslweb
I'd pronounce it exactly as the Cambridge Dictionary suggests:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define. ... 9616&ph=on
IPA /'wenz.dei/
I hope this helps...
James