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Often
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Do you pronounce the T?
Yes, I always pronounce it.
41%
 41%  [ 14 ]
Yes, sometimes.
32%
 32%  [ 11 ]
Nope, not if I can help it.
26%
 26%  [ 9 ]
I never say the word.
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
Total Votes : 34

Author Message
Captain Corea



Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 5:50 pm    Post subject: Often Reply with quote
I was teaching a class the other day and working through a news article. When I read the word "often" one of my students corrected me and said that I should never pronounce the "t". I was kind of surprised, and he explained that in school they were taught that it is always silent.

IMO you can either pronounce it or not. Personally I think it sounds a little low class to say offen, but to each his own. So, do you pronounce the "T" in Often?
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denverdeath



Joined: 21 May 2005
Location: Boo-sahn
PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 5:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
A few years ago, some foreigner told me that ofTEN was preferred a long time ago, but that ofFEN is more correct/common these days. Regardless, I always say ofTEN(and have always done so) and tell students that either is okay.
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Thunndarr



Joined: 30 Sep 2003
PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 6:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20000602

Quote:
Charles Elster, in his 1999 The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations, quotes several twentieth-century lexicographers and writers on usage who agree with him in decrying the (t) pronunciation. Among them is H. W. Fowler, who said in 1926 that it "is practiced by two oddly consorted classes--the academic speakers who affect a more precise enunciation than their neighbours...& the uneasy half-literates who like to prove that they can spell."


Probably a bit harsh.

See also:

100 Most Often Mispronounced Words:

http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/mispron.html

Quote:
We have mastered the spelling of this word so well, its spelling influences the pronunciation: DON'T pronounce the [t]! This is an exception to the rule that spelling helps pronunciation.
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Big Mac



Joined: 17 Sep 2005
PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 6:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I certainly think you should pronounce the "t," but I think that a lot of us will naturally say it without the "t" because of what I call "lazy English."

It's in the same category as substituting "wanna" instead of "want to" or "gonna" instead of "going to" or dropping the "g" on words like "leavin'," or "goin'."

In all these cases I think you will always sound much more intelligent if you say it properly.

We really should be teaching the children the intelligent pronunciation, not the slangy version....which may have its time and place, but not in the classroom.
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gypsyfish



Joined: 17 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 6:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Both are okay. It's not a matter of intelligence.

I don't pronounce the /t/. I don't pronounce the /t/ in listen, either.

There's a very punny scene in the Pirates of Penzance where Major-General Stanley questions the Pirate King as to whether he has said oafun like frequently or like without parents. Clearly no /t/ sound there.
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denverdeath



Joined: 21 May 2005
Location: Boo-sahn
PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 6:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
From:

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=often

Quote:
Usage Note: During the 15th century English experienced a widespread loss of certain consonant sounds within consonant clusters, as the (d) in handsome and handkerchief, the (p) in consumption and raspberry, and the (t) in chestnut and often. In this way the consonant clusters were simplified and made easier to articulate. With the rise of public education and literacy and, consequently, people's awareness of spelling in the 19th century, sounds that had become silent sometimes were restored, as is the case with the t in often, which is now frequently pronounced. In other similar words, such as soften and listen, the t generally remains silent.
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ilovebdt



Joined: 03 Jun 2005
Location: Nr Seoul
PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 6:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
It depends where you come from. I don't pronounce the T in often.
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chuknnjivn



Joined: 05 Jan 2006
PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 9:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I usually pronounce the T in often, but I have never heard it pronounced in listen. I sometimes pronounce the P in consumption, but have never heard it pronounced in raspberry.
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J.B. Clamence



Joined: 15 Jan 2003
PostPosted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 10:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Big Mac wrote:
We really should be teaching the children the intelligent pronunciation, not the slangy version....


I don't accept that not pronouncing the 't' in 'often' is slangy or unintelligent. I think it has a lot to do with dialect. Saying that it's unintelligent is like saying British or American English is unintelligent and slangy.
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