Re: Grammar

In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Holger Dansk  <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>On 3 Dec 2003 09:28:45 -0800, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Eric da Red) wrote:
>
>>>We are talking about the way English is spoken by Americans in the
>>>entire world.
>>
>>Americans don't even speak English the same way within America.
>>
>But, the correct pronunciation is the same in dictionaries all over
>America.

It is written the same (usually), but that doesn't mean it is
pronounced the same.

Consider:  "Harvard", pronounced "'här-v&rd"

Can you tell by this how to enunciate the 'ä'?

Most of us learned pronunciation rules from dictionaries by means of
comparisons:  the 'ä' sound is that made from speaking the word
'arm.'  All that means is that 'ä' should be pronounced the same way
in 'Harvard' and 'arm' but it does not specify that the correct
method is the softer 'ahr' sound common in New England or the harder
'arr' sound from the Midwest.

Then, there's the 'tire' example you mentioned earlier.  In most
parts of the US, 'tire' is pronounced as a two-syllable word, yet
the dictionary clearly defines it as one syllable.  It turns out
those hill people you mentioned earlier were closer to the "correct"
pronunciation by speaking a one syllable word even though it sounded
like 'tar.'





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