pronunciation advice

[BCAC]

IPA: kʌlɔdən

"cull-OH-dun" is pretty much correct. "cull" as it sounds, "OH" as in "off" with a bit of emphasis, and "dun" with the reduced vowel "dən".

I always hear the middle sylable pronounced O (as in odd) and not Oh (as in Oh my god).

To emphasise it would be Culloddun and not Cullohdun.

[Calgacus]

I always hear the middle sylable pronounced O (as in odd) and not Oh (as in Oh my god).

To emphasise it would be Culloddun and not Cullohdun.

Yes, you are quite right, that's a much better way of writing the description.

[robbiethepiper]

If anyone is interested: Gàidhlig is ''Cùil Lodair''. Emphasis is almost always on first syllables in Gàidhlig

[Calgacus]

Here's a link to a sound file for "Culloden".

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...0/Culloden.ogg

[OC Richard]

"OH" as in "off" with a bit of emphasis

Ah we seem to be getting into differences with "o" between Scottish and American English!

Plus in the USA there are places where cot and caught are pronounced the same, other places where they are pronounced differently. Being from a place where they're the same (West Virginia) and then moving to a place where they also are the same (California) I get into trouble, not being able to distinguish the two "o" sounds.

So there are three "o" sounds (at least) in much American English
1) go, throw, snow
2) Bob, cot, top
3) dog, caught, ball

2 and 3 being the same in several places in the USA.

So, there in West Virginia the middle syllable of Culloden rhymes with go, throw, snow; here in California it rhymes with Bob, cot, top, dog, caught, ball (these all being the same).

Here's a map of the USA showing where caught and cot are different (red) and the same (blue), you have to go to question #28

http://spark.rstudio.com/jkatz/SurveyMaps/

[BCAC]

Whilst we are talking about pronunciations, the French people always have weird and wonderful ways of pronouncing English words. One example is my surname. It starts with an H and I used to get a telling off from my dad whenever I dropped the H. The French do it systematically for any word that starts by H. It's very annoying. Of course it's their way but I can't help telling them each time. There is also the annoying habit of TV presenters saying Manchester Unitud when talking about Manchester United. It grates but it isn't going to be changing soon. Also, for the French, anyone who is remotely connected to the British Isles is English. Even Team GB during the last olympics! Oh how I wish that I could afford to go job and house hunting back home! Sorry, rant over!

[OC Richard]

the French people always have weird and wonderful ways of pronouncing English words.

There was a French girl here asking about directions, and she was asking about a street she called "Makasu".

We were at a loss until she produced a map and pointed to a street called MacArthur!

[OC Richard]

If anyone is interested: Gàidhlig is ''Cùil Lodair''. Emphasis is almost always on first syllables in Gàidhlig

Sadly that doesn't shed much light on the "o" pronunciation, because there are several ways to pronounce them in Gaelic and they can vary by region. I've heard "o" being more like an "a" such as the word ceol pronounced more or less like the cal in California. Pronouncing the "o" that way would make Lodair sound like English ladder.

[Calgacus]

Ah we seem to be getting into differences with "o" between Scottish and American English!

*snip*

So there are three "o" sounds (at least) in much American English
1) go, throw, snow
2) Bob, cot, top
3) dog, caught, ball

2 and 3 being the same in several places in the USA.

So, there in West Virginia the middle syllable of Culloden rhymes with go, throw, snow; here in California it rhymes with Bob, cot, top, dog, caught, ball (these all being the same).

Here's a map of the USA showing where caught and cot are different (red) and the same (blue), you have to go to question #28

http://spark.rstudio.com/jkatz/SurveyMaps/

Ok, so 'Culloden' definitely doesn't rhyme with go, throw, snow' (sorry, West Virginians, how do you pronounce "wrong"), but I struggle to differentiate between your examples 2 and 3. To me it sounds like all Americans say 'Bob' and 'dog' the same way. Any sound or video clips to illustrate for me?

Thanks,

Richard.

[MacLowlife]

Ok, so 'Culloden' definitely doesn't rhyme with go, throw, snow' (sorry, West Virginians, how do you pronounce "wrong"), but I struggle to differentiate between your examples 2 and 3. To me it sounds like all Americans say 'Bob' and 'dog' the same way. Any sound or video clips to illustrate for me?

Thanks,

Richard.

These things are getting easier to put into writing, but they are still quite difficult to explain. People in South Carolina are proud to know that Manigault ( Rhymes with Nanny goat, minus the T) and Taliaferro and Kinloch are NOT pronounced as they are spelled, just as forehead ("forrid") and clapboard (clabberd) aren't. We generally say "Simons" and "Simmons" the same way and we spot people from away when they struggle with Gervais ( pronounced in the proper French way) and Huger ( "U-G" or "Ewe Gee"* ). As elsewhere, when enough people from away come in and start saying place names, the accepted pronunciation changes- Greenville has gone from Green vull to Green VILLE, just as Atlanta went from id landa to aTLAN-TUH. Palmetto is shifting from palmettuh to palmet toe.

Here is an interesting test. I can't vouch for its accuracy, but it does help, somewhat. It placed me about 500 miles too far north,but then, I have been listening to NPR for 20 years.

http://www.youthink.com/quiz.cfm?act...ke&obj_id=9827


I note that most English people like to emphasize the first syllable of "garage" though they seem to say "courgette" and "aubergine" the way French people do.

* why on earth do we say "ew" to rhyme with "too"?