says

[squashy42]

What is the correct pronunciation of the word 'says', should it be 'sez', or how it is written sounding each letter?

[bednobs]

in my opinion there is n such thing as correct pronounciation of anything. Britain has loads of varied dialects and what might be correct for one wont be correct for another

[squashy42]

Thanks bednobs perhaps I should have asked how would the Queen pronounce it or a BBC news reader?

[jno]

sez is normal but saze is not uncommon and would be easily understood even by people who don't pronounce it that way themselves

[football21]

Sez is correct. bednobs there are those that pronounce correctly because they know & those that are unaware. Then there are those that know but speak slovenly & those who don't care.

[Quizmonster]

'Sez' is, of course, an actual word - introduced into English the best part of two centuries ago - and not just a representation of a pronunciation. Here's what The Oxford English Dictionary has to say about it...

"A jocular representation of 'says' in uneducated speech." (My underlining)

It may have spread to some of the better-educated over the years, but I very much doubt that the Queen would have started to use it! Even now, my own view - and pronunciation - is saze.

[fredpuli47]

QM, how does the full O.E.D. have the pronunciation of 'says'? The current edition of the Shorter Oxford has it as 'sez' [in phonetic alphabet, of course] and gives no alternative .

The current Collins English Dictionary also gives only 'sez' for 'says'.

[Quizmonster]

Grovel, grovel, scrape, scrape! I have to apologise to you, Squashy, for my over-hasty earlier response! I made the mistake of looking only at the listed word, 'sez' and just took my own (Scottish-educated!) pronunciation into account. Although resident outside Scotland for over half a century, there is obviously still more than a tinge of the old Jockanese in there!
Fred, as you say, The Oxford English Dictionary gives 's+backwards3+z' as the pronunciation of 'says' which its sound-table suggests is the 'e' sound in 'pet'. So, you're right that it means 'says' is now pronounced 'sez'.
Accordingly, you're right and I'm wrong. However, I'm sure I shall continue pronouncing 'says' just as 'say' with a 'z' tacked on and not as 'se' with a 'z' tacked on! Must listen more closely than usual next time I hear HM speaking. (Mind you, she says 'nace hice' for 'nice house', so I'm not sure we should treat her as a role model.)

Again, my apologies, Squashy.

[fredpuli47]

QM, are you sure HM says 'hice'? It was reported recently that experts had analysed her speech over her years as Queen and found that she was developing a common touch in her English. Her vowels had become much more like those of her (South Eastern) subjects.Perhaps she is taking after her grandchildren, none of whom sound at all 'posh' (to me, anyway).

If Her Majesty has changed , 'hice' still exists. I was astonished to hear a woman visiting a country house auction in remote Norfolk say " He is in the hice !" I never thought I'd hear it again. I've lived in Chelsea and Newmarket, homes to the Sloaney, the horsey and the hunting and have not heard it in either in twenty years. In contrast , saying 'untin' for hunting, 'ray-ssin' for racing and even 'goff' for 'golf' still survive there

[THECORBYLOON]

When Harry Carpenter was presenting the tennis at Wimbledon one year, they showed some of the scores on the outside courts. I heard him say "The sets are tall" and I thought it was some strange tennis expression meaning they were level. It took me a wee while to twig he was saying "The sets are two-all"

[Quizmonster]

You have to remember, Fred, that some of the upper echelons of British society consider the Royal Family to be little more than minor provincial Germanics!
I've never actually heard the lady use the word 'house', but I - like yourself - certainly have heard members of the 'county set', if you like, say 'hice' for 'house'. I'm sure, for example, that she used to say 'orrff' for 'off', so 'hice' seemed a likely aberration, too.
So, to answer your question, no, I'm not sure she says 'hice', but I am sure she doesn't speak like Rio Ferdinand, innit!

[jno]

Quizmonster, my mother also used to say orf and orfen - and she was of Irish extraction and grew up in a farming village thousands of miles from Chelsea (literally). I've often wondered where her pronunciation came from.

[Quizmonster]

J, The OED lists 'orf' as...
"a phonetic spelling of a vulgar or affected pronunciation of 'off'."
In fact, the illustrations of this usage seem initially all to have been of the 'vulgar' variety...eg "She tells 'im orf a treat." Not until the latter half of the 20th century did any record of the 'affected' version appear..."Do you mind awfully if I push orf?"
I am certainly not suggesting your mother was vulgar - in the sense of crude - but the pronunciation is not just solely the preserve of the posh. Indeed, I'm pretty sure Cockneys for example still use it to this day.
Just another illustration of the strange vagaries of the language in geographical terms.

[jno]

thanks, Quizmonster. As far as I know my mother's stock involved Irish and a bit of Scottish and none had been anywhere near the East End or Chelsea. But perhaps she picked it up from people - teachers or pupils - at school who had? Just one of the many things I wish I'd sat down and asked her about before she died.