Pronounciation

[blackcat77]

Can anyone tell me if there is a correct way to pronounce the word "Abyss" - some people stress the "byss" and some don't - is there a correct way or is it personal choice?

[Ethel]

You can hear it here:

http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=abyss&su bmit=Submit

He sounds remarkably like Clement Freud

[blackcat77]

What a brilliant site ! I could waste a lot of time there!
Thank you very much Ethel.

[terambulan]

Great site, Ethel and it pronounces but not mine? Feel soooooo left out! boo hoo

[B00]

I love that site ethel!

Is anyone else trying to see which rude words this guy will say?

No? Just me then??

[THECORBYLOON]

It pronounces wail and whale in the same way so it's not that good

[Ethel]

So do I.

How do you pronounce 'wail' and 'whale'?

[Ethel]

I have just looked in my Collins English Dictionary and it gives the pronunciations as the same for both whale and wail.

I've been trying to say them differently, but I can't. I say Wales, whales and wails the same way.

[THECORBYLOON]

I pronounce "wh" words as "hw" as do most Scots folk.

[scotgal]

As a scot too I pronounce whale the same as you corbyloon

[THECORBYLOON]

On the same site, "secretary" is given two pronunciations one of which is "secratree," it gives the correct pronunciation of "loch" and the English version "lock!!!!!!" I'd not rely upon it for "correct" guidance.

[Quizmonster]

The Oxford English Dictionary offers only the hwale pronunciation but Chambers gives both hwale and wale sounds for the sea mammal.
Most people born and bred in England pronounce whales and Wales in the same way, though, as TCL suggests, most Scots say only the hw-variant for the former. The two sounds are quite distinctly different.
I don't know whether any of you watch Family Guy, but Stewie Griffin - who plays the part of a typically American English villain - almost always pronounces wh-words as hw. It seems pretty clear, therefore, that only certain types of England-bred speakers distinguish whale and wail.

[KARL]

Wot??? Secketry, drawrings, lore and order, sickth, etc. are not kosher........ ! The voice endowed media pump these out constantly and (as awful a prospect as that is) they will probably be adopted by the majority of the population within our lifetime. That is unless (hope against the odds) people actually begin to care about the language - which those contributing here clearly do.

[fredpuli47]

I quite like 'lore and order'. Lore: 'a collection of traditional beliefs held by a specific group' [OED]' It suggests that 'law/'lore' is something believed in by only, say, Daily Telegraph readers.

[jno]

I think lorandorder is kinda natural, fredpuli - making the transition from the aw to an is easier if you insert an R rather than a W, despite the spelling of 'law'. (At least in my way of speaking, which is non-English bred... and I say hwale, too).

[mightyWBA]

Where I live a "whale" "wail" and "Wheel" are all pronounced the same.
"wayull"

[Quizmonster]

Every time we hear your law and order phrase, Fred, either my partner or I make some comment such as "She's at it again!" That's because we see 'her' as a woman called Laura Norder.

[fredpuli47]

Yes, QM.We have a similar image for ''Health and Safety'.In London that often sounds like 'Elfin safety'. That's a pleasing image. Elves definitely need to be protected.

[Quizmonster]

Snap for elfin! Before that department even existed, and based on the word 'oneself' - which has of course only one s - we've always believed each of us had an elf of our own, rather like one of Pullman's d�mons. Either of us is likely at any time to ask what the other's elf thinks of matters.