BS: What do you say?

Subject: BS: What do you say?
From: Airymouse
Date: 25 May 16 - 07:52 PM

Years ago my sister purchased some used books from a library at ten cents a book. Recently I came upon one of her ten-cent treasures, The NBC Handbook of Pronunciation. It defended a good many pronunciations of mine that others don't like, but had it been a quiz I would have got roughly a C+. I'm curious to know if there is anyone on my side on the words I missed, or against me and the Handbook on the ones I got. If you reply please indicate your location; exempli gratia, ( one of the ones I missed) Britain, Canada, USA, Australia. In the book stressed syllables are in CAPS, ay denotes long A
Here are the ones I missed:(apartheid, uh PAHRT hight [I say uh PAHRT hayt]), (aviatrix, ay vi AY trix [I'm way off]), (bonsai, bon sigh [ I say "bone sigh"] ), (caput, KAY put [I say ca PUT]), (Celt, selt [ I use a hard C]),(clandestine, clan DE stin [I accent DES],(despicable,DE spi kuh buhl [I say DES pic ---]),(exempli gratia, --- GRAY shi uh[I use e.g., but I didn't know about the long a], (vacuum 3 syllables [I'm missing a syllable].

I agree with AY in the first occurrence of a in the following: apricot, caveat,grimace, quasi (and the i is also long so that "quasi" and "Magi" rhyme), status.
I agree that i is short in respite and long in short-lived and acclimatize; e is short in bestial and long in pedophile; a is short in vagary and granary.
I agree that ch is silent in schism, but that neither c is silent in arctic.
The c(h) is hard in machination and culinary.
Rigmarole and cater-corner are pronounced as the spelling indicates.
The handbook indicates the following accented syllables:
electoral, i LEK tuh ruhl
hospitable, HAH spi tuh buhl
incognito, in KAHG ni toh
impious, IM pi uhs
frequent(verb) fri KWENT
lamentable LA muhn tuh buhl
A few left overs:
comptroller kuhn TROH ler
covert KUH vert
err er
pulmonary PUHL muh nai ri ( like pulse puhls)

Subject: RE: BS: What do you say?
From: meself
Date: 25 May 16 - 08:18 PM

I'm in Canada. I pronounce almost everything on your list the opposite to the way you do - 19 times out of 20.

Subject: RE: BS: What do you say?
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 May 16 - 10:42 PM

Remember, those pronunciations were for radio and television.

Subject: RE: BS: What do you say?
From: Janie
Date: 26 May 16 - 12:15 AM

What Rap said.

And for those not from the region who say App-a-LAY-chee-an, including John Sebastian and all who have covered his otherwise lovely song, the proper pronunciation is App-uh-LATCH-uhn:>)

Subject: RE: BS: What do you say?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 May 16 - 01:10 AM

I say that Chongo Chimp would make a far better president than either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump!

Subject: RE: BS: What do you say?
From: akenaton
Date: 26 May 16 - 02:30 AM

I say LH would make a better president than HC or DT!

Subject: RE: BS: What do you say?
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 26 May 16 - 03:32 AM

I say that my arse would make a better president than Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.

Subject: RE: BS: What do you say?
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 26 May 16 - 06:03 AM

Never actually seen your arse Backwoodsman but I'm sure you're right anyway!

Subject: RE: BS: What do you say?
From: Ed T
Date: 26 May 16 - 06:32 AM

Arse=ass=butt=politician

I like Massachusetts = Massatootsetts

Subject: RE: BS: What do you say?
From: Airymouse
Date: 26 May 16 - 08:05 AM

I avoided proper nouns. Who would guess that Lafayette VA is pronounced la FEET? The story behind the pronunciation of "Appalachian" is interesting. Washington Irving thought that the US would be taken more seriously abroad, if place names derived from American Indians were changed to names that sounded as though they were derived from Latin. So he proposed changing the Allegheny mountains to to Alleghenia mountains and the Apalachy mountains to the Appalachian mountains. And the reason the mountains were called the Apalachy mountains in the first place is also fun. The indians, who lived in northern Florida, conned French explorers into believing that they controlled vast territory on both sides of the mountain chain, and so that's what the explorers put on their maps.

It is true that the book was intended for radio, but NBC and CNBC would benefit from its use. If Wolf Blitzer would just learn to say eLEKtoral instead of elecTORal, it would take some of the pain from what is going to be a very painful upcoming election. OF course, W.B. is not NBC's responsibility.

Subject: RE: BS: What do you say?
From: meself
Date: 26 May 16 - 12:13 PM

No - it would add to the pain!

Subject: RE: BS: What do you say?
From: meself
Date: 26 May 16 - 12:16 PM

Btw, does that book recommend the barbaric adverTIZEment rather than the civilized adVERtisment?

Subject: RE: BS: What do you say?
From: keberoxu
Date: 26 May 16 - 06:15 PM

....and I like Chassamoosetts, moose or no moose.