Why do Americans pronounce centaurs "centars"???

[embee]

Why do people use a soft G when talking about "Germania" when there was no soft G in Latin, meaning that it should pronounced with a hard G.

GER-mahn-ee-uh.

Also, really? Our pronunciation of centaur irks you? As an American, I feel shame on a national scale every time I hear a fellow paisan say "nonplussed" when what they mean is "nonchalant."

NONPLUSSED MEANS "SHOCKED TO THE POINT THAT ONE CANNOT BE FURTHER SHOCKED"!!!

 

[Sacrosanct]

so if "u" needs to be pronounced, and the British spelling of armor and color is "armour" and "colour", why aren't those pronounced with the heavy "u"?

 

[Umbran]

From the same place as the American spelling, funnily enough. The word was coined by Humphry Davy, who used at least three different spellings in different publications (alumium, aluminum, aluminium). Not sure if he was indecisive or just forgetful.

Note that Davy was born in 1770. Not only was standardized spelling of words not as strong as it is now, there's a major event during his life that impacted English pronunciation - the American Revolution.

In the time after the Revolution, there was a push on both sides to differentiate British from Americans culturally, because, well they were no longer one people, and they were still kind of mad at each other. And language is a very strong and basic way to differentiate people. So, the reason Brits and Americans pronounce and use things differently, is largely that our ancestors in both countries collectively and actively CHOSE to do so.

 

[turnip_farmer]

I did a ton of reading as a kid, but not a ton of talking. So there were a lot of words I knew how to read, but not pronounce.

When I started running D&D, every once in a while I'd catch my friends staring at me with a funny look. I'd ask, "Okay, what did I say wrong?"

You say 'wrong'. I've opted to maintain and promote all of my misunderstandings. Divergent pronunciations must all have gotten started somewhere. Being the handsome and charismatic genius that I am, I figure that is I just double down on my way of saying things, someone will pick it up.

I'm having very little success with getting anyone to pronounce 'segue' as 'seeg', unfortunately.

 

[Morrus]

Dunno, why do the British pronounce aluminum as alyouminnieum? From whence hails this extra syllable?

Aluminium.
Sodium.
Lithium.
Potassium.
Plutonium.

Many elements end in IUM. Dozens of them! About 80 elements, I believe. It’s very common.

The fun fact with this one is that it was originally neither -- it was "alumium". By the early 1900s both aluminium and aluminum were common, but by the mid-1930s each settled on one side of the Atlantic. Aluminium is these days the international standard; aluminum is primarily North American.

Fun, eh?

Also, language is never logical, and it is all the better, and more beautiful, for that.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Also, language is never logical, and it is all the better, and more beautiful, for that.

As a 3rd Grade teacher, I tend to just flat-out apologize to students when we encounter things like:

Through ("throo")
Though ("thoh")
Thought ("thott")

 

[Morrus]

When an American pronounces a word it sounds like just what it is supposed to mean—neither more nor less. That why American is the lingua franca of the world.

Don't troll, please. We can enjoy dialectal differences without othering each other.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Aluminium.
Sodium.
Lithium.
Potassium.
Plutonium.

Many elements end in IUM. Dozens of them!

The fun fact with this one is that it was originally neither -- it was "alumium". By the early 1900s both aluminium and aluminum were common, but by the mid-1930s each settled on one side of the Atlantic. Aluminium is these days the international standard; aluminum is primarily North American.

Fun, eh?

Also, language is never logical, and it is all the better, and more beautiful, for that.

Molybdenum
Tantalum
Lanthanum

....and Platinum.

Not to mention old standbys like stannum, plumbum, aurum, and ferrum.

Because it all goes back to the Latin, of course. There isn't a real standard for "um" or "ium" (although I understand that they changed it in 2002 or something, but only for elements).

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Don't troll, please. We can enjoy dialectal differences without othering each other.

And I thought that lingua franca was too obvious.

You know how Americans are, Morrus. They all love to travel, and then they only want to meet other Americans and talk about how hard it is to get a decent hamburger.

 

[Yora]

It is very rare that I notice "Hey, this American pronounced a non-English word correct".