Why do Americans pronounce centaurs "centars"???

[Blue]

Honour -> Honor
Colour -> Color
Favour -> Favor
Centaur -> Centar

Seems pretty consistent that's how you convert from British English to American English.

 

[Cadence]

Just checked. My D&D/MtG playing Percy Jackson reading 12yo, and he says Centaur... and Minotar. That's one better than me. We both butchered Satyr, but in different ways.

 

[Casimir Liber]

Just checked. My D&D/MtG playing Percy Jackson reading 12yo, and he says Centaur... and Minotar. That's one better than me. We both butchered Satyr, but in different ways.

Calling them "satires" ...?

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Round 'em up and put 'em in gaol!

 

[turnip_farmer]

Where are you from if I might ask? I've never heard any of those words pronounced the way you say.

From England, originally. I have a bit of a funny regional accent, but I don't think I say 'au' unusually for British English.

 

[Maxperson]

Out of curiosity how do you say those words?

With the "ah" sound.

Au(ah)spicious
Au(ah)dacity
Au(ah)to
Clau(ah)strophobia
Menopau(ah)se
Plau(ah)sible

Everyone I've ever met and heard say these words and other "au" words has also pronounced them that way. Except dinosaur. There may be some other exceptions, but I cannot recall those words at the moment. Perhaps it's an American thing, since @turnip_farmer is from England. Do you pronounce them the way he does?

 

[Morrus]

With the "ah" sound.

Au(ah)spicious
Au(ah)dacity
Au(ah)to
Clau(ah)strophobia
Menopau(ah)se
Plau(ah)sible

Everyone I've ever met and heard say these words and other "au" words has also pronounced them that way. Except dinosaur. There may be some other exceptions, but I cannot recall those words at the moment. Perhaps it's an American thing, since @turnip_farmer is from England. Do you pronounce them the way he does?

Well, assuming by “ah” you mean the thing I think you mean, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody (even on US TV!) say those words like that. Even on American TV they say it they way I do. “Orto”, “Plorsible”. It must be a regionalism local to you?

 

[mcmillan]

Well, assuming by “ah” you mean the thing I think you mean, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody (even on US TV!) say those words like that. Even on American TV they say it they way I do. “Orto”, “Plorsible”. It must be a regionalism local to you?

I'll chime in as using similar pronunciations as maxperson at least for these words. If it helps pin down region, I'm from Colorado. Interesting you say you haven't heard similar on TV since I think people around here have pronunciation pretty close to what I think of as the generic "American" accent, with some sounds skewing a bit Texas - like

 

[Not a Hobbit]

...........

 

[turnip_farmer]

Well, assuming by “ah” you mean the thing I think you mean, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody (even on US TV!) say those words like that. Even on American TV they say it they way I do. “Orto”, “Plorsible”. It must be a regionalism local to you?

If I try to imagine someone saying 'claustrophobic" in a Midwest accent it sounds a bit like 'ah'. I can't get my head around 'plahsible' though.

Important point to bear in mind here is that we don't actually all hear the same sounds as each other. Depending on the languages and dialects to which you're exposed, especially when growing up, your brain learns to distinguish and group different sounds. So it's entirely possible for me and you to hear two distinct vowels where someone from across the Atlantic can hear only one, and vice versa. My girlfriend finds it hilarious that I struggle to distinguish 'ou' and 'u' in standard French.

Further complicating things is that, not only do we hear different sounds, but we label them differently as well. The way that I would pronounce the vowel in 'hot' or 'top' would, for me, define what a short 'o' sounds like, but to American ears it apparently sounds more like an 'a'. Which is funny because the standard American pronunciation of that vowel sounds closer to an 'a' to me.

So, bottom line, we're probably just talking past each other here.