The 'conTROversy' over changing pronunciations
To language purists they might grate, but new ways of pronouncing words are spreading in Britain thanks to the influence of US culture.
In a study by the British Library, interim results suggest a third of Britons taking part now adopt the American-style “skedule” over the traditional pronunciation, which has a softer “sh” sound.
Other US pronunciations taking root, according to researchers, are “pay-triotic”, in place of “pat-riotic”, and “advertISEment”, instead of “adVERTisement”.
The research, which is ongoing, is part of a series of projects connected to the British Library’s Evolving English exhibition.
It involves volunteers using the library’s website to submit a recording of themselves saying six prescribed words and stating where they are from.
Initial findings of the research have indicated that Britons are also creating a new way of saying controversy which hasn’t traditionally been used in Britain or the US.
Three quarters of Britons taking part say “conTROversy”, with the emphasis on the middle syllable, rather than the previously conventional “CONtroversy”.
Jonnie Robinson, curator of sociolinguistics and education at the British Library, said the word had undergone a “stress shift”. “The new pronunciation – conTROversy – does appear to be peculiarly British and it is catching on,” Mr Robinson said.
“People complain about it, when they hear it on the radio, for instance, and there might be a popular myth that this one is changing as a result of American usage – but there is no evidence that Americans are doing it.
“That isn’t the case with “skedule”, which is used by all Americans and does seem to be being adopted here, particularly by younger speakers.”
As well as "controversy" and "schedule", the other words being studied are:
- “garage”, which Britons are more likely to pronounce as “garridge”, over “garaarge”, which is universal in the US.
- “attitude”, where there is no sign of the British adopting the US “attitood” over “atti-chewed”.
– “neither” – despite the impression given in the George Gershwin song “Let’s call the whole thing off”, there is no clear divide between Britons and Americans, with “nee-ther” and “ny-ther” used on both sides of the Atlantic.
– “scone” – which Americans all rhyme with "bone", but which many British rhyme with “gone”. This is thought to be down to social and regional differences in the UK, which are still being analysed.
Hundreds of contributions have already been collected by the library but volunteers are still able to take part.
Linguists put changing pronunciations down to the influence of broadcasters and US culture.
Dr Wyn Johnson, from the department of language and linguistics at the University of Essex, said: “People are getting a bit more conscious of how words are pronounced.
“I think broadcasters could have an influence on this. The number of times something is heard, influences the way people pronounce it, because they assume that is the way to say it.”
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