List of words of disputed pronunciation

The following is a list of words and names which are often pronounced by native speakers of the English language in ways which many others consider to be incorrect. In some cases, speakers disagree on how to pronounce borrowed foreign words; in other cases, the dispute arises from the effect of spelling on a word not pronounced as it is spelled. Many heated arguments are disagreements between the residents of a place and outsiders on how to pronounce the name of a place.

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Note: 'AHD' is the American Heritage Dictionary. 'M-W' is the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (American). 'K&K' is A Pronouncing Dictionary of American English by John S. Kenyon and Thomas A. Knott. 'OED' is the Oxford English Dictionary. 'EEPD' is Everyman's English Pronouncing Dictionary by Daniel Jones (revised by A. C. Gimson, 14th edn., 1977), which focuses on RP. 'LPD' is the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (1st edn., 1990) by John C. Wells, which provides both RP and General American (GenAm) pronunciations. 'MQD' is the Macquarie Dictionary (Australian). Some data come from the 1998 LPD pronunciation preference poll of British speakers; this is indicated by PPP below.

Related Topics:
John S. Kenyon and Thomas A. Knott - Daniel Jones - RP - John C. Wells - General American - 1998

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Note: The pronunciations below are displayed in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). See International Phonetic Alphabet for English for information on how to decipher the different phonetic symbols. Some pronunciations are subdivided into (a) GenAm (rhotic, with flat A in words like bath, ask, and the father-bother merger) and (b) RP (nonrhotic, with broad A and no father-bother merger). The differences between (a) and (b) forms are generally not the differences under discussion. Rhotic pronunciations are given first in these cases for consistency. This does not imply that rhotic pronunciations are preferred or are the local pronunciation in the case of place names.

Related Topics:
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) - International Phonetic Alphabet for English - Rhotic - Flat A - Father-bother merger

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