Pronunciation watch

[kernelbogey]

Moving right along.... how nice to hear the wonderful Catherine Bott pronounce the 'p' in excerpt one day this week. I've only heard Donald MacLeod do so (though I expect Peter Donaldson does, over on Radio Four).

[Uncle Monty]

This is grammar rather than pronunciation, but humour me and my blood pressure a moment. . .

I always bristle when the National Lottery announcer says, "and early indications show that there are three winners". Early indications do not SHOW anything. Early indications may BE

And while I'm at it, Mrs Monty insists on watching Heir Hunters over breakfast, and I can feel the pedantometer rising every time the voiceover says someone may be due for "an unexpected windfall". Tautology, anyone?

Of course, I could always get a life. . .

[Bryn]

"an unexpected windfall". Tautology, anyone?

No, no. I expect windfalls every, um, fall[sic].

[Ravensbourne]

My favourite announcer as far as pronunciations go is Lopa Kothari. She utters words like Pakistan, Delhi and Jakarta so authoritatively that it's a delight to hear.

I was less impressed to hear others talk about Yohannesburg, Herbert Blomshtedt and Stephen Zont-heim last week.

[kernelbogey]

[....] I can feel the pedantometer rising every time the voiceover says someone may be due for "an unexpected windfall".[....]

I generally spend a few hours per day sitting next to my apple tree in the autumn, observing the fruit. I've noticed that some apparently ripe apples which I expect to become windfalls remain on the tree, while others, apparently unripe, become unexpected windfalls.

[Panjandrum]

BTW, who is this Monty Verdy cove I hear is COTW?

[Mary Chambers]

I've just heard a reporter (British) on BBC TV News say 'lootenant' for lieutenant

[Panjandrum]

I've just heard a reporter (British) on BBC TV News say 'lootenant' for lieutenant

Ok with me, provided an American serving officer.

[Mary Chambers]

Ok with me, provided an American serving officer.

He was talking about Gaddafi and Koussa!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I've just heard a reporter (British) on BBC TV News say 'lootenant' for lieutenant

Oh, they do that sort of thing all the time. When did the BBC last say "patent" (paytent, rather than the American "pattent")?

[vinteuil]

He was talking about Gaddafi and Koussa!

In that context, a British speaker should certainly go for [leftenant].
I do however recall elderly uncles who had served in the Royal Navy and who maintained the naval tradition of not pronouncing the "f" - they referred to "lu-tenant-commander so & so". I see this usage is picked up in wiki -

"Pronunciation of lieutenant is generally split between the forms /lɛfˈtɛnənt/ (lef-TEN-ənt) and /l(j)uːˈtɛnənt/ (loo-TEN-ənt), with the former generally associated with the United Kingdom, Ireland and Commonwealth countries, and the latter generally associated with the United States. The earlier history of the pronunciation is unclear; Middle English spellings suggest that the /l(j)uː-/ and /lɛf-/ pronunciations existed even then. The rare Old French variant spelling luef for Modern French lieu ('place') supports the suggestion that a final [w] of the Old French word was in certain environments perceived as an [f].

In Royal Naval tradition — and other English-speaking navies outside the United States — the intermediate pronunciation /ləˈtɛnənt/ was preserved. This is not recognized as current by the OED, however, and by 1954 the Royal Canadian Navy, at least, regarded it as "obsolescent" - even while regarding "the army's 'LEF-tenant'" to be "a corruption of the worst sort"."

[subcontrabass]

. When did the BBC last say "patent" (paytent, rather than the American "pattent")?

OED gives both pronunciations. Experts from the Patent Office apparently prefer the short "a". Some dictionaries suggest that the long "a" is used more frequently in certain contexts when the word is an adjective rather than a noun.

[greenilex]

Original vowel definitely a short one - cf the ecclesiastical vessel of a similar name.

[Segilla]

Wrath.
I recently heard this word with the American pronunciation on a BBC news programme - 'a' as in asp. Later, a version which seemed halfway between the customary 'roth' and 'rath'.

Har*ass* has always annoyed me. I've no idea when it changed but when I was a little lad in WW2 I used to think that it was spelt the same as Harris.

'Our troops harassed the enemy'

I hope that nobody of that surname has been called Harr*is*!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I always say HARras, though harRAS is common. But some words, such as "thirteen" change according to context.