Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
by Maeve Maddox
On a personal level, I cringe when I hear someone sound the t in often or
pronounce pecan with a short a, but I have to acknowledge that both these
pronunciations are widely accepted alternate pronunciations that can be justified
by the spelling.
Alternate pronunciations, however, are a different matter from out-and-out
mispronunciations. The latter, no matter how common, are incorrect, either
because of the spelling that indicates another pronunciation, or because of what is
widely agreed upon to be conventional usage. Word of caution: Im writing from an
American perspective.
Here are 50 frequently mispronounced words. The list is by no means exhaustive,
but provides a good start.
1. aegis The ae in this word is pronounced /ee/. Say EE-JIS/, not /ay-jis/. In
mythology the aegis is associated especially with the goddess Athene. It is her
shield with the Gorgons head on it.
2. anyway The problem with this word is not so much pronunciation as the
addition of an unnecessary sound. Dont add an s to make it anyways. The word is
ANYWAY.
3. archipelago Because the word is from Greek, the ch is pronounced with a /k/
sound. Say /AR-KI-PEL-A-GO/, not /arch-i-pel-a-go/.
4. arctic Note the C after the R. Say /ARK-TIK/, not /ar-tik/.
5. accessory the first C has a hard sound. Say /AK-SESS-OR-Y/, not /ass-essor-y/.
6. ask The S comes before the K. Say /ASK/ not /aks/.
7. asterisk Notice the second S. Say /AS-TER-ISK/, not /as-ter-ik/.
8. athlete The word has two syllables, not three. Say /ATH-LETE/, not /ath-uhlete/.
9. barbed wire- Notice the AR in the first syllable. Say /BARBD/, not /bob/.
10. cache The word is of French origin, but it does not end with an accented
syllable. A cache is a hiding place or something that is being hidden: a cache of
supplies; a cache of money; a cache of drugs. Say /KASH/, not /ka-shay/.
11. candidate Notice the first d. Say /KAN-DI-DATE/, not /kan-i-date/.
12. cavalry This word refers to troops that fight on horseback. Say /KAV-ULRY/, not /kal-vuh-ry/. NOTE: Calvary refers the place where Jesus was crucified
and IS pronounced /kal-vuh-ry/.)
13. chaos The spelling ch can represent three different sounds in English: /tch/
as in church, /k/ as in Christmas, and /sh/ as in chef. The first sound is heard in
words of English origin and is the most common. The second sound of ch, /k/, is
heard in words of Greek origin. The third and least common of the three ch sounds
is heard in words adopted from modern French. Chaos is a Greek word. Say /KAYOS/, not /tchay-os/.
14. clothes Notice the TH spelling and sound. Say /KLOTHZ/, not /kloz/.
15. das A das is a raised platform. The pronunciation fault is to reverse the
vowel sounds. The word is often misspelled as well as mispronounced. Say /DAYIS/ not /d-is/.
16. dilate The word has two syllables, not three. Say /DI-LATE/, not /di-a-late/.
17. drowned This is the past participle form of the verb drown. Notice that there
is no D on drown. Dont add one when using the word in its past form. Say
/DROWND/, not /drown-ded/.
18. et cetera This Latin term is often mispronounced and its abbreviation is
frequently misspelled. Say /ET CET-ER-A/, not /ex cet-er-a/. For the
abbreviation, write ETC., not ect.
19. February Just about everyone I know drops the first r in February. The
spelling calls for /FEB-ROO-AR-Y/, not /feb-u-ar-y/.
20. foliage The word has three syllables. Say /FO-LI-UJ/, not /fol-uj/.
21. forte English has two words spelled this way. One comes from Italian and the
other from French. The Italian word, a musical term meaning loud, is pronounced
with two syllables: /FOR-TAY/. The French word, an adjective meaning strength
or strong point, is pronounced with one syllable: /FORT/.
22. Halloween The word for the holiday Americans celebrate with such
enthusiasm on October 31 derives from Hallowed Evening, meaning evening that
has been made holy. The word hallow comes from Old English halig, meaning
holy. Notice the a in the first syllable and say /HAL-O-WEEN/, not /hol-loween/.
23. height The word ends in a /T/ sound, not a /TH/ sound. Say /HITE/, not
/hith/.
24. heinous People unfamiliar with the TV show Law and Order: S.V.U. may not
know that heinous has two syllables. (The show begins with this sentence: In the
criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially
heinous.) Say /HAY-NUS/, not /heen-i-us/.
25. hierarchy The word has four syllables. Say /HI -ER-AR-KY,/ not /hi-ar-ky/.
26. Illinois As with Arkansas, the final s in Illinois is not pronounced. Say /IL-INOY/
(and
/Ar-kan-saw/,
not
/il-li-noiz/
or
/ar-kan-sas/). NOTE:
Some
40. prescription Note the prefix PRE- in this word. Say /PRE-SCRIP-TION/,
not /per- scrip-tion/ or /pro-scrip-tion/.
41. preventive The word has three syllables. A common fault is to add a syllable.
Say PRE-VEN-TIVE/, not /pre-ven-ta-tive.
42. pronunciation This word is a noun. It comes from the verb pronounce, BUT it
is not pronounced like the verb. Say /PRO-NUN-CI-A-TION/, not /pro-nounce-i-ation/.
43. prostate This word for a male gland is often mispronounced. There is an
adjective prostrate which means to be stretched out facedown on the ground.
When speaking of the gland, however, say /PROS-TATE/, not /pros-trate/.
44. Realtor The word has three syllables. Say /RE-AL-TOR/, not /re-a-la-tor/.
45. regardless The word has three syllables. Please dont add an IR to make it
into the abomination irregardless.
46. sherbet The word has only one r in it. Say /SHER-BET/ not /sher-bert/.
47. spayed This is a one-syllable word, the past participle form of the verb to
spay, meaning to remove the ovaries from an animal. Like the verb drown (above)
the verb spay does not have a D in its infinitive form. Dont add one to the past
participle. Say /SPADE/, not /spay-ded/.
48. ticklish The word has two syllables. Say /TIK-LISH/, not /tik-i-lish/.
49. tract Religious evangelists often hand out long printed statements of belief
called tracts. Thats one kind of tract. Houses are built on tracts. Then
theres the word track. Athletes run on tracks. Animals leave tracks. Dont say
/TRAKT/ when you mean /TRAK/, and vice-versa.
50. vehicle Although there is an H in the word, to pronounce it is to sound hicky.
Say /VEE-IKL/, not /vee-Hikl/.
51. wintry Heres another weather word often mispronounced, even by the
weather person. The word has two syllables. Say /WIN-TRY/, not /win-ter-y/.