The Pronunciation Thread

[Drago]

I'm off out to impress the Yorkshire seabirds in the islands.

I'm hoping to pull a gull from Hull on the Isle of Mull.

While listening to Jethro Tull?

 

[Moon bunny]

I'm trying to imagine a regional accent where one and won sound different, but I can't

Cumbrian, yan (1) and wun (succeeded)

 

[Alex321]

A recent post on Faceache insisted that 'one' and 'won' aren't homophones. When I challenged her for evidence, she responded 'my ears'.

They aren't

I'm trying to imagine a regional accent where one and won sound different, but I can't

To me, they have always sounded different sound different.

"One" actually sounds rather the way you might expect "won" to sound if you didn't l know better, while "won" actually sounds like "wun".

But according to most online sources, they should be the same, with "one" being pronounced the way I pronounce "won".
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/won
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/one

To me, that feels wrong, pronouncing "one" as "wun" seems like a purely regional pronunciation.

[EDIT]
After reading later posts, it seems quite a few people (including John Major) pronounce "one" the way I do.

 

[gbb]

I was watching a YT video about a reservoir in Northants the other day, the lady narrating pronounced reservoir..something like reservor'ier. It was such an abomination I could even repeat it how she did it

 

[lazybloke]

They aren't


To me, they have always sounded different sound different.

"One" actually sounds rather the way you might expect "won" to sound if you didn't l know better, while "won" actually sounds like "wun".

But according to most online sources, they should be the same, with "one" being pronounced the way I pronounce "won".
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/won
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/one

I do know a bloke that says "one" so it rhymes with "on", but he's the only one.
The links sound identical.

 

[Alex321]

I do know a bloke that says "one" so it rhymes with "on", but he's the only one.
The links sound identical.

Yes, as I said, most online sources say they sound the same, and the two links showed that.

I can't honestly say I can recall anybody saying "one" to rhyme with bun. It may be that some have, but I just haven't noticed, but certainly most people I know pronounce it to rhyme with gone.

 

[lazybloke]

I can't honestly say I can recall anybody saying "one" to rhyme with bun. It may be that some have, but I just haven't noticed, but certainly most people I know pronounce it to rhyme with gone.

I'll have to listen more closely, as that's not my perception at all.

Of course, what people say, and what my ears hear aren't necessarily in sync*, particularly as I seem to have the same audio decoding issue that son was diagnosed with.


* In exactly the same way that drivers look but often fail to see