A Conversation for Anglo-Saxon (Old English)

What a peice of work is Man

Post 1

Bluebottle

Just wondering, how exactly do Americans pronounce "man"? How is it different from the Southern/West Country/Yorkshire/Birmingham/Dorset & Isle of Wight/Midlands/Geordie/Scouse/Scottish/Welsh/Irish/Australian/Canadian/South African etc. pronunciation of the word "man", and are there regional variations within America itself?

<BB<


What a peice of work is Man

Post 2

Gnomon - time to move on

Listing all those places together makes it sound like they all pronounce "man" in the same way! The broadest pronunciation of "a" in England is probably the North of England. This is the "a" sound of Anglo-Saxon. The southern pronunciation of "a" is more closed, part of the way towards being an "e" sound, particularly, the "upper class" way of saying it. This is similar to the American pronunciation. This is the ae sound of Anglo-Saxon.

I know this is not very clear, but it is very difficult to describe in words, because there is such a variation among English speakers.


What a peice of work is Man

Post 3

Steve K.

I don't think there is much variation of the pronunciation of "man" in the USA ... unless you happen to be a Reggae musician, in which case it is "mon". smiley - cool


What a piece of work is Man

Post 4

Wand'rin star

i before e, except after c, in modern English smiley - star


What a piece of work is Man

Post 5

Gnomon - time to move on

We always used to say "I before E except after C, except in the case of C.I.E." CIE was the national transport company.smiley - biggrin

Many people know the rule but don't know where it should be applied. They get confused when they come across words like vein. The I before E rule only applies when the sound is "ee", so we have sieze, achieve and conceive.


What a piece of work is Man

Post 6

Steve K.

It is weird science that makes one want to forfeit caffeine. smiley - coffee


What a piece of work is Man

Post 7

Gnomon - time to move on

Not wanting to ever forfeit caffeine, I have to admit that the rule is of limited use, because of the large number of exceptions.


What a piece of work is Man

Post 8

Bluebottle

I was taught the rule was:
"i before e except after c, where the "ie" ryhme with d".
Hence exceptions like "weird" etc, where it doesn't rhyme.

<BB<


What a piece of work is Man

Post 9

SeedNotHerd

Did you mis-spell 'seize' deliberately? Was it a joke?


What a piece of work is Man

Post 10

Dazi

"I before E except after C, or when sounding like ay as in weighing or neigh."
"Man" is pronounced with the short a (or รค in German) sound found in words like "tan", "apple", "and," etc. in all the American English I've heard.


What a piece of work is Man

Post 11

Gnomon - time to move on

SeedNotHerd,

I misspelled seize by mistake. I confused seize and siege.


Key: Complain about this post

Write an Entry

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."

Write an entry
Read more