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#54033 01/27/02 11:16 PM
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I had a friend who always used the word "eh" in his emails. My question is, how do you pronounce this? I've heard people say it "A" and also just how it looks, "eh". Which is right??? This has always bothered me. I'm a stickler for correct pronunciation, despite living in the south. Maybe just because I do live here. Anyway, I'll get no rest until I find out...

~Erinn~

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Welcome to the madhouse, Sunhinegal. I guess to some extent how you pronounce "eh" will depend on where you come from. It's a staple of conversation in New Zealand, and it's always pronounced "ay" as in "hay", but with a kind of breathiness at the end of it.

This, as I said, may vary from place to place.



The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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"eh" ... how do you pronounce this?

I think that either would work. I'd go with the [e] sound in better but I might hear a Canadian saying something like the [ey] in hey.


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Dear Sunshine: I'm an ignorant old Yankee, and in New England, the old timers frequent used "eh" as an interrogoative expletive. I don't know proper terminology, but it would be sort of a brief "schwa" coming from deep in the throat. " Eh, what's that you said?" My dictionary gives is as a long A. In old time New England, agreement might start with "Ayuh" When I was in the South, the natives used to fall down laughing. "Did you hear him say 'Rownd abowt and owt in the boooshes?"


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When I was in the South, the natives used to fall down laughing. "Did you hear him say 'Rownd abowt and owt in the boooshes?"

Eh?


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Allo Sunshine

Yep, here it sounds like ay in hay and most sentences are peppered with it. Is your friend Canadian? (or Zildish as we now see by Cap's post)


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actually, I think he is from the northern U.S., but I'm really not sure. I never asked him. (I know that must sound weird...)

~Erinn~

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Probly a Yooper, den, eh?


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Hi sunshinegal

Michiganians pronounce "eh" with an "ay" sound. You can hardly tell us from the Canucks.

And thanks for this: I'm a stickler for correct pronunciation, despite living in the south. I anticipate this coming in handy. Right, Jackie?


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When I dipped a toe into learning the Hawaiian language I learned that 'Eh was a proper way to greet someone as in
"Eh Sam, how are you?" It has the ay sound as in "Hey Sam..." It was also used and an interrogatory sound as in "Have you everything you need eh?"



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