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stranger
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stranger
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I am keenly interested in knowing how the native speaker pronounces the word 'WRITHE'.
Being a non-native speaker, hitherto I have been pronouncing it in the normal way but I was really surprised when I happened to check it with 'Advanced Oxford Genie' (a pronunciation software)and hear it as 'RAIVE' (rhyming with 'waive' for example)
Thanks in advance,
VKN
Added on June 22, 2007:
It's really amazing to see so many members coming out with their own views and ideas on the subject. Though I am thankful to all of them for the interest evinced,I am eagerly waiting for the reply from a person who has had access to the Oxford Genie - a pronunciation software which differentiated the actual pronunciation from the true phonetic of the word 'WRITHE'.
VKN
Last edited by vkn; 06/22/2007 6:36 PM.
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Carpal Tunnel
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'Waive' as in 'wave'? I don't think so. The 'th' is voiced but it is a dental fricative, not a labio-dental fricative and the 'i' is a long 'i', an 'ah'-'ee' diphthong.
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Carpal Tunnel
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vkn, I'm not sure what your 'normal way' is but I suspect I pronounce it the same way.
Welcome, please stay around. Your command of English is excellent!
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formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Yep--wri as in wry, and the as in...the!*
*Except without the e being sounded.
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addict
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But the th is vocalized.
But, the s in rise is also voiced.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Carpal Tunnel
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But not when it's said with a lisp.
(thanks, I meant "voiced")
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I think your lithp hathe a lithp.
Looking up voiced and unvoiced dental fricatives, it tells me one is then and the other is thing. Huh?
Reminds me of the time my third grade class gave the teacher an apoplexy because none of us could distinguish between pen and pin.
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veteran
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I am keenly interested in knowing how the native speaker pronounces the word 'WRITHE'.
Being a non-native speaker, hitherto I have been pronouncing it in the normal way but I was really surprised when I happened to check it with 'Advanced Oxford Genie' (a pronunciation software)and hear it as 'RAIVE' (rhyming with 'waive' for example)
didn't think so, vke, he pronounced "writhe" as you do, otherwise this stanza would be less than genius and more like the sloppy soundings of Advanced Oxford Genies. But see, amid the mimic rout A crawling shape intrude! A blood-red thing that writhes from out The scenic solitude! It writhes!- it writhes!- with mortal pangs The mimes become its food, And seraphs sob at vermin fangs In human gore imbued. ___________________________________The Conqueror Worm (1836) See? 
Last edited by themilum; 06/22/2007 4:33 PM.
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Carpal Tunnel
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none of us could distinguish between pen and pin Aha--you're from Texas; that explains it!
I know someone who couldn't distinguish awl from all. [amazement e] I always figure if *I can "get" something, then anybody can.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Looking up voiced and unvoiced dental fricatives, it tells me one is then and the other is thing. Huh?
Voiceless th as in thing, thin, or wraith (used to be written with a thorn); voiced th as in this, then, or writhe (used to be written with an edh).
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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I know someone who couldn't distinguish awl from all.
The first time I went into a Home Despot, I went in search of an awl. The clerks had no clue whatsoever. I went to a locally-owned hardware store. The owner said "sure" and asked "what kind do you want" pulling out a board from under the counter with about 6 or so awls attached to it.
Many laymen cannot hear the differences between the t in top, stop, pot, and city. They're all distinct, but the differences are not phonemically significant in US English.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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But not when it's said with a lisp.
Depends on the lisp, I suppose. If it's a real speech impediment it might not be voiced. But the th in a staged lisp (sociolectal cue for a male homsexual speaking), it's not even a phoneme that occurs in English. It's usually more of an interdental fricative than normal. More forward. Think Daffy Duck's kind of lisp.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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[color:#6600CC]... someone who couldn't distinguish awl from all.
Depends, spelled or pronounced? I think they're exact homophones in most dialects of American English. Try 'em courtesy of AHD. Tell me which is which: A2
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Good gracious no, they're completely different sounds: aw versus ah.
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So, between A and 2, which was 'all' and which was 'awl'? Those pronunciations are from the AHD, by the way.
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to me there is slight variation.. and i think (what do i know)that i say all like 2, and awl like A.
the difference is so subtle, its is only noticed in hearing the words alone.
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Carpal Tunnel
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So all and awl are homophones in Standard US English, but are they pronounced differently in other US dialects? (That's what I thought Jackie was referring to.) How 'bout UK Standard and dialects?
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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