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Usenet Posted 22 years ago
Usage

Modern pronunciation

I notice that the pronunciation of certain words is changing before my very ears. In the past five years or so in England, words like look, book, cook, took are being pronounced luck, buck, cuck, and tuck. This new pronunciation tends to be most prevalent among the middles classes aged under 28 who have, presumably, been to university and who work in the media like television presenters.
Would anyone care to comment on this development, where it comes from and why it has developed in that way.

Alasdair Baxter, Nottingham, UK.Tel +44 115 9705100; Fax +44 115 9423263

"It's not what you say that matters but how you say it. It's not what you do that matters but how you do it"
  

Top answer

[nq:1]I notice that the pronunciation of certain words is changing before my very ears. In the past five years or ... 2a/"metathesis of the round back vowel in single syllable words of Anglo-Saxon extraction"; as initially implemented by the Templars, who farmed out its execution to the Illuminati when they morphed into the Freemasons.

— Usenet

  • [nq:1]I notice that the pronunciation of certain words is changing before my very ears.
  • In the past five years or ...
  • 2a/"metathesis of the round back vowel in single syllable words of Anglo-Saxon extraction"; as initially implemented by the Templars, who farmed out its execution to the Illuminati when they morphed into the Freemasons.
  • The initial stages of this particular subsection backing and unrounding of Middle English /o/ to /U/ having been pretty successfully realized, the time has come to further laxify the vowel prior to its final metathesis with the previous consonant.
  • The final stage will be the morphing of "luck, buck, cuck" etc.
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22 Answers
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[nq:1]I notice that the pronunciation of certain words is changing before my very ears. In the past five years or ... Would anyone care to comment on this development, where it comes from and why it has developed in that way.[/nq]
It's just the latest implementation of the Plan for the Development and Disrollment of the English Tongue/Subsection O.2a/"metathesis of the round back vowel in sing
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[nq:1]I notice that the pronunciation of certain words is changing before my very ears. In the past five years or ... Would anyone care to comment on this development, where it comes from and why it has developed in that way.[/nq]
Depends how you pronounce luck, buck, cuck and tuck. I probably pronounce them quite differently from you.

John Dean
Oxford
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[nq:1]I notice that the pronunciation of certain words is changing before my very ears. In the past five years or ... say that matters but how you say it. It's not what you do that matters but how you do it"[/nq]I agree with you entirely about pronunciation changing before our ears. The one that irritates me most is what I call "Smiley English" - "Hellay. How are yee? ... Gid". I'd say this comes
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[nq:1]I notice that the pronunciation of certain words is changing beforemy very ears. In the past five years or so ... among the middlesclasses aged under 28 who have, presumably, been to university and who workin the media like television presenters.[/nq]
Well, I'm under 28, middle class and university-educated, but I don't work in the media. I don't think I have the feature you're talking a
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[nq:2]I notice that the pronunciation of certain words is changing ... cook, took are being pronounced luck, buck, cuck, and tuck.[/nq]
[nq:1]I agree with you entirely about pronunciation changing before our ears. The one that irritates me most is what I call "Smiley English" - "Hellay. How are yee? ... Gid". I'd say this comes from people wanting to sound happy/upbeat when they talk. ...[/nq]
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[nq:1]I notice that the pronunciation of certain words is changing before my very ears. In the past five years or ... Would anyone care to comment on this development, where it comes from and why it has developed in that way.[/nq]
Hmm. Well, I'm in London, and I can't say I've noticed /U/ shifting to /V/ or /@/, even amongst the many people at my local who fall into the demographic group you d
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[nq:1]I notice that the pronunciation of certain words is changing before my very ears. In the past five years or ... Would anyone care to comment on this development, where it comes from and why it has developed in that way.[/nq]
My guess is what you are experiencing is a hypercorrection. People who were brought up with northern accents where the 'u' is pronounced short have made their accent
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[nq:2]I notice that the pronunciation of certain words is changing ... comes from and why it has developed in that way.[/nq]
[nq:1]My guess is what you are experiencing is a hypercorrection. People who were brought up with northern accents where the ... his family from Nottingham to Sussex as a very young child so brought up in southern-accented surroundings by northern-accented parents.[/nq]
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U¿ytkownik "Alan Jones" (Email Removed)
[nq:1]Personal experience leads me to agree with Matthew. When I first tried to sound "southern" (i.e. RP-ish), the hardest trick was to get "Good luck!" right. In my native East Shropshire, both words had the same vowel /U/[/nq]
How about Liverpool? Do they also use the same vowel in both: "luck" and "look"? I believe for some of them "look"="Luke",
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[nq:2]My guess is what you are experiencing is a hypercorrection. ... child so brought up in southern-accented surroundings by northern-accented parents.[/nq]
[nq:1]Personal experience leads me to agree with Matthew. When I first tried to sound "southern" (i.e. RP-ish), the hardest trick ... the other one: /V/. (There was, and is, another vowel for "look" in some dialects: /u/ almost as in "po
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