Some words

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Hi,I'd like to know more about these words (pronounced in American English):Arithmetic - The noun, not the adjective. It should be Uh-RITH-muh-tik, but is the T tapped? I think not, because Merriam Webster puts a secondary stress on that syllable.Ion - "I on" or "I an"?Everybody, everyone, anybody, anyone, anything, everything, etc. - Is the sound that corresponds to the Y in the middle reduced from ee to ih? It is in "everybody", but I am not usre about the others... EH-vrih-body...Century - Is there a ch sound or a sh sound? Longman: Sen-chury ---- Merriam Webster: Sen-shury Thanks.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

Hi Kooyeen,

I grew up in New England, where they used to say the "Boston" accent was the purest, but now that I'm in California, Boston really sounds dumb.

If I understand T-tapping, I'd answer, "no." I was taught to say "arithmetic" with a full "T", and with MW's secondary stress - not to say you wouldn't hear the "quick d" from some people.

We say "I on," but "I an (un) uh za shun," and "I ah* nyze." I'm sure you'd hear "I an" in the scientific/engineering community, where they say, "i ah d'n" (no secondary accent) and "ter b'n."

Re ee to ih, to my ear it's strictly regional - southeast. People who do it to everybody do it to all of them. There's an announcer on PBS who does it to hyphenated numbers, like "twenty-five." Drives me nutz.

Re century, I hear both, but I was taught, ch.

Best wishes, - A.

* I recall our discussion about the (non)importance of deciding on which side of the syllable break a consonant belongs when the thing is elided anyway. (I think it only becomes important when you decide to dwell on either the "ah" or the "n.")

Kooyeen · Answer

I see, thanks.

AvangiRe ee to ih, to my ear it's strictly regional - southeast. People who do it to everybody do it to all of them. There's an announcer on PBS who does it to hyphenated numbers, like "twenty-five." Drives me nutz.

Well, Merriam Webster only gives "EH-vruh-body" (or "EH-vrih-body")... and I think I usually hear it that way, and would say it that way. But the truth is that despite that, I wouldn't say "anybody" as "EH-nih-body". So I really think "everybody" is the only one where the EE sound is reduced. Go figure...

PS: I used to say Twennih or Twenneh too before I started to focus on pronunciation. It was because I heard English mainly from songs, and, you know, take me down to the paradise citeh where the grass is green and the girls are pretteh....

Avangi · Answer

I'd have to get someone to hide a microphone somewhere to see what I really do. If I were speaking to someone important or someone whom I respected I'm quite sure I'd put the double-e in everybody. If I were in a hurry and under pressure, who knows what would come out? - Perhaps even "If I was in a hurry," *** forbid!

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