The Star Online > Lifefocus
Thursday June 29, 2006
By FADZILAH AMIN
I know a snob who likes to go around orrecting?other people pronunciation of English words and embarrassing the hell out of them. Recently, we had an argument over the correct pronunciations of the following words:
The words in the table are but a few of the irritating pronunciations that he has tried orrecting?
He also said that people in Europe or the United States will not understand what we mean when we say andphone? that only in Malaysia do we use that word whereas overseas, the correct term is obile phone? Where did the word andphone?come from as I am sure the first Malaysian to use that word did not pluck it out from the sky?
And are the newsreaders on the BBC or CNN correct in their pronunciations as I would have thought that the way they talk is reflective of their own country or even hometown? For example, a Yorkshire person would pronounce like he is from Yorkshire.
Anyway, whatever your reply may be, unless it is in his favour, this snob will probably not say you are right if you point out he is wrong. He says the English teachers that taught me were wrong ?and I was taught by nuns in a convent in the late Seventies.
Please enlighten me. ?Goh Li Lian
1. As far as I can see, you are correct in your pronunciation of mile? an?and at? But en?is pronounced differently from an? en?is pronounced like en? And et?is pronounced differently from at? et?also uses the same ?sound as en?or et?
oman?is pronounced ?B>wu-men?with an ?like the ?in oment? which is called a schwa.
But omen?is pronounced ?B>wi-min? with short ?sounds in the first and second syllables.
The ?after eg?in vegetable may be pronounced as a short ?or not pronounced at all. But the last two syllables are not pronounced like able?
egetable?is pronounced ?B>ve-gi-te-bel?OR ?B>veg-te-bel?with the last two being schwas.
s?is pronounced with a very short ?sound, as in us? and certainly not like rse?
2. andphone?is now a respectable word. You can find it in the latest Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary (2005) as a word that is used in South-East Asia for what in the US is called a ellphone?and in Britain a obile phone?or just a obile? So when referring to it, remember what country you are in, that all.
3. The newsreaders on the BBC or CNN tend to use the pronunciations of their own countries and sometimes regions. There are quite a few British newsreaders on CNN, and they don speak like Americans, although CNN is an American network.
BBC news readers, I notice, tend to speak what is popularly termed tandard English? whether they are English or Asian or Caribbean or African British, but some of the BBC correspondents can be heard speaking with pronounced Scottish or Irish or Indian/Pakistani accents.
The Yorkshire and other northern accents are less perceptible on BBC, but can be heard a lot in football discussions on ESPN, for example.
When people are speaking their own languages in their own accents, they are speaking them correctly, although some of them may modify or change their accents so that others may understand them. It is foreign learners of English like ourselves who have to bother about our pronunciation.
We don have to sound exactly like southern English people or Americans, but other English-speaking people ought to be able to understand us without too much strain.
Election results
DURING the Sarawak elections, most reports used the phrase on with a majority of ___ votes? I think it wrong. It should be on by a majority of ___ votes?or on by a margin of ___ votes?
ith a majority?is a wrong direct translation from the Malay ?I>dengan majoriti?
The sprinter Gatlin beat Jameson by five metres. NOT ith five metres? What do you think? ulia
It is not wrong to use the expression ?B>with a majority of ___ votes?
The Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary (2005) gives an example of the use of ith?as well as y?with ajority?in the sense you mentioned: he was elected by/with a majority of 749.?nbsp;
The Microsoft Encarta World English Dictionary (2001), which gives one of the meanings of ajority?as he number of votes by which the winning party or group beats the opposition? also uses ith?in the example it gives, i.e. ? swept to power with an overwhelming majority?nbsp;
An Internet search showed more sites using the phrase on with a majority of?(2,030) than those using on by a majority of?(658). Here are some examples:
n Peterborough, Conservative candidate Stewart Jackson won with a majority of 2,740 ??/I> http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5187471-103685,00.html
e won by a majority of over 17,000 ??/I>
http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=710
There are also sites using on with a margin of?(476), though there are more using on by a margin of?(26,400).
It does seem, therefore, that ith?and y?can both be used with ajority?and argin?
However, when the word ajority?or argin?is not used, there is a difference between a candidate winning ?B>with 20,000 votes?(the total number of votes he got) and another one winning ?B>by 20,000 votes?(the majority he got).
?1995-2005 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D) |