|
I've heard the word buoy pronounced both ways (boo-ee and boi) here in America. And I really never hear anyone use the word quay. Tha word wharf is usually used instead.
On Dictionary.com there's a button you can click for the pronunciation of the word you look up. For buoy, it's pronounced both ways. For quay, it's pronounced kee.
Just as dreams said, the pronunciation of words varies greatly within the United States. In the Northeast, especially the Boston area, words ending in "R" sound very strange. You hardly hear the "R" pronounced at all. Car becomes cah with hardly, if any "R" sound. In the New York area, especially Brooklyn, The Bronx and Newark (NJ) the pronunciation of words seems totally butchered to me, as is often well portrayed in American movies depicting these areas.
I think that we, in general, have totally abandoned proper diction in the American (English) language. It doesn't seem to be stressed in the school system at all anymore. I remember that in California a few years back they were seriously considering implementing the acceptance and use of "ebonics" in the public schools. I'm sure that many of the students still use it, but at least it's not required that the teachers use it as originally proposed.
Also, MANY American athletes for instance, slur their words so badly that they all sound like Ozzy Osborn or worse when you hear them interviewed. Many of them just allow the end of each word to hang out there in space as if not a single word is completed. They hardly move their lips, and speech escapes as if it were one continuous monotonous mumble (which it often is.) I'm usually left thinking "What the heck did he just say?" 'cause I couldn't understand a single word. On the other hand, many other athletes enunciate quite well. (I just picked out athletes because they're so plentiful and interviewed constantly.)
As an aside, I just love listening to someone with what we call an "English Accent." Even street thugs sound refined.
|