Australian pronunciation: some American ways of pronouncing things?

[Guest spreadingwings]

I've been listening to Sydney and Melbourne talk radio stations via their iPhone apps and it's interesting that words like chance, example, and dance are all pronounced the American way by some Australians, but words like tomato retain their SA/British sound.

 

Have you found this way of speaking to be the norm or the exception in Australian life?

[abz123]

Route (row t) and router (row ter) where row is like argument rather than row a boat is the only one I really notice but only from some Australians.

 

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How do you say chance and dance differently? long A sound?

[Guest spreadingwings]

Route (row t) and router (row ter) where row is like argument rather than row a boat is the only one I really notice but only from some Australians.

 

edit

 

How do you say chance and dance differently? long A sound?

 

Interesting. I've heard 'pro...ject' for project as well.

 

And yes, the British (and South African) pronunciation of 'chance', 'dance' and 'example' would be 'chaance', 'daance' and 'exaample'.

[xlornax]

Dah-ta instead of data n I cringe at how they say yoghurt lol

[nicolac34]

So many to list! Meeeemo instead of memo, d-er-by instead of d-ar-by, and my personal favourite Mal-dives instead of 'Moldeeves' - well I guess with that one they are pronouncing it how it's spelt, but it's still not right!

[paisleylass]

I'm northern English and have never in my life said chaance, daance etc. And that pronunciation of yoghurt is also common in Scotland, oddly.

 

Australia is physically closer to the USA than it is to UK, has more US TV shows than British and the Aussies we know holiday often in the USA but not Europe, so it's no wonder if American pronunciations creep in.

 

The cringeworthy pronunciation of data is, in my experience, more Australian. Even Americans (well, the ones I've met/worked with) tend to pronounce it the British way. I use the word data often at work and have never 'sold out' and pronounced is the Aussie way!

[xlornax]

I'm northern English and have never in my life said chaance, daance etc. And that pronunciation of yoghurt is also common in Scotland, oddly.

 

Australia is physically closer to the USA than it is to UK, has more US TV shows than British and the Aussies we know holiday often in the USA but not Europe, so it's no wonder if American pronunciations creep in.

 

The cringeworthy pronunciation of data is, in my experience, more Australian. Even Americans (well, the ones I've met/worked with) tend to pronounce it the British way. I use the word data often at work and have never 'sold out' and pronounced is the Aussie way!

 

Im scottish and never said yoghurt like that..or heard it that way in Scotland. .plz dnt tell me its scottish coz I hate it lol

[Sir Les Patterson]

I cringe at how they say yoghurt

 

'pro...ject' for project as well

 

Meeeemo instead of memo, d-er-by instead of d-ar-by, and my personal favourite Mal-dives instead of 'Moldeeves

 

The cringeworthy pronunciation of data is, in my experience, more Australian.

We say these words our way just so it gives pommies something else to whinge about.......it keeps you lot happy obviously

[gee13]

Why do they call it Boos in Yorkshire?

[abz123]

We say these words our way just so it gives pommies something else to whinge about.......it keeps you lot happy obviously

 

So the seppos learned it from you guys. Is that what you're saying?

[Sir Les Patterson]

So the seppos learned it from you guys. Is that what you're saying?

 

more than likely

[Que Sera Sera]

We say these words our way just so it gives pommies something else to whinge about.......it keeps you lot happy obviouslyTE]

 

Not all of us. Some of us do understand just how rude some of those comments sound. I myself would not come to live in someone else's country then moan because they " dont speak like what I do!":wink:

[wakeboard1980]

Water off a ducks back really. It's funny when people fink they speak propa English

[abz123]

In fairness to the OP, the question was more around the American influence which has probably been well answered by the closer proximity to the US and the volume of US programmes shown here.

 

No-one has mentioned rego, ambo, bottlo, preso and the like which I find endearing and wouldn't want anyone to change to their "proper" words.

[wrussell]

Ask a POM to pronounce Nar Nar Goon , a place name. You can have just as much fun asking non-POMS to pronounce Cholmondeley, Southwark, Reading.

 

I am a little stiff from Riding - I could not give a rat's where you are from.

[xlornax]

Or milngavie

[Diane]

It does vary from state to state - apparently in Adelaide the local pronunciation is more English- than American- influenced. As the daughter of a Londoner and a Geordie I'm never right, however I pronounce dance, and chance, and grass!

 

The only Aussie one that makes me grind my teeth every time is the word "enthusiasts" (as in 'Insurance for motoring enthusiasts') - the last syllable of which I think should rhyme with gassed (not enthusiersts)

 

While we're on how to say words though - can anyone tell me the correct way to pronounce 'wrath' as in The Grapes of Wrath? Is it rath or roth or something different?

[Penelope Pitstop]

Skedule not shedule for schedule

 

Aussies can't say most French words properly, and they like to put 'r's into words that aren't there - they say Carnes for Cannes, parsta for pasta, darta for data etc, but pronounciation isn't logical - why do we say father as farther?

[abz123]

Aussies can't say most French words properly

 

Oh dear. Trying not to raise my blood pressure on that one but how many Poms called a (food) buffet a "buff it" or a "buff ay"?

 

Let's not go down that route (thats root or rowt depending on where your influence comes from, see above)

[gee13]

We say these words our way just so it gives pommies something else to whinge about.......it keeps you lot happy obviouslyTE]

 

Not all of us. Some of us do understand just how rude some of those comments sound. I myself would not come to live in someone else's country then moan because they " dont speak like what I do!":wink:

 

Imagine what the invading marauder Vikings or Angles and Saxons thought when they crossed those far away seas ... and then heard the native Picts and Celts speak...

[Alaska]

It does vary from state to state - apparently in Adelaide the local pronunciation is more English- than American- influenced. As the daughter of a Londoner and a Geordie I'm never right, however I pronounce dance, and chance, and grass!

 

The only Aussie one that makes me grind my teeth every time is the word "enthusiasts" (as in 'Insurance for motoring enthusiasts') - the last syllable of which I think should rhyme with gassed (not enthusiersts)

 

While we're on how to say words though - can anyone tell me the correct way to pronounce 'wrath' as in The Grapes of Wrath? Is it rath or roth or something different?

 

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/wrath#

[starlight7]

I'm off to the paddick for a coldie. How about a Noo Zooland thread- now they talk really funny?

[Guest littlesarah]

Ceremony as 'cere-moan-y' is one that always stands out to me. But I cop a lot of flack for the way I pronounce words like 'garage' so I just live and let live on the pronunciation front! More annoying to me is how many people don't understand 'xx and I' vs. 'xx and me' - which I usually ignore, but I have been corrected for using '... and me' when I knew that my wording was in fact correct. The person who corrected me did so in front of a student and I wasn't very impressed that the pair of them proceeded to explain to me their incorrect reasoning. I was too polite to point out that as the only one amongst us with any track record of academic publication they may like to pull their heads in lest I be correct, though I did print off an easy-to-read understanding of that particular grammar rule for my colleague... :GEEK: