Shedule or skedule?
How should we pronounce “schedule”? How do you pronounce it – with a hard “k” or a soft “sh” sound? Well, in a study by the British Library, interim results suggest a third of Britons taking part now adopt the American-style “skedule” over the traditional British “sh” pronunciation. Other US pronunciations taking root, according to researchers, are “pay-triotic”, in place of “pat-riotic”, and “advertISEment”, instead of “adVERTisement”.
The research, which is ongoing, is part of a series of projects connected to the British Library’s Evolving English exhibition. It involves volunteers using the library’s website to submit a recording of themselves saying six prescribed words and stating where they are from.
Britons are also creating a new way of saying controversy which hasn’t traditionally been used in Britain or the US. Three quarters of Britons taking part say “conTROversy”, with the emphasis on the middle syllable, rather than the previously conventional “CONtroversy”.
Other words being studied are:
- “garage”, which Britons are more likely to pronounce as “garridge”, over the more French sounding “garaarge”, which is universal in the US.
- “attitude”, where there is no sign of the British adopting the US “attitood” over “atti-chewed”.
– “neither” – despite the impression given in the George Gershwin song “Let’s call the whole thing off”, there is no clear divide between Britons and Americans, with “nee-ther” and “ny-ther” used on both sides of the Atlantic.
– “scone” – which Americans all rhyme with “bone”, but which many British rhyme with “gone”.
The research, which is ongoing, is part of a series of projects connected to the British Library’s Evolving English exhibition. It involves volunteers using the library’s website to submit a recording of themselves saying six prescribed words and stating where they are from.
Britons are also creating a new way of saying controversy which hasn’t traditionally been used in Britain or the US. Three quarters of Britons taking part say “conTROversy”, with the emphasis on the middle syllable, rather than the previously conventional “CONtroversy”.
Other words being studied are:
- “garage”, which Britons are more likely to pronounce as “garridge”, over the more French sounding “garaarge”, which is universal in the US.
- “attitude”, where there is no sign of the British adopting the US “attitood” over “atti-chewed”.
– “neither” – despite the impression given in the George Gershwin song “Let’s call the whole thing off”, there is no clear divide between Britons and Americans, with “nee-ther” and “ny-ther” used on both sides of the Atlantic.
– “scone” – which Americans all rhyme with “bone”, but which many British rhyme with “gone”.
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