SUE: Siw or Soo???

[TwatCat]

I never realised until today that people pronounce the name Sue differently. So is it:

Siw as in new or
Soo as in too?

I say Siw, but the Sue (Susan) I know, today said her name is pronounced Soo (Soosan) and I was mind blown. I always thought it was pronounced Siw (Siwsan) and our workplace was divided on the issue, about half and half of Siw vs Soo.

Oh like Sih zahn?

I don’t understand this. Soo/Boo/Few... they’re all the same sound

Soo rhymes with boo
Fork does not rhyme with pork
Four rhymes with lower
News is nyews
Boot rhymes with foot
Film is pronounced like fill limb

Hmm for me
Fork rhymes with pork
Lower (lo wah) does not rhyme with four (For)
Boot and foot ‘fut’ don’t rhyme
Film is one syllable

Does your foot sound like but?

As soon as I read you OP I though Welsh, DH is Welsh and says Siw.

He also says snucker (snooker).

I'm with you on all of those Ninki.

I’m welsh too op and say siw.

But what is 'siw? What kind of 'i' sound are you making? What kind of 'w' sound are you making (an 'end of word eww' sound, or a 'wuh' sound?)

So it's not Soo and it's not Syou, what is it?

It's like Huw, yet Huw sounds a bit like who, so Soo, a bit like Hyou, so Syou.

But it's not Soo or Syou.

So what is it? What IS 'Siw'?

I think the S has an i after it. So if you dragged it out it would be ssssiiiii instead sog the English 'suh'.

So English- Su oo su an,
Welsh- Si oo si an.

Obviously no one actually drags it out like that, except 4 yr olds learning to write... cuh a tuh.

And OP the long 'ew' when something is disgusting is mainly just Welsh, too.

Ewww for disgusting is common in American English.

This 'i', is it as in sister and silly, as in site and Simon, or some other pronunciation?

I find it quite hard to say 'siw' (i as in sister). It comes out like a person from London who can't pronounce Ls saying window cill. Si-ww. That is nothing at all like Sue though!

Several different pronounciations in these audio clips : forvo.com/search/Susan/en/

The clip of "Susan B. Anthony" (part way down the page, LH column) has the 'siw' sound, although in an American accent.

You can hear a similar sound, although much more strongly, in this French clip:
forvo.com/search/Susan/fr/

Siw rhymes with pew.

Like in “take a pew”

The Welsh pronunciation is short with not a round mouth and the tongue closer to the teeth, phonetically it's difficult at there's not really an English sound for it, DH says inmagine a cedilla on the S so it's pronounced as in the c in facade followed by an ew.

Is it the welsh pronunciation that is confusing the (different regional) english ones?
so e.g. Hugh is either Hiw (as in welsh Huw) or Hyouw

Welsh "u" is pronounced like an "i", isn't it?

Oh, and how is tooth pronounced?
I noticed with colleagues from Wrexham, Tooth with an "oo" or Tuth with an "u" (they all used "u")

Another one DH does is saucepan with the sau pronounced as in sausage. So sospan.

Pew rhymes with you and Hugh though.

Ok, I think I've got as far as I can in understanding this. Having listened to some clips, my conclusion is there is no difference in the pronunciation of 's' (maybe there is and I can't hear it), that the 'i' is a red herring and that nobody here is trying to insert a full 'you' sound, as in pronouncing suit as s-yout, tissue as tiss-you.

The difference I can hear, is whether or not the 'w' is clearly pronounced. In the American clip (Susan B Anthony) it is.

The thing is, I pronounce a 'w' (as in eww, no wuh sound) to give the word a definite ending but also say Soo. So Soo-w.

So I still cannot discern the distinction OP seeks to make.

This might be a red herring, Lottie, but...

Can you hear the difference between the short and sharp, tight mouthed 'pi-ew pi-ew' of a child making shooting noises and 'pew'?

I think it's like that.

Or when you say 'ew' for 'yuck', it's almost 'ii-ooo'

To be fair, there are sounds that the ears can't discriminate between because they've never learned to.

I'm sure everyone had a French teacher that said "It's not 'eu' children, it's 'eu'!".

@lottiegarbanzo

Pew rhymes with you and Hugh though.

Ok, I think I've got as far as I can in understanding this. Having listened to some clips, my conclusion is there is no difference in the pronunciation of 's' (maybe there is and I can't hear it), that the 'i' is a red herring and that nobody here is trying to insert a full 'you' sound, as in pronouncing suit as s-yout, tissue as tiss-you.

The difference I can hear, is whether or not the 'w' is clearly pronounced. In the American clip (Susan B Anthony) it is.

The thing is, I pronounce a 'w' (as in eww, no wuh sound) to give the word a definite ending but also say Soo. So Soo-w.

So I still cannot discern the distinction OP seeks to make.

The distinction is the same as the difference between 'pew' and 'poo'.

Yes but the difference to me is mostly the length of that sound (though a case can be made for pew as p-you).

So you can get through the 'oo' to the 'w' of Soo-w quickly or slowly. The quick version sounds heavier on the 'w'.

I think if you say Susan, you can leave out the w, or not. Soo-san or Soo-w-san.

That was to picklemewalnuts.

If pew rhymes with you and Hugh and Pugh, as I think it does, then the distinction OP is making isn't between pew and poo. She's said it's like Huw but not like Hugh. So not S-you. We're all saying poo, so to speak.

@lottiegarbanzo

Yes but the difference to me is mostly the length of that sound (though a case can be made for pew as p-you).

So you can get through the 'oo' to the 'w' of Soo-w quickly or slowly. The quick version sounds heavier on the 'w'.

I think if you say Susan, you can leave out the w, or not. Soo-san or Soo-w-san.

It's my name.

Please could you refrain from telling me how to pronounce my own name. Thanks.

I'm not! I'm trying to understand the OP's question. What's your take on that?