How to pronounce viola - AIBU?

[Teabagtits]

I guess it's a variation on scone vs scone.

My daughter started viola lessons recently and it's caused somewhat of a debate in our house. I was always led to believe it was pronounced veye-ola like violin (veye-olin) but my OH pronounces it Vee-ola and says I'm wrong. I've never heard of the violin pronounced vee-olin so why would viola be pronounced like this?

It makes my blood boil (I know this bit is unreasonable as it's related to my dislike of his fake plums-in-mouth mother and her poshifying words in an attempt to sounds brighter than everyone else)

He also calls breakfast brake-fast instead of brek-fast which is totally unreasonably like nails on a blackboard to me.

It's pronounced V-eye-ola, isn't it? AIBU?

Vee - ola.

I agree with everyone else about viola.

But brake-fast - some people used to say that in Scotland when I was growing up. Just an accent thing, I thought.

vee-ola here too .

Great name. Destined to be top 10 in s a few years.

(I do like it actually).

FWIW, my DM has some poshifying ways. It's still family legend the day she told us she had gone to the local garden centre to '...buy some 'plarnts' to 'plent'.' (She takes the piss out of herself though too, to be fair).

Now I am just very confused. I never seem to discuss it out if the context of 'the strings' blah blah blah or I enjoyed the strong quintet. Not sure that I know enough about music to actually have anything meaningful to say about violas let alone know what they look like/sound like.

Yep, definitely vee-ola for the instrument and vye-ola for the flower and name (which is actually on our shortlist for DD1 but may not make it any further because of exactly this issue!)

I'm with the majority on this. I'm a former violinist/viola player and it's always Vee-oh-la for the instrument.

My granny used to say brake-fast and she wasn't a bit posh.
She also used to say ommy-let and she called magazines books. Make of that what you will.

Oh yes, the flower is Vi-ola (as in Vi-olet)

Vee-ola. Does my opinion count for more if I play one?

Not that anyone usually listens to viola players.

Well i never ! I always thought it was Vye-ola but seems that is incorrect.

I say Vyola. As in Shakespeare's character Viola in Twelfth Night which I have never heard pronounced Veeola in any production or movie of the play.

It stands to reason that an instrument named from the same etymology as violin would be pronounced the same. So if you say veeola presumably you say veeolin? otherwise it makes no sense.

Love the viola, my favourite instrument. I'd listen to you, Endo.

I prefer the Russian 'zavtrakat' to breakfast, or 'brake fast' personally. It means(loosely) eating for tomorrow, rather than 'breaking the fast' Looking forward not back. My Russian teacher explained that if you have breakfast today, you will live tomorrow, even if you have no more food.

[shoe horns random irrelevant factoid]

Vee-oh la for the instrument, never heard any different.

For the girls' name can be both, tends to be vee-oh-la in European countries etc, UK tends to be Vye oh la. Shakespeare productions of Twelfth Night I've never heard anything other than Vye-oh la for the name.

Vi-ola
Vi-o-lin
Brek-fast.

Southern accent

Vee-ola. Does my opinion count for more if I play one?

Not that anyone usually listens to viola players.

Cinderella of the orchestra.

I'm a violin player and I agree it's def vee-ola.

But the girl's name from Tweflth Night is Viola as in Violet.

I would have gone for a long 'i' sound.

dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/viola

Vee-ola for the instrument and vy-ola for the name (the instrument is also more clearly 3 syllables but the name more like 2 or 2.5, the O is more pronounced in the instrument for me.)

I also read the title as voila, or wallah in amurrican.

vee-OH-la for the instrument
VIY-OH-la for the name
BRECK-fust for when you break your fast :p

Not forgetting GrEEN Park for Green Park,
and
HANDbag for handbag
before that tag team turns up again.

Surely violin is French and viola Italian, and the English pronunciation of violin is a bastardisation of the Fr, which sounds roughly like vee-o-lan?

Also brake-fast is regional so there is no need to be rude. My granny from Stoke saif that and so does DMIL from a small Yorks village. Not everyone is from Surrey, you know!

So if you say veeola presumably you say veeolin? otherwise it makes no sense.
Because there are never anomalies in pronunciation, are there?

I played the Veye-ola!
Vee-ola for the girl's name or plant

"So if you say veeola presumably you say veeolin? otherwise it makes no sense."

Yes. All the viola players on this thread definitely say vee-olin. We've all rebelled against the rest of the universe who all say vi-olin because we're special.

Or, if you use your imagination for a nano-second I'm sure you can think of some examples where the English language might not be completely consistent in pronunciation...

I play the violin (or did, years ago). It's definitely vee-ola, sorry.

Wow! I never knew it was pronounced veeolah. I always read it like violin with an 'a' on the end instead of an 'in'. Learn something new today. Thank goodness I started learning the violin this year and not the viola

V eye ola here
(Brek fast also) Northern Ireland if regions help

Former violinist here with English degree. Yep, instrument is veeOHla, name is VYEola