How do you pronounce Tortoise?

[Veryverycalmnow]

I noticed yesterday, when talking about this animal in a group, that everyone was pronouncing it 'toytoyce' while I would say, 'tortuss'.
I wonder if anyone finds this remotely interesting😆 or has a different way of saying it?

This is fascinating!

That was a link to an etymological article about the origins of the word “tortoise” by the way, not spammy clickbait.

uselessetymology.com/2020/09/15/the-etymological-difference-between-tortoises-and-turtles/

Another Scot who says Tor-toize. Desperately trying to get 3 different "a" sounds out of banana and failing miserably. My Welsh reared children frequently fall about laughing at my pronunciation of words right enough. Don't get me started on poem.

Taught us.

Don't get me started on poem

Let me guess... po-yum? That's how I (from Fife) pronounce it anyway!

Yup! Glaswegian. Po-yum. They literally fall about laughing.

That’s a funny one- my Granny said it like that but as a kid I just rejected it and went with po-um. Think my parents did too. Which is odd as I have clung to “proper Scottish pronounciation” for lots of other things over the years.

I can't get 3 different a sounds out of banana either.

We were doing an Alice in Wonderland play at school (NE Scotland) and there was a "joke" that they called somebody "tortiss" because he "taught us". The kids couldn't understand how those were meant to rhyme!

Tor tuss

I can't get 3 different a sounds out of banana either.

Me neither and my accent is RP. The first and third 'a' are both a schwa sound for me, and the second is a long 'ah'.

I’m guessing it is meant to be

Buh as in “but”
naaaw (long like extending the sound at the start of “orange”)
na (short, open-mouthed, kind of Spanish sounding “a”)

all three are the third sound when I say it, but that’s my guess based on exaggerated RP.

Thank you!

Think you're probably right @HaveringWavering

Never before have I spent so long (or any time at all to be honest) considering the pronunciation of banana!

Definitely not. I could maybe accept that I shorten the first a even more than the other two. But it’s more a ‘b’nana’ thing and the only vowels I bother with are identical.

See also filum.

the pronunciation there is influenced by Gaelic.

I think you need to imagine Craig Revel Harwood saying “Banana”

'Tor-TUSS is correct English. It rhymes with Porpoise'

On what planet does 'tuss' rhyme with 'poise?' I think you are pronouncing porpoise incorrectly.

Surely that would be Por-poys ?

Tor-tus, Por-pus.
I have tor-tushell spectacles and watch Lewis Hamilton's F1 Mercedes por-pussing down the straights.
Por-pus originates from Latin Porcus Marinus (sea pig or sea hog).
In Middle English (12th-15th century) tortoise spelling was tortuce, tortus or tortuse.

Tor-toys por-poys they sound the same to me😎

Well you may hate it but, ya know, different accents and all that ...

I’m guessing it is meant to be Buh as in “but” naaaw (long like extending the sound at the start of “orange”)
na (short, open-mouthed, kind of Spanish sounding “a”)

All of those sounds are wrong for banana in my RP accent . Especially the middle 'a'. Like the o in orange?! Really?! It's 'ah', not 'aw' (and the o in orange is neither ah nor aw!).

Buh-nawww-na? Nope.

Buh-nah-nuh is closest for me, but the 'buh' and 'nuh' have a neutral schwa, not a 'u' sound like the one that's in 'but'.

Buhnorna 😂

Tor-tuss

I’m presuming that “r” is meant to signify a long “o”? Because why would you make an “r” sound in the middle of the word?

or is it like the famous English “drawRing” that confused me so much as a child watching Blue Peter from Scotland?