The over-pronunciation of the "U" sound

[AutumnSummers]

I was being a bit pedantic earlier today about people who over-pronounce the "U" sound in wotld like suit, illusion etc. Instead of saying "ill-oo-sion" they say "ill-you-sion". Or "s-you-t" instead of "soot" It drives me batshit.

As batty as it drives me though, is it correct? It just makes my teeth hurt when I hear people doing it.

*in words like

I don't know the answer to this either . DH and I were watching a Stephen Poliakoff movie once where Lindsay Duncan's character pronounced the word sexual as sex-see-yew-al. We couldn't stop laughing. Now I always have to say it Lindsay Duncan-style (not that it crops up in casual conversation very often, but I'm always looking for opportunities to drop it in on the sly).

See, the "ua" combination does make the "U" sound anyway. Like in unusual. but I don't think that's the case with just u. i mean, no-one says bisc-you-it (Unless it's that Fox's Panda!!!)

How about 'm-oo-sic' or 'm-you-sic', or the Norfolk turkey man's 'bootiful?

What you describe as over-pronunciation is actually the 'correct' RP British English pronunciation of yore (listen to old 1950s TV announcers and you'll see what mean).

Hardly anyone speaks RP now, and I'm no sure it can really be used to codify standard English any more. The change to this particular sound in the last 50 years or so is probably a result of US influence in film and TV. It's even beginning to decrease in words like "news". But I still have it in my way of speaking, and doubt my accent is likely to change at my age!

Funny, I thought of "sex-see-yew-al" too. Our RE teacher used to make us snigger with that one.

I like "E-vil" (rhymed with pill)

"Correct" is not a useful word here.

It is the first duty of the Orthoepist and the Grammarian, not to prescribe how people should speak, but to observe how people do speak.

Adding your own opinion as to which people are "better" and therefore should be considered "correct" is very much a matter of personal taste, and not to be taken seriously or treated with undue respect.

Rp is not always "correct" and a lot of people at the time complained about it. Controversy is prob the most famous example, but I'll see if I can track down suit. I was taught the u emphasis on that was non u, iyswim.

I think it's 'correct' as in talking proper laike what they does in finishing school.

My headmistress used to speak like that. She would also roll her r's and kind of 'blow' the silent h's in words like 'whistle' and 'where' .

And she would pronounce Wednesday Wed-ens-day.

She would also talk in the 3rd person "Mrs Ball is very cross with you, children for making such a frightful noise"

Is Wed-ens-day a bit proper, then? I say it like that.

But not s-yout. They say it on The Good Life a lot though.

I think your old headmistress was frightfully common and was trying to hide it behind an unconvincing facade.

I think it's supposed to be posh too. We have some quite posh friends who say s-you-per for super and call their daughter Sue S-Yue

OTOH some not so posh friends used to call Breakfast 'brakefust' and not 'brekfust'. I think they thought they were being posh whereas I thought they were very common.........

At primary school I had a very posh music teacher well I thought so until the day at Christmas when I saw him pissed and being helped to walk home from the pub. Anyway he spoke with a whole basket of plums in his mouth and insisted on saying the 'u' in words and calling Susan Syoosan, eventhough she/her parents didn't pronounce it that way.

We don't say moosic or hooman (unless from Norfolk). Why not syoot?

My boyfriend says noooooooos instead of news. Horrific.

My dad does this a bit, but it's a feature of his variety of Welsh accent.

Fenton, the "h" in whistle etc is only silent if you are English. When I speak, there is an audible difference between Wales and whales. Which can only be helpful, surely? I also say "Weddensday". Perhaps your headmistress was Scottish?