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Common Pronunciation Mistakes in Modern English

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This might only apply to people in the UK as pronunciation in the US for some words is different.

I’ve noticed in the last few years that pronunciation is not what it was.

Here are a few things I’ve noticed changing:

  1. The word ‘ to’ is no longer pronounced as if it has an o after the t. In almost every case it’s now pronounced ‘te’. “I’m going te town.”
  2. The combination of the letters, ‘th’ is rarely pronounced properly, but is pronounced as though it’s ‘v’ or ‘f’. “Are you coming wiv me?” This pronunciation was once only heard in less educated Londoners, but it’s spread throughout the country, and even university graduates pronounce ‘th’ in this way.
  3. Recognise comes from the Latin ‘recognoscere’ It has a ‘g’ in the middle. It’s not a silent ‘g’. Or at least it shouldn’t be. People more often than not pronounce it ‘recernise’.
  4. Another word that suffers from a silent letter which it shouldn’t is February, which is now pronounced Feb-yoo-ary instead of Feb-roo-ary.
  5. Sky’s political reporter, whom I won’t name, drops the ‘g’ off every word that ends in that letter. She’ll say, “In a few moments, the Prime Minister will be comin’ through the door of Number 10 Downin’ Street and givin’ a speech about….”

I find these things irritating, but particularly the last one. The occasional mistake I can accept, but it’s not a mistake when it’s done every time.

Have you noticed any changes in the way people pronounce words? What is your feeling about it?

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16 thoughts on “Common Pronunciation Mistakes in Modern English”

  1. It seems to be a natural thing to drop things to sound faster. That’s why we’ve got words now like wanna, gotta, and gonna. In books, sometimes writing a word phonetically (in dialogue) can help if you’re trying to create a speech pattern, but, as I’ve been told, it’s not a good idea to overwhelm the reader with such words.

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  2. Didn’t know that about the journalists dropping the ‘g’. What’s with that? I read it often in my old West books, along with ‘ain’t’ and ‘ye’. Maybe they’re channeling their colonial roots.

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    1. I once rubbed out an apostrophe on a chalkboard outside a shop. You’d think signwriters would know. But then I come across all manner of grammatical errors by journalists who, in my opinion should have an English degree. I don’t know what qualifications are actually required for that job, though.

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  7. I’ve noticed some people pronounce words like “struggle” as though it started with “sh,” i.e., “shtruggle.” Apparently this is a known phenomenon, called “s-retraction.”

    Recently, I’ve heard reporters and commentators on the CBC (similar to the BBC) say “zee” (American pronunciation) instead of “zed” for the letter Z.

    The answer to quibbles like these is that language evolves and there’s nothing we can do about it (except tut and splutter). 🙂

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    1. Tutting and spluttering happens a lot in this household!
      American pronunciation is increasing here, mores the pity. Now lever is being pronounced with a short e. If it were supposed to have a short e it would be spelled levver.
      And era is also being pronounced with a short e–error. With a short e it’s a mistake.

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