Hello, there!
I often hear people pronouncing the word 'Skype' as /ˈskaɪpi/. Usually, I tell them politely that the letter 'e' in this brand name is 'silent'. Thus, we should say /skaɪp/.
To my amusement, some of them take note of what I say while the others dispute my claim. Here's a video that I stumbled on just now. It tells us how the word in question is actually pronounced. Shall we listen to it, guys?
Now, do you know any other commonly used words that often confuse us? If you do, please share them here with the rest of us. You could even ask us a word whose pronunciation is not known to you. Let's help each other. Thank you!
... NOTE ...
Please check out my other blog that deals with Homographs and Pronunciations.
May 2nd. 2013
~* GS *~
Comments
Hi, guys!
Here's a supplementary video. I find it very interesting!
@ Rajesh
Nice to see you here, bro! I think it has been quite a while since I heard from you the last time. Don’t worry! The time has come for me to see more comments from you. Yes, the ‘thing’ I’m working on will be posted somewhere next week. How about that? Get prepared, buddy! See you around!
Hi, Mahgol!
I’m in pure delight to hear from you again. Thank you! You know, it gives me great pleasure answering your question. Here we go...
‘Skype’ is monosyllabic, cannot be divided into two or more syllables, if we pronounce it as /skaɪp/
But, it becomes disyllable (having two syllables) when we MISpronounce it as /ˈskaɪpi/ ... /ˈskaɪp + i/
@ Mahgol
You’re welcome, my friend. Well, whether to pronounce the word /ˈskaɪp/ or /ˈskaɪpi/ is a matter of personal preference. However, there could be only one correct pronunciation between the two. There’s no question about that! BUT… it is wise for a learner, if you ask my opinion, to correct his mistake once he has learnt about it!
Thank you very much for the interesting additional information about Skype, Mahgol. I appreciate it! Ciao!!
@ Salma
Thank you for visiting my blog. We all had shared such problems with brand names and some other words in the past. Therefore, it’s not strange when we hear someone mispronouncing the word ‘Skype’. The most important thing is he should take an effort to correct it rather than sticking to his old way after knowing the mistake!
Salma, please don't forget check my other blog when you get the time. You can find the link at the bottom of the above blog. It's about homographs. I can guarantee that it will be very useful to you. Thanks once again!
@ Hala
Well said, dear! Only knowing the 44 speech sounds on the IPA Phonetic Chart and the ability to read the transcriptions could solve all our pronunciation related issues.
I like the shape of the cake on that table.
/aɪ‿laɪki ðə ʃeɪpi‿jə ðə keɪki‿ɒn ðət‿eɪbli/
@ Lord Maurice
Thank you for spelling out the problems that students encounter at your end. I think these problems are very common among non-native speakers of English all around the globe.
The word “soap” you used in your comment reminded me of a phonetic rule: “When two vowels go walking the first vowel does the talking.” Also, that first vowel is pronounced exactly how the name of the particular letter is said. Here is a video that teaches us just that.
Hello, dear Gabriel!
First word that came to my mind after reading your blog was the brand "NIKE". Many people in my country and in the neighbour countries as well pronounce it like /naik/, and so do I (that's my habit), despite the fact that it actually sounds like /naiki/... :)
Thanks for the blog about "not only skype".
@ Faraz
It’s a pleasure to have your comments on my blog! I admire you a lot for you’re very knowledgeable about many kinds of things. Thank you for sharing your thoughts regarding the issue – confusing pronunciations!
I still remember what my English language teacher told me when I was in primary school. She said, “If a monosyllabic word ends with the letter ‘e’, the earlier vowel letter (a, i, o or u) in that word is pronounced like how we say the name of the letter, i.e. a /eɪ/, i /aɪ/, o /əʊ/ and u /ju:/
Here are, in addition to your pairs, a few more examples. With these, I hope, our fellow members will know exactly what we two are talking about. Thanks again, Faraz!
hat – hate /heɪt/
dim – dime /daɪm/
not – note /nəʊt/
dun – dune /dju:n/
Thank you, bro! :)
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