Mispronunciation and Correcting People - Linguistics Blog

Oscar Rawson

9/7/21

IHSS Linguistics Blog


      It's pretty universally thought that people who correct others pronunciation are jerks. However, there's more to the issue than some people's need to feel better about themselves. Lots of the time, a person's issue with someone else's pronunciation usually lies in that the word sounds differently than it's spelled. It turns out, though, that that argument doesn't make much sense. There are a ton of words in the English language that don't match their spelling - the article provides some interesting examples. As the article points out, the way someone pronounces something is lots of times a reflection of their race, social class, and culture. To correct someone on this basis is just wrong. Language change is always inevitable, and mispronunciations are a major means of that change. They also don't always have to be mispronunciations, either. Some people simply choose to start pronouncing things differently, simply because they think it's cool or because it makes a lot more since. Take for example, the British cooking show host who pronounces microwave as "mee-krow-wah-vay". After hearing her say it, many have decided to follow her in this pronunciation "just for fun".  Maybe soon we'll all be saying Meekrowahvay too.





Article: https://theconversation.com/mispronunciation-why-you-should-stop-correcting-peoples-mistakes-163308

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