(WYTV) – People pronounce some words in very different ways. Like the word data, do you pronounce it DAY-tuh or DAH-ta?
There’s a general rule in English pronunciation where if the word comes directly from Latin (as “data” does) and the stressed syllable ends in a vowel, then the vowel should have its long sound.
Do you like tomatoes? Perhaps if you live in New England, you love your tuh-MAH-toes, but most of us go for tuh-MAY-toes.
A small group of people who hang together is called a clique, or does it rhyme with sleek? Come join the “kleek.”
Since the 1970s most Americans have pronounced it “click.”
If you’re an American, you work in a laboratory, but are there any other ways to say it?
If you’re British, yes. You work in a luh-BOR-uh-tree. The second syllable is stressed.
How mature are you? It can rhyme with manure or with unsure as in muh-TYOOR. Still unsure? Stick with muh-CHOOR.
We live close to Appalachia, don’t we?
You can pick one of two pronunciations, depending on where you’re from.
North or west of mid-Virginia, the third syllable is “lay.” South of that, you’re in Appa-latch-a.
We have too much leisure time, don’t we? Rhyme it with seizure instead of pleasure, but do it at you lez-ure.
Finally, do you cheer for the Boston Keltics? Cetlic is perfectly fine.
“Celtic” comes from Latin through French, and it came to English with the French “s” sound for the “hard c.”
