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It was probably pronounced that way hundreds of years ago like, for example, "right" where the "gh" once represented a consonant.
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its just "wuster" you dont say the shire.
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Might be the original pronununciation but saying it as [we:rsest..rshai..r] makes too long of a word.
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Harbinger:
The main stress fell on the first syllable. <wAr>
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Think.
Syllable One: worce. How would you pronounce that in isolation?
Syllablle Two: ster. Same question but consider that's unstressed, like in hamster.
Syllable Three: In BE this rhymes with SHEAR if it's an element in a word and rhymes with tire if it stands alone. Of course it's the first then.
Put the three syllables together.
Hey presto!
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Sorry Simon, but 'shire' rarely rhymes with 'beer' in British English. Trust me, it's my first language and I live in the English Midlands, not far from Worcestershire. Worcestershire has only three syllables: wuss-ter-sher. You never hear anybody in Britain say wuss-ter-she-ar-sauce. Unless they are Yanks.
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YORK shear. That's how I pronounce it.
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Are you from up north or something? In the Midlands we say wuss-ter-sher, york-sher, bu-king-em-sher, les-ter-sher, no-ting-em-sher, etc.
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