pronunciation of "tournament"
so they other day i was talking about karate tournaments. and my friends all look at me funny. i ask why theyre looking at me like that and they ask me to say tournament again. so i say it and they all smile and say, "why do you pronounce it like that?"
i never thought i said it any differently than the people around me haha.
i dont know IPA or SAMPA so ill try to write my pronunciation as phonectically as i can
TORE-na-ment
whereas they say TER-na-ment
i asked my mother and my brother to pronounce it and they say it like me.. which makes sense..
i was just wondering what the common/correct pronunciation of the word is and if a larger group of people, besides my immidiate family, pronounce it the same as us.
if its important, i was born and raised in toronto, 17 years old and i am still living here. my mom is from nova scotia
I've heard it said both ways, although I find "ternament" far more common and it's the pronunciation I use.
I'm guessing it's another British/American difference. I have never heard TERnament in Britain.
On another note of interest I've started noticing that, when recalling an anecdote, Americans tend to tell it as if it is a regular occurrence.
"i ask why theyre looking at me like that and they ask me to say tournament"
Instead of
"I asked why they were looking at me like that and they asked me to say tournament"
Is this a new thing and which groups of people tend to use it?
Jago - mate, initially I thought that 'TER-nament' was exclusively an American pronunciation but I have definitely heard many Britons pronouncing it that way. I can't recall ever hearing it said like that in everyday life but certainly on the telly many times.
The same goes for 'tour' which I have heard pronounced in England as 'ter' or to that effect - you know what I mean? It is probably an English dialectual difference (dialectual - did I just invent a new word???????).
For the record I pronounce it this way 'TORN-A-MENT'.
Well, I still say "toor" for tour.
Good to see you back, PL!
<<On another note of interest I've started noticing that, when recalling an anecdote, Americans tend to tell it as if it is a regular occurrence.
"i ask why theyre looking at me like that and they ask me to say tournament"
Instead of
"I asked why they were looking at me like that and they asked me to say tournament"
Is this a new thing and which groups of people tend to use it?>>
I don't think it's a new thing or an isolated-group thing. Throwing it into the present tense sort of drags the listener into the moment and makes it feel more immediate. It IS very much a "story-telling" mode -- once you switch into it, everyone kind of settles into that "all ears" audience role, and you know you're going to get blow-by-blow detail rather than a dry synopsis. I guess it feels more compelling than that standard, past-tense exposition.
I pronounce it as "tornament".