How do Americans pronounce these 3 words?

Phonologist   Sat Jul 11, 2009 12:26 pm GMT
How do Americans pronounce these 3 words?

1. Jewellery [Jewel-ry] [Jew-lary]
2. Nuclear [nuklier] [new clear] [nu kiler] (new killer)
3. Quasi [kwei-zai] [kwei-sai] [kwa-zi] [kwa-si]

With your answer, please identify which state you are from.
GuestUser   Sat Jul 11, 2009 1:40 pm GMT
[Joolry]
[new clear]
[kwo-zi]

The state of UK
Beathag   Sat Jul 11, 2009 8:48 pm GMT
1. Jewel-ry
2. New-clear
3. Kwah-zee

Texas, USA
Oregon   Sun Jul 12, 2009 12:18 am GMT
Just to let you know, the words you listed differ by personal preference, and not by region.

Here's how I pronounce them:
Jewellery [dZulr\I] (jewl-ry) or [dZulr\=I] (jewl-er-ry)
Nuclear [nuklir\=] (noo-klee-er) or [njuklir\=] (neeoo-klee-er) or [njukjulr\=] (new-cue-ler) or [nu-] (noo-cue-ler). However, I would probably use the [njuklir\=] pronunciation if I were ever on tv or radio, to avoid any jokes--I believe people made fun of Bush, for pronouncing it the other way--although there's nothing wrong with it--I believe it's a similar phenomenon to the one that changed the Old English "bridd" to Modern English "bird".

Quasi [k_hwAzi] or [k_hwAzaI] -- no preference. I belive I learned that word from the TV, so it has little to do with regions.
Another Guest   Sun Jul 12, 2009 12:18 am GMT
Only the second one is a word. The third is a prefix, and the first is a misspelling of "jewelry". The pronunciations vary, but "jewelry" is usually something like "jue-el-ry", with the first two syllables sometimes blurring into one. The "correct" pronunciation of "nuclear" is "new-clee-ur", but many people pronounce it "new-kue-lar". The dominant pronunciation of "quasi" is probably "kwa-zai", but "kwa-zee" is also a common spelling.
Guest   Sun Jul 12, 2009 3:58 am GMT
<<Only the second one is a word. The third is a prefix, and the first is a misspelling of "jewelry".>>

It's not a misspelling, but the commonwealth/British spelling.
Spellmann   Sun Jul 12, 2009 4:15 am GMT
>> It's not a misspelling, but the commonwealth/British spelling <<

British/Australia/New Zealand pronunciation. Canada uses a different spelling.
Another Guest   Sun Jul 12, 2009 5:06 am GMT
My response was somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but Phonologist asked how Americans pronounce "jewellery". In America, "jewellery" is not a word. It's a bit like asking how Americans pronounce "pyjamas" or "aeroplane". Are we supposed to respond with what Americans would say if they were asked to read the word "jewellery" out loud, or are we supposed to respond with how Americans pronounce the word "jewelry"?
Montague   Sun Jul 12, 2009 6:58 am GMT
"I believe people made fun of Bush, for pronouncing it the other way--although there's nothing wrong with it-"

Are you kidding? There's nothing correct about pronouncing "nuclear" as "new-kew-lar"—it's sheer illiteracy.
Travis   Sun Jul 12, 2009 7:45 am GMT
>>My response was somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but Phonologist asked how Americans pronounce "jewellery". In America, "jewellery" is not a word. It's a bit like asking how Americans pronounce "pyjamas" or "aeroplane". Are we supposed to respond with what Americans would say if they were asked to read the word "jewellery" out loud, or are we supposed to respond with how Americans pronounce the word "jewelry"?<<

<sigh>

Those are just different ways of spelling the very same words in Standard English, not separate words at all. So hence one can speak about how an American pronounces "jewellery", as that word *does* exist in North American English, even though Americans themselves generally spell it "jewelry".
Travis   Sun Jul 12, 2009 7:46 am GMT
>>"I believe people made fun of Bush, for pronouncing it the other way--although there's nothing wrong with it-"

Are you kidding? There's nothing correct about pronouncing "nuclear" as "new-kew-lar"—it's sheer illiteracy.<<

LOL. No, insisting that it is "illiteracy" is just base prescriptivism, brought to you by the same people who say that you can't end a sentence in a preposition.
Jasper   Sun Jul 12, 2009 6:27 pm GMT
↑ Travis, I don't know about that one. Pronouncing "nuclear" that way sounds undereducated to me, too. It reminds me of people who pronounce "athletic" as "athaletic", or "arthritis" as "artha-rite-is", or pronounce "interesting" as "IN-ter-EST-ing", or use the word "anyways".

<chuckle> Maybe you're right, after all: in the scheme of things, these aberrations aren't really important, are they?
n1   Sun Jul 12, 2009 7:28 pm GMT
People naturally pronounce it that way in much the same way that "and" turns into "n", and them into 'em. It's easier to say.
Another Guest   Sun Jul 12, 2009 9:23 pm GMT
Montague said:
<<"I believe people made fun of Bush, for pronouncing it the other way--although there's nothing wrong with it-"

Are you kidding? There's nothing correct about pronouncing "nuclear" as "new-kew-lar"—it's sheer illiteracy.>>
Referring it to "illiteracy" doesn't make any sense. This is an issue of pronunciation, not of reading. And to many people, the two pronunciations are allophonic.

Also, Oregon should not have put a comma after "Bush".

Travis said: <<Those are just different ways of spelling the very same words in Standard English, not separate words at all. So hence one can speak about how an American pronounces "jewellery", as that word *does* exist in North American English, even though Americans themselves generally spell it "jewelry".>>

What, exactly, was unclear about my post? And why are you the one sighing, when I'm the one who's being ignored? Your tone is somewhat rude. For the purpose of pronunciation, "jewellery" and "jewelry" are different. What spelling a person is presented with will almost certainly affect their pronunciation. British people, presumably, are used to "jewellery" being pronounced as if there is no "e" between the "l" and "r", and thus would be likely to pronounce it that way. Americans would be more likely to pronounce it the way it's spelled, because in America, "jewellery" is not a word, and thus does not have any pronounciation other than a phonetic sounding out of the letters. If Phonologist wantsd to know how Americans pronounce the word "jewelry", he should ask that. If he wants to know how Americans pronounce the string of letters "jewellery", he should ask that. Those are different questions. They may often have the same answer, but they won't always. I mean, if someone asked you how you pronounce "definate", wouldn't you be even the slightest bit unsure as to whether you should assume that they mean "How do you pronounce 'definite'?" or whether they actually want you to say how you would pronounce "definate"?
Lo   Mon Jul 13, 2009 1:17 am GMT
1- dZU@l-r\i
2- nU-kli@'
3- kwQ-zi