|
|
Does the word "root" rhyme with "foot" or with "boot" in your dialect? Also, where are you from? I am from rural Minnesota, and I think that, the pronunciation of "root" like "foot" (roof and room have similar vowels--native Minnesotans can you think of anymore examples?) is the most distinctive part of the Minnesota accent, although it is commonly said to be the "oh" in "Minnesohta." Anybody?
|
|
|
I'm from California and "root" and "boot" rhyme for me; "foot" doesn't. My Grampa from New York rhymes "root" with "foot", though.
|
|
|
Root rhymes with boot, for me. New Mexico.
|
|
|
"Root" rhymes with "boot" for me. "foot" has a different vowel. Georgia.
|
|
|
I'm also from Minnesota, and I rhyme it with 'foot'. I, however, say roof to rhyme with root and foot.
|
|
|
I meant that roof and room have a similar vowel to the one in root and foot for me. Sorry for not being clear.
|
|
In General American the letters oo in words like root, roof, foot etc. can sound either like the oo in 'shoo' or the oo in 'book' and 'look.'
I think that all of us who speak American English have heard both pronunciations among General American speakers just in our every day lives and on the radio. Personally, I pronounce these words like the oo in 'shoo' just because it's a little easier.
|
|
Here in southeastern Wisconsin, both "root" and "roof" may be pronounced with either [U] or [u] generally interchangeably. However, thethe former is generally favored in more informal speech and the latter is generally favored in more formal speech here. On the other hand, "foot" invariably has [U] while "boot" always has [u] here in all registers.
One note, Brennus, do you seriously include "foot" in the same class of words as "root" and "roof" here, with alternation between [U] and [u] applying to it? From what I know, not only do both GAE and RP have /U/ alone for "foot", but I also have never heard or heard of it having /u/ eitheer, so consequently, I am a good bit curious as to whether your dialect truly has [u] in the pronunciation of it, especially considering your overall credibility or lack thereof when it comes to linguistic-type matters.
|
|
|
I pronounce "root" as [rut], rhyming with "boot" [but], but not with "foot" [fUt].
|
|
Me (AusE)
"root", "boot" & "roof" with /}:/ (what Travis calls [u] ... pretty much) &
"foot" with /U/.
An interesting point here is that there are those for whom there is no distinction on a phonemic level. Wells calls it the FOOT-GOOSE merger (or was that the GOOSE-FOOT merger?).
|
|
<<An interesting point here is that there are those for whom there is no distinction on a phonemic level. Wells calls it the FOOT-GOOSE merger (or was that the GOOSE-FOOT merger?).>>
I've read that that can occur in Scotland, along with other distinctive mergers like the father-gather merger and the cot-caught merger.
|
|
Travis,
Re: "One note, Brennus, do you seriously include "foot" in the same class of words as "root" and "roof"..." (Travis)
Well, yes. We now have many Hispanics in the U.S. and I have heard them pronounce it with a long oo sound. I'm sure that this was also the pronunciation of the word in Middle English too and perhaps a little beyond the Middle English period.
Re: "considering your overall credibility or lack thereof when it comes to linguistic-type matters. . ." (Travis)
Lol: What do you mean? You have yet to convince me on this forum that the American English of Wisconsin has any distinguishing chracteristics. On the other hand, I have cited some, from time to time, for Texas and even California.
|
|
<<Well, yes. We now have many Hispanics in the U.S. and I have heard them pronounce it with a long oo sound.>>
Are you saying that Hispanic-Americans that speak English natively pronounced [fut]? Never heard that one. Where I come, the Cuban-Americans that speak English natively tend to pick up the prevalent English accent in the area, in this case, GAE. All say [fUt]. Only non-native English speakers from Cuba (ie. with foreign accents) pronounce "foot" as [fut].
My two cents: I don't think we should be taking into account the pronunciations of non-native English speakers when someone asks for the correct pronunciation in English of words. Italians have trouble distinguishing "bitch" and "beach" and thus pronounce them the same. Should we know say they are homophones in English?
|
|
Typos:
"Where I come,"
is:
"Where I come from,"
"Should we know say they"
to:
"Should we now say they"
|
|
<<Well, yes. We now have many Hispanics in the U.S. and I have heard them pronounce it with a long oo sound. I'm sure that this was also the pronunciation of the word in Middle English too and perhaps a little beyond the Middle English period.>>
I have to side with Travis on this one. "Foot" is not a member of the lexical group ("root", "roof", "broom", etc.) that exhibits cross-dialectal /u/-/U/ variability. The pronunciation of non-native speakers and the history of sound changes from Middle English are completely irrelevant.
|
