I myself use a quadrisyllabic pronunciation of "veterinary" ["vEtSr\I~:ne:Ri:] (is this what you mean by "three syllables"?), and find the pentasyllabic pronunciation (which might be what you mean by "four syllables") (which for me would be ["vE4R=:I~:ne:Ri:] of it overly careful and lengthy subjectively. The thing is that my dialect is much more apt to reduce unstressed /@r/ in medial positions after a plosive to just [R] or [r\] (or even have it undergo metathesis to [R@] or [r\@]) than many North American English dialects closer to General American. Note, though, that in such words which in GA are trisyllabic, such as "library" (for me ["L\a:Ibr\e:Ri:] or ["M\a:Ibr\e:Ri:]), generally remain trisyllabic in my dialect rather than underlying /@/ elision (while longer words in GA frequently undergo such elision in my dialect).
Which accent is really more popular in the world?
Note that there are some exceptions to be above, in that there are some words which are trisyllabic in General American of this sort which are disyllabic in my dialect, such as "veteran", which for me is normally ["vEtSr\I~:n], and which I would pronounce trisyllabically as ["vE4R=:I~:n] if I forced such a pronunciation.
Most of us cop out and simply say "vet". I took our mangy moggy to the vet(s). (Moggy = Britslang for a cat). Seriously - "veterinary" - nobody pronounces it the way it's spelt at all. It's one of those awkward words and usually comes out as "vet'n'ree"......but as I say - vet is heaps easier. A similar word is "honorary" - that always comes out something like "'on'ree".
I tend not to say 'Vet' not sure whether I see that as an Americanism or not by I pronounce it Vet-tin nary and honorary as onorary sometimes pronouncing it with the H.
Sometimes I lazy and miss the H of words i.e. orrible and ate.
Heard the septics do something similar
Sometimes I lazy and miss the H of words i.e. orrible and ate.
Heard the septics do something similar
Well, yeah, we usually shorten it to "vet" too, but when we HAVE to say the full word -- you know us and our faithful get-through-every-damn-syllable-if-it-kills-us tendencies! There are five in my "veterinary". And all frickin' six in my "veterinarian"!
(And lord, I used to technically be a "veterinary technician", but I drew the line there -- I just said "vet tech". But it's good practice for those fifty-cent medical terms.... "According to this radiographic image, your Bichon has a femoroiliac subluxation..." "A WHAT?" "Uh, Buffy's hip's out of socket...."
It was fun to "translate" surgical reports into plain English:
"the patient was placed in right lateral recumbency" (we laid him on his right side)
"the small intestine was exteriorized" (we pulled his guts out)
"the edges of the incision were then approximated with 2-0 nylon" (we sewed him back up)
"recovery was uneventful" (he thrashed around and made ungodly noises for about ten minutes, then huddled in a corner giving us dirty looks, chewed through his IV line, and tried to eat his stitches)
Some of my favorite words:
intussusception (where a section of the intestine telescopes inside itself)
anastamosis (what you have to do to an intussusception; namely, cut it out and splice the rest of the gut back together)
squamous (just means flat, but it's fun to say)
luxating patella (a kneecap that pops in and out of place -- also pronounced "cha-CHING!" because they cost a lot to fix!)
Translating Clientspeak was fun, too:
"This is Princess. She's my baby." (Get a muzzle.)
"Oh, she doesn't bite." (Watch those fingers.)
"He's had all his shots." (He got the first of the puppy series back in 1998 at six weeks old and hasn't seen a needle since.)
"He's a little spoiled." (Has never been trained or disciplined in his life ... and isn't housebroken, either.)
"I don't have any money." (Well, not for my CAT, anyway. Please disregard the cell phone in my pocket, the carton of cigarettes in my purse, the matching gameboys my three kids are playing, the full-color tattoos on my left boob and right above my asscrack, the acrylic fills in my manicure, and the assortment of titanium hardware piercing my nose, tongue, and navel. I'm flat broke, and you need to drain that abscess, catch him up on his shots, and possibly neuter him for under $26.50, which is all I have left of my child support payment after going to the bar last night.)
(And lord, I used to technically be a "veterinary technician", but I drew the line there -- I just said "vet tech". But it's good practice for those fifty-cent medical terms.... "According to this radiographic image, your Bichon has a femoroiliac subluxation..." "A WHAT?" "Uh, Buffy's hip's out of socket...."
It was fun to "translate" surgical reports into plain English:
"the patient was placed in right lateral recumbency" (we laid him on his right side)
"the small intestine was exteriorized" (we pulled his guts out)
"the edges of the incision were then approximated with 2-0 nylon" (we sewed him back up)
"recovery was uneventful" (he thrashed around and made ungodly noises for about ten minutes, then huddled in a corner giving us dirty looks, chewed through his IV line, and tried to eat his stitches)
Some of my favorite words:
intussusception (where a section of the intestine telescopes inside itself)
anastamosis (what you have to do to an intussusception; namely, cut it out and splice the rest of the gut back together)
squamous (just means flat, but it's fun to say)
luxating patella (a kneecap that pops in and out of place -- also pronounced "cha-CHING!" because they cost a lot to fix!)
Translating Clientspeak was fun, too:
"This is Princess. She's my baby." (Get a muzzle.)
"Oh, she doesn't bite." (Watch those fingers.)
"He's had all his shots." (He got the first of the puppy series back in 1998 at six weeks old and hasn't seen a needle since.)
"He's a little spoiled." (Has never been trained or disciplined in his life ... and isn't housebroken, either.)
"I don't have any money." (Well, not for my CAT, anyway. Please disregard the cell phone in my pocket, the carton of cigarettes in my purse, the matching gameboys my three kids are playing, the full-color tattoos on my left boob and right above my asscrack, the acrylic fills in my manicure, and the assortment of titanium hardware piercing my nose, tongue, and navel. I'm flat broke, and you need to drain that abscess, catch him up on his shots, and possibly neuter him for under $26.50, which is all I have left of my child support payment after going to the bar last night.)
***the small intestine was exteriorized" (we pulled his guts out)***
Suddenly I feel a wee bit queasy....I'm glad I've already had breakfast and that it didn't consist of devilled kidneys....
Exteriorized.....ha!..... Americans are real experts at making verbs out of nouns, are they no?...... but it hasn't really caught on all that much over here......we've generally rubbished (sorry....garbaged) them.....
Suddenly I feel a wee bit queasy....I'm glad I've already had breakfast and that it didn't consist of devilled kidneys....
Exteriorized.....ha!..... Americans are real experts at making verbs out of nouns, are they no?...... but it hasn't really caught on all that much over here......we've generally rubbished (sorry....garbaged) them.....
>>Well, yeah, we usually shorten it to "vet" too, but when we HAVE to say the full word -- you know us and our faithful get-through-every-damn-syllable-if-it-kills-us tendencies! There are five in my "veterinary". And all frickin' six in my "veterinarian"!<<
Ack - I myself would never say [vE4R=:I~:"ne:Ri:I~:n] in Real Life unless I was deliberately trying to be really, really careful - It would probably really come out as only four syllables, as [vEtSr\I~:"ne:RjI~:n], which is still a good bit long for a single non-compound word...
>>(And lord, I used to technically be a "veterinary technician", but I drew the line there -- I just said "vet tech". But it's good practice for those fifty-cent medical terms.... "According to this radiographic image, your Bichon has a femoroiliac subluxation..." "A WHAT?" "Uh, Buffy's hip's out of socket...." <<
And then, that's the even longer ["vEtSr\I~:ne:Ri:"t_hEknISI~:n] ... [@:::] ... ["vE4R=:I~:ne:Ri:"t_heknISI~:n]...
Ack - I myself would never say [vE4R=:I~:"ne:Ri:I~:n] in Real Life unless I was deliberately trying to be really, really careful - It would probably really come out as only four syllables, as [vEtSr\I~:"ne:RjI~:n], which is still a good bit long for a single non-compound word...
>>(And lord, I used to technically be a "veterinary technician", but I drew the line there -- I just said "vet tech". But it's good practice for those fifty-cent medical terms.... "According to this radiographic image, your Bichon has a femoroiliac subluxation..." "A WHAT?" "Uh, Buffy's hip's out of socket...." <<
And then, that's the even longer ["vEtSr\I~:ne:Ri:"t_hEknISI~:n] ... [@:::] ... ["vE4R=:I~:ne:Ri:"t_heknISI~:n]...
>>["vE4R=:I~:ne:Ri:"t_heknISI~:n]<<
That should be ["vE4R=:I~:ne:Ri:"t_hEknISI~:n].
That should be ["vE4R=:I~:ne:Ri:"t_hEknISI~:n].
<<Exteriorized.....ha!..... Americans are real experts at making verbs out of nouns, are they no?...... but it hasn't really caught on all that much over here......we've generally rubbished (sorry....garbaged) them.....>>
Damian, "exterior" isn't a noun, is it? :-) :-)
Damian, "exterior" isn't a noun, is it? :-) :-)
Of course exterior is a noun. You should see my house's exterior. The interior looks bigger than the exterior. That door leads to the exterior. She keeps up a tough exterior, but inside she's pretty sweet.
It can also be an adjective: the exterior walls are thicker than the interior walls.
Damian, Damian -- the beauty of English is that pretty much ANY noun can be kidnapped and conscripted into the Marching Verb Battalion!
I've "winged" it through many a test, "tested" out of low level classes (but been "outclassed" by others), got a lump in my throat when reading some of my assigned literature, "lumped" it when I still got crappy scores on my essays, "scored" with a few boys (when I've "essayed" to "ensnare" them with my feminine snares -- sometimes you've gotta think outside that box), felt "boxed" in by my parents -- just like being in jail! although I've never been "jailed" by the police -- I conveniently "police" my behavior -- however much that may "inconvenience" me.
Hmm. I'm thinking it's not just an American phenomenon....
It can also be an adjective: the exterior walls are thicker than the interior walls.
Damian, Damian -- the beauty of English is that pretty much ANY noun can be kidnapped and conscripted into the Marching Verb Battalion!
I've "winged" it through many a test, "tested" out of low level classes (but been "outclassed" by others), got a lump in my throat when reading some of my assigned literature, "lumped" it when I still got crappy scores on my essays, "scored" with a few boys (when I've "essayed" to "ensnare" them with my feminine snares -- sometimes you've gotta think outside that box), felt "boxed" in by my parents -- just like being in jail! although I've never been "jailed" by the police -- I conveniently "police" my behavior -- however much that may "inconvenience" me.
Hmm. I'm thinking it's not just an American phenomenon....
<<Of course exterior is a noun. You should see my house's exterior. The interior looks bigger than the exterior. That door leads to the exterior. She keeps up a tough exterior, but inside she's pretty sweet.
It can also be an adjective: the exterior walls are thicker than the interior walls.>>
Okay, you are right. I don't know why I always think of it as an adjective first.
It can also be an adjective: the exterior walls are thicker than the interior walls.>>
Okay, you are right. I don't know why I always think of it as an adjective first.
<<Ack - I myself would never say [vE4R=:I~:"ne:Ri:I~:n] in Real Life unless I was deliberately trying to be really, really careful - It would probably really come out as only four syllables, as [vEtSr\I~:"ne:RjI~:n], which is still a good bit long for a single non-compound word...>>
What about these words:
"cafeteria"
"librarian"
"piano"
How many syllables do you have in them? P.S. I say "veterinarian" as [vEtrInEr\i@n] (five syllables) and "piano" as [pj{n7U] (two syllables).
What about these words:
"cafeteria"
"librarian"
"piano"
How many syllables do you have in them? P.S. I say "veterinarian" as [vEtrInEr\i@n] (five syllables) and "piano" as [pj{n7U] (two syllables).
cafeteria [%ka.f1"tI@`.r/i.6] 5 syllables
librarian [lAI"br/E@`.r/i.n=] 4 syllables
piano [pi.E@~.n8o] syllables
I still can't believe I miscounted the syllables in 'vetrinary'. I have four anyway, and vetrinarian can have either four or five for me.
[%vE.tSv/I"nE@`.r/jIn]
[%vE.tSv/I"nE@`.r/i.In]
librarian [lAI"br/E@`.r/i.n=] 4 syllables
piano [pi.E@~.n8o] syllables
I still can't believe I miscounted the syllables in 'vetrinary'. I have four anyway, and vetrinarian can have either four or five for me.
[%vE.tSv/I"nE@`.r/jIn]
[%vE.tSv/I"nE@`.r/i.In]
I myself have:
"cafeteria" [k_hE{f@"t_hI:Rj@:] or more carefully [k_hE{f@"t_hI:Ri:@:] (4 or more carefully 5 syllables)
"librarian" [L\a:I"br\e:RjI~:n] or [M\a:I"br\e:RjI~:n] or more carefully [L\a:I"br\e:Ri:I~:n] (3 or more carefully 4 syllables)
"piano" ["p_hjE{~:no:] or more carefully [p_hi:"E{~:no:] (2 or more carefully 3 syllables)
The reason for the alternation in the number of syllables is my dialect has an optional rule that unstressed /i/ after a consonant and before another vowel will be realized as [j] (or sometimes even coalesced with the previous consonant), but in more careful speech this does not occur and rather /i/ is actually realized as [i].
"cafeteria" [k_hE{f@"t_hI:Rj@:] or more carefully [k_hE{f@"t_hI:Ri:@:] (4 or more carefully 5 syllables)
"librarian" [L\a:I"br\e:RjI~:n] or [M\a:I"br\e:RjI~:n] or more carefully [L\a:I"br\e:Ri:I~:n] (3 or more carefully 4 syllables)
"piano" ["p_hjE{~:no:] or more carefully [p_hi:"E{~:no:] (2 or more carefully 3 syllables)
The reason for the alternation in the number of syllables is my dialect has an optional rule that unstressed /i/ after a consonant and before another vowel will be realized as [j] (or sometimes even coalesced with the previous consonant), but in more careful speech this does not occur and rather /i/ is actually realized as [i].