February

Do you think that not pronouncing the first ''r'' in the ''February'' is pronouncing ''February'' incorrectly? Let's take a vote.

I pronounce ''February'' as ''Feb-ryoo-ary''.

Do you think that pronouncing knife without the 'k' is incorrect? Let's take a vote.

I pronounce "knife" as "k-nife"

Just to verify, that person going by the name ''Freemason'' is not me. Anyway, do you think that not pronouncing the first ''r'' in the ''February'' is pronouncing ''February'' incorrectly? Let's take a vote.

I pronounce ''February'' as ''Feb-ryoo-ary''.

My vote is that, yes, it is incorrect.

Febrooary sounds better to me but I am not dogmatic about it.

Febr..ry or Feby..ry (ignoring the vowels in the second syllable)

Well, the /../ schwa is an unstressed vowel.

Mi5 Mick wrote:
<<Febr..ry or Feby..ry (ignoring the vowels in the second syllable)>>
<<Well, the /../ schwa is an unstressed vowel.>>

This is an interesting admission. To me it still sounds like the [u:] vowel, only shorter and yet you claim it's a schwa.

Me too: a short /u:/.

/febju(:)ri(:)/

Am I incorrect to pronounce it this way? I vote "No."

Quote-''Me too: a short /u:/.''

''/febju(:)ri(:)/''

Am I incorrect to pronounce it this way? I vote "No."

I vote yes, The correct pronunciation is ''feb-ryoo-ary''?

It's a short [ju:] sound for me as well.

Dictionary.com has the two variations.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=february

Are non-rhotic speakers wrong in not pronouncing some of the "r's" in words?

Non-rhotic accents sound sloppy to me. I'm glad that r-dropping is not common in Scotland. In Scotland we continue to pronounce those r's.

>>This is an interesting admission. To me it still sounds like the [u:] vowel, only shorter and yet you claim it's a schwa.<<

No claim... it's my pronunciation. Many of my teachers (all natives) at the numerous schools I went to (Victoria, NSW, Queensland) pronounced it this way: /febr..ri/ -- no [u:].

Rhotic accents sound clumsy and cumbersome to me :)

M15 Mick, What about ''January''? How do you pronounce ''January''? I say ''Jan-yoo-ary''.

''Rhotic accents sound clumsy and cumbersome to me :)''

That's because you like to speak lazily. Pronouncing ''barber'' as ''ba-buh'' is lazy. Pronounce it [ba:rb..r] and you won't be so lazy.