How do you pronounce "palm"

Guest   Mon Dec 25, 2006 7:28 pm GMT
With the "l" or without? Is it a regional or idiolectal thing?
myself   Mon Dec 25, 2006 7:59 pm GMT
paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam

That's it.
Bye. myself.
Lazar   Mon Dec 25, 2006 8:29 pm GMT
I pronounce it without the "L" - in other words, as ["p_hAm].

<<Is it a regional or idiolectal thing?>>

Maybe a little of both. ;-) Just from my own observation, if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that the with-L pronunciation might be more common in the Midwest than, say, up here in the Northeast.
Pete   Mon Dec 25, 2006 11:58 pm GMT
Oh is that so? I thought every English speaker pronounced it with a mute L. So if I pronounce the "L", would that be allright then??

Pete
User   Tue Dec 26, 2006 12:07 am GMT
>> Oh is that so? I thought every English speaker pronounced it with a mute L. So if I pronounce the "L", would that be allright then?? <<

I certainly pronounce it with the "l". That's the predominant pronunciation in the Northwest. I associate the l-less pronunciation with Southwesterners.
Pete   Tue Dec 26, 2006 2:27 am GMT
<<I associate the l-less pronunciation with Southwesterners.>>

So, there are places in America where they do pronounce the "l" in "palm". Well I didn't know that. Anyway now... I don't think I have heard people from other speaking countries pronounce the "l"... So I guess this might be a characteristic of some North American accents only... Please correct me if I'm wrong...

Pete from Peru
User   Tue Dec 26, 2006 3:29 am GMT
>> So I guess this might be a characteristic of some North American accents only... Please correct me if I'm wrong...

Pete from Peru <<

Yeah, who knows, knowing how these things go, I'll probably be the odd person out--probably every other region in North America pronounces it without the "l". It never ceases to amaze me how the Northwest accent seems to differ from the rest of the country so markedly in the pronunciation of so many of the commonest words, but lacks a chain vowel shift, or other unusual phenomenon that other dialects seem to have like the Northern accent or the Southwestern accent.
Travis   Tue Dec 26, 2006 4:57 am GMT
I myself generally say [p_hQ:U~m] unless I am speaking carefully, where then I say [p_hQ:L\m]. However, such is really a spelling pronunciation, the form actually typical of my dialect being [p_ha~:m].
Human   Tue Dec 26, 2006 9:36 pm GMT
I pronounce it "parm". I'm from London by the way.
Guest   Tue Dec 26, 2006 9:54 pm GMT
>> I pronounce it "parm". I'm from London by the way. <<
Hmm. Why do you change the "l" to an "r"? Are you Japanese or something?
Jérémy   Tue Dec 26, 2006 9:56 pm GMT
Anyway "palm" and "parm" are pronounced the same : [pa:m] (sorry, no phonetic symbols here). Except if you do pronounce the "r".
Guest   Tue Dec 26, 2006 10:49 pm GMT
>> Anyway "palm" and "parm" are pronounced the same : [pa:m] (sorry, no phonetic symbols here). Except if you do pronounce the "r". <<

Ah I see. Yeah, "parm" for "palm" sounds pretty horrible if you add a nice ol' rhotic r to it.
haitt.hhtb   Wed Dec 27, 2006 6:54 am GMT
may i learn english with you
James   Wed Dec 27, 2006 7:44 am GMT
I grew up in Chicago pronouncing "palm" with the 'L', but eventually dropped it after I was told that it was incorrect--a "spelling pronounciation." Same thing with the word "almond." The American dictionaries I've seen show the pronunciation without "L" as either the only choice, or as the first choice.
Travis   Wed Dec 27, 2006 10:35 am GMT
>>I grew up in Chicago pronouncing "palm" with the 'L', but eventually dropped it after I was told that it was incorrect--a "spelling pronounciation." Same thing with the word "almond." The American dictionaries I've seen show the pronunciation without "L" as either the only choice, or as the first choice.<<

The spelling pronunciation form ["Q:U~mI~:nd] is used for "almond" here, unlike "palm" where the non-spelling pronunciation form is most prevalent here.