How do you pronounce "library"? I pronounce it "lie-brerry".
"library"
I pronounce it the same as you; but to be clear, I put the stress on the first syllable; [ˈlaɪˌbɹɛɹi].
And in light of the "fairy-ferry" discussion, I'll clarify that in my dialect, "library" rhymes with "ferry" and not with "fairy". ;-)
And in light of the "fairy-ferry" discussion, I'll clarify that in my dialect, "library" rhymes with "ferry" and not with "fairy". ;-)
I myself pronounce it [ˈlaɪbɹəɹi], with the risk of having it sometimes reduced to [ˈlaɪbɹi] in rapid speech.
I myself for the record pronounce "library" as ["L\a:Ibr\e:Ri:] (or with [M\] rather than [L\] and or with [bR] instead of [br\]).
>>And in light of the "fairy-ferry" discussion, I'll clarify that in my dialect, "library" rhymes with "ferry" and not with "fairy". ;-) <<
That surprises me, as I myself would expect it to have historically had [e:r\] (and thus in your case [E@`] here) from the shifting of Late Middle English [a:] to [e:] (via [E:]).
>>And in light of the "fairy-ferry" discussion, I'll clarify that in my dialect, "library" rhymes with "ferry" and not with "fairy". ;-) <<
That surprises me, as I myself would expect it to have historically had [e:r\] (and thus in your case [E@`] here) from the shifting of Late Middle English [a:] to [e:] (via [E:]).
<<That surprises me, as I myself would expect it to have historically had [e:r\] (and thus in your case [E@`] here) from the shifting of Late Middle English [a:] to [e:] (via [E:]).>>
Yeah, it is unexpected from the orthography, but the adjectival ending "-ary" is always [Er\i] in my dialect. It's just a weird anomaly. (Perhaps my dialect went through a stage in which the "-ary" got reduced to [@`i] or [@r\i], British-style, and confusion arose when the full vowel was reconstructed.)
Yeah, it is unexpected from the orthography, but the adjectival ending "-ary" is always [Er\i] in my dialect. It's just a weird anomaly. (Perhaps my dialect went through a stage in which the "-ary" got reduced to [@`i] or [@r\i], British-style, and confusion arose when the full vowel was reconstructed.)
I also say /'lai.br?.ri/ with a secondary accent on the "brerry" (which rhymes with "ferry" despite being spelled with an "a"). [I am the same "Guest" from the fun ferry-fairy thing.]
Sometimes, when talking fast, I say /'lai.br.i/ with a syllabic "r", which seems to imply /'laibr?ri/, like Gabriel's pronunciation, and kind of like /'t?m.pr.t?r/ for /'t?m.pr?.t?r/ "temperature".
I have also heard /'lai.b?.ri/ (again with a secondary accent on the "berry"), mostly from black Americans, and /'laibr?r?/ from snooty English people in the movies. ;)
Sometimes, when talking fast, I say /'lai.br.i/ with a syllabic "r", which seems to imply /'laibr?ri/, like Gabriel's pronunciation, and kind of like /'t?m.pr.t?r/ for /'t?m.pr?.t?r/ "temperature".
I have also heard /'lai.b?.ri/ (again with a secondary accent on the "berry"), mostly from black Americans, and /'laibr?r?/ from snooty English people in the movies. ;)
Sadly my IPA looks like question marks. :(
/'laI.brE.ri/
/'laI.br.i/
/'laI.br@.ri/
/'tEm.pr.tSr/
/'tEm.pr@.tSr/
/'laI.bE.ri/
/'laI.br@.rI/
/'laI.brE.ri/
/'laI.br.i/
/'laI.br@.ri/
/'tEm.pr.tSr/
/'tEm.pr@.tSr/
/'laI.bE.ri/
/'laI.br@.rI/
Can it be said "lai-bree"? Sorry I don't understand phonetic alphabet.
<<Can it be said "lai-bree"?>>
If you're learning British English, definitely. The Cambridge Online Dictionary lists this pronunciation.
If you're learning American English, though, I think you'd be better to go with "brerry", rather than "bree", on the end.
If you're learning British English, definitely. The Cambridge Online Dictionary lists this pronunciation.
If you're learning American English, though, I think you'd be better to go with "brerry", rather than "bree", on the end.
/lAe.bri/ i.e. "lai-bree"/"lie-bri" i.e. same as in British English (except with an Aussie accent).
If you're learning British English, Aussie English, Kiwi English, Irish English ..., go with the two-syllable version.
If you're learning North American English, go with the three syllable version.
If you're just learning English, I s'pose you take your pick.
If you're learning British English, Aussie English, Kiwi English, Irish English ..., go with the two-syllable version.
If you're learning North American English, go with the three syllable version.
If you're just learning English, I s'pose you take your pick.