Schedule

Josh Lalonde   Wed Mar 07, 2007 10:53 pm GMT
The OED lists [SEdju:l] (shedule) as the first pronunciation of this word. Is this common in the UK?
Jim   Wed Mar 07, 2007 11:27 pm GMT
I believe it is but I wouldn't be able to say for sure not being from there. This is how I pronounce it but there are many other Aussies who pronounce it with a /sk/.
SpaceFlight   Wed Mar 07, 2007 11:29 pm GMT
"schedule" has /sk/ here in the United States. In Commonwealth countries, "schedule" usually has /S/, which would be [SEdju:l] or [SEdZu:l]. "schedule" is trisyllabic for me, so it's /skEdZu.@l/.
SpaceFlight   Wed Mar 07, 2007 11:33 pm GMT
As Jim has just confirmed, there are Aussies who pronounce it with /sk/. I hadn't been aware of that.
Josh Lalonde   Wed Mar 07, 2007 11:47 pm GMT
Not all Commonwealth countries. Here in Canada, most people use /sk/. The /S/ pronunciation is pretty much limited to the CBC. I have three syllables in 'schedule' as well.
SpaceFlight   Wed Mar 07, 2007 11:55 pm GMT
<<Not all Commonwealth countries. Here in Canada, most people use /sk/. The /S/ pronunciation is pretty much limited to the CBC. I have three syllables in 'schedule' as well.>>

Yeah, I was aware that Canada had /sk/ for "schedule" as it's pronunciation of things tends to be closer to that used in the United States than the pronunciation used outside of North America.
Travis   Thu Mar 08, 2007 12:25 am GMT
How exactly does the CBC pronounce "schedule"? (I'm wondering in particular if they use a disyllabic or trisyllabic pronunciation, and how do they handle historical /dj/) Also, just *why* did they decide to use a pronunciation using /S/ rather than /sk/? Heh.
Travis   Thu Mar 08, 2007 12:28 am GMT
On that note, I just have to give how I pronounce "schedule", which is ["skE:dZu:M:].
Calliope   Thu Mar 08, 2007 12:44 am GMT
Both the "sk" and the "sh" version are used in the UK.
Lazar   Thu Mar 08, 2007 4:26 am GMT
I use the trisyllabic pronunciation with [sk]: ["skE.dZu.5=].

<<Is this common in the UK?>>

One really useful resource, if you want to know about pronunciation preferences in the UK, is JC Wells' survey here ( http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/survey-report-icphs.pdf ). According to him, the overwhelming preference among the {born before 1934} and {born 1934-1953} age brackets is for [S]. These age groups favor [S] over [sk] at about 90%-10%. But among the {born 1954-1973} age bracket, the preference for [S] drops to about 70%-30%. And among the {born after 1973} age group, there is a reversal, with [sk] being favored over [S] at about 65%-35%.

So although [S] is still used by a majority of UK speakers overall, [sk] is the majority pronunciation among younger people. Wells thinks that this is an example of American influence.
Josh Lalonde   Thu Mar 08, 2007 4:58 am GMT
Thanks, that's an interesting page. This is basically what I expected, though the proportion of [S] users in older generations is higher than I expected. Which pronunciation is etymologicaly older?
Gabriel   Thu Mar 08, 2007 6:33 am GMT
<<Which pronunciation is etymologicaly older?>>

From the OED (using X-SAMPA)

"The original pronunciation ["sEdju:l] continued in use long after the change in spelling; it is given in 1791 by Walker without alternative; in his second ed. (1797) he says that it is ‘too firmly fixed by custom to be altered’, though on theoretical grounds he would prefer either ["skEdju:l], favoured by Kenrick, Perry, and Buchanan, or ["SEdju:l] if we follow the French. The latter he does not seem to have known either in actual use or as recommended by any orthoepist. Smart, however, in 1836 gives ["SEdju:l] in the body of his Dictionary without alternative, although in his introduction he says that as the word is of Gr. origin the normal pronunciation would be with [sk]. Several later Dicts. recognize ["sEdju:l] as permissible, but it is doubtful whether this was really justified by usage. In England the universal pronunciation at present seems to be with [S]; in the U.S., the authority of Webster has secured general currency for [sk]."
Uriel   Thu Mar 08, 2007 6:36 am GMT
Three syllables, huh? I only give it two.
Liz   Fri Mar 09, 2007 8:44 pm GMT
I pronounce it as [SEdZu:l].
Pub Lunch   Sat Mar 10, 2007 9:13 am GMT
Schedule USED to be pronounced shed - ule in Britain but this is limited to the 'older' generation now. I'm 27 and no-one my age says it like this any longer. Sadly it is skedule all the way. I do pronounce it the traditional British way, and I do get the Mick taken out of me - but most of my generation are familiar with it. The younger ones though, unless they watch the BBC news probably never have heard it. I have a 11 year old sister, and if I say 'shedule' she looks at me oddly. laughs and then proceeds to 'correct me'. She actually thinks I am making a mistake bless her. Nothing wrong with the American pronunciation mind, but it is rather sad that yet another unique British pronunciation has all but gone. Due to a year in Oz, I can say the Aussies seem much more 'Americanised' than us and I would be surprised if any pronounced it the old BE way. Not sure about South Africa. How about the French?? Seeing as apparently they are the ones to blame for us saying it 'Shedule'. Do they, when learning English, say 'shedule' or 'skedule'??