I'm from Missouri and I pronounce it [aIdI@]. It's the only word where I have such a diphthong.
How do you pronounce "idea"?
I pronounce it the same way you do, except for the stress, which falls onto the second syllable, so: [aI'dI@]. I often pronounce a long(ish) and tense /i/ instead of a short lax /I/ (the latter one is standard British - I don't know much about the American pronunciation of this word).
I myself pronounce "idea" as [a:I"di:@:], always having the tense [i] rather than the lax [I]. As for North American English in general, General American also uses the tense /i/ rather than the lax /I/, and it seems that such a pronunciation is most common throughout NAE overall.
To me, the lax [I] sounds a bit weird in this word, too, even though that is theoretically the "standard" (British) pronunciation. But who speaks cut-glass RP any more!?
I might have [i] rather than [I] here [aIdi@], but it's certainly only two syllables, not three, having a diphthong that occurs in no other words.
I think the word "idea" is usually said with two and a half syllables probably.
I have the same pronunciation as the rest of you [aI"di.@]. Liz, does 'idea' rhyme with 'dear' for you?
I'm from Southern California.
I don't know how to use X-SAMPA, so I'm going to use a rather elementary system of describing my pronunciation.
ai-DEE-uh
with stress on the second "syllable"
and I put syllable in quotes because for me, it's one unstressed syllable and then a diphthong with stress on the first sound of the dipthong.
When I really think about it, it sounds like a non-rhotic form of ideer.
and I hate it when people pronounce it with an R at the end. Where the heck do you see an R, people?
I don't know how to use X-SAMPA, so I'm going to use a rather elementary system of describing my pronunciation.
ai-DEE-uh
with stress on the second "syllable"
and I put syllable in quotes because for me, it's one unstressed syllable and then a diphthong with stress on the first sound of the dipthong.
When I really think about it, it sounds like a non-rhotic form of ideer.
and I hate it when people pronounce it with an R at the end. Where the heck do you see an R, people?
<<and I put syllable in quotes because for me, it's one unstressed syllable and then a diphthong with stress on the first sound of the dipthong.
When I really think about it, it sounds like a non-rhotic form of ideer.>>
Yeah, I think it's usually pronounced with a diphthong. Pronouncing it with a full three syllables sounds odd to me.
When I really think about it, it sounds like a non-rhotic form of ideer.>>
Yeah, I think it's usually pronounced with a diphthong. Pronouncing it with a full three syllables sounds odd to me.
Guest and Michael: Do you use a similar diphthong in "theater", or do you use a fully trisyllabic pronunciation for that word?
"theater" is fully trisyllabic for me. /Di:.@4@`/ or /Di:.I4@`/. As I've said above, "idea" is the only word where I have this diphthong.
Yes, Lazar, the diphthong in "idea" is pronounced the same way as the diphthong in "theatre" for me.
Now tell me, is that typical of the Southern California dialect? Or am I just weird?
Now tell me, is that typical of the Southern California dialect? Or am I just weird?