Pronunciation of "tunes" in UK and N. America

Rick Johnson   Fri Dec 07, 2007 9:41 pm GMT
I have noticed that pronunciation varies throughout England and the USA. I personally pronounce the word as "tyoons" as the majority of English do ,whereas I would say in General American "toons" is the more common pronunciation.

On the other hand I've spent two days talking to people around Boston, Lincolnshire about "toolips" (tulips- obviously their pronunciation of "tunes" whould be "toons"). To complicate matters further Dolly Parton was on the radio while I was driving home and pronounced the word as I would "tyoons"

Out of interest where are you from and how do you pronounce the word? I'm guessing that northern states and East Anglia/Lincolnshire would predominantly say "toons". The majority of England and southern states say "tyoons".
Travis   Fri Dec 07, 2007 10:04 pm GMT
I myself have [t_j}~_^u~:nts], but this reflects underlying /tunz/ not /tju(:)nz/. The [t_j] is due to /u/, /U/, /w/, and a reduced vowel (such as /@/) followed by /r/ causing palatalization of all directly preceding coronals (as well as all clusters they are in a wholes). Note that this is not related to historical /ju/, and can occur in positions where no /j/ could ever have been present.

Also, the [}_^u] is due to the breaking of back vowels after cornonals, which is by far the most pronounced with /u/. Likewise, this is unrelated to historical /ju/ in "tunes".
Lazar   Fri Dec 07, 2007 11:37 pm GMT
I'm from Massachusetts and I pronounce it ["t_hu:nz] (no yod).

To be really precise, though, the vowel that I transcribe as [u:] is a narrow diphthong. I used to think it was [Uu], but actually I think it's more like [@\u]. But in fact, I don't think the first element is as far forward as [@\]; I think it might actually start with an unrounded version of [U] - maybe something like [U_cu].
Milton   Sat Dec 08, 2007 12:44 am GMT
IN uk, TUNES is, nowadays, pronounced like CHOONS, not like TYOONS (which is very formal-sounding to most British speakers).

In Wimbledon (tennis), they pronounce DEUCE like JUICE.
Lo   Sat Dec 08, 2007 12:45 am GMT
I say it [t}nz]
Raghav   Sat Dec 08, 2007 1:25 am GMT
I don't yod-drop, but maybe that's because my parents speak non-yod-dropping varieties.

I'm curious, how do people from England or Australia pronounce American English slang words like "dude"?
Uriel   Sat Dec 08, 2007 2:22 am GMT
I say "toons".
Lazar   Sat Dec 08, 2007 4:24 am GMT
I had been wondering about the British pronunciation of "dude" as well. The Cambridge Online Dictionary gives ["du:d], but the Longman Online Dictionary gives ["dju:d].
AJC   Sat Dec 08, 2007 10:54 am GMT
nobody says ["dju:d]. If used in Britain it would always be as a conscious Americanism and the pronunciation would always follow the American manner.
Jasper   Sat Dec 08, 2007 5:59 pm GMT
When I grew up in Eastern TN in the 60s, the pronunciation of "tunes" depended upon social class; the middle & upper classes used "tooons", while the hillbillies used "tyooons".

To this day, I find it amusing that the most uppercrust British English, viz., Received Pronunciation, pronounces "tunes" the exact same way as the rankest hillbilly. Other RP/hillbilly uses I remember--"styoopid", "tyoobe", ad nauseum.
Damian in Edinburgh   Sat Dec 08, 2007 7:06 pm GMT
I pronounce "tune" the Scottish way...ie: a non diphthongised "u" similar to the French "mur" or "sur".

Boston, Lincolnshire? I thought half the people around that area are now Polish! :-) Just imagine it - Polish people speaking English with a Yellowbelly accent!
Rick Johnson   Sun Dec 09, 2007 2:01 am GMT
<<Boston, Lincolnshire? I thought half the people around that area are now Polish!>>

Yeah, I was quite surprised when I went into the town centre, at least 1 in 3 people seems to be talking a foreign language. Apparently Boston also has the claim to fame of being the fattest city in Britain - which I can say also seems to be true!

<<When I grew up in Eastern TN in the 60s, the pronunciation of "tunes" depended upon social class; the middle & upper classes used "tooons", while the hillbillies used "tyooons".

To this day, I find it amusing that the most uppercrust British English, viz., Received Pronunciation, pronounces "tunes" the exact same way as the rankest hillbilly. Other RP/hillbilly uses I remember--"styoopid", "tyoobe", ad nauseum.>>

I guess that would explain Dolly Parton's accent- from Tennessee, and I guess something of a hillbilly.
Pub Lunch   Sun Dec 09, 2007 7:25 pm GMT
Its "choons" mate. Gor blimey, luv a duck. lol.