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From: samlb@pioneer.arc.nasa.gov (Sam Bassett RCD)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: Pronunciations (was: And how do you pronounce "csh"?)
Message-ID: <3617@amelia.nas.nasa.gov>
Date: 29 Oct 89 05:27:08 GMT
References: <0400.AA0400@dcpc> <2556@munnari.oz.au>
Sender: news@amelia.nas.nasa.gov
Reply-To: samlb@pioneer.arc.nasa.gov (Sam Bassett RCD)
Followup-To: sci.lang
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Mtn Vw CA 94035
Lines: 47

In article <2556@munnari.oz.au> ok@cs.mu.oz.au (Richard O'Keefe) writes:
>In article <0400.AA0400@dcpc>, dc@dcpc.UUCP (Don Curtis) writes:
>> 	The one I want to know is how most folks pronounce "char",
>> 	I and most others pronounce it like the first part of
>> 	"character" while others pronounce it like the first
>> 	part of "charcoal"
>(The first syllable of "character" does __not__ sound like "care".)

	It may not in Australia, but in the U.S. it does -- the
syllabification is char-ac-ter, pronounced k@r ak t@r (@ = 'schwa')

>It's worth pointing out that most of the abbreviated keywords in C ('char'
>is not a UNIX command, it's a C keyword) are not the first syllables of
>their words or not a whole number of syllables of their words.
>	struc-ture

	Common U.S. pronunciation is 'strukchur'; over-careful, pedant
pronunciation is 'strukt'yuhr'.

>	in-te-ger

	Nope -- 'int-eh-g@r'

>  (type)de-fine

	I'll buy this pronunciation for 'define', but the word he was
thinking of is pronounced 'def-uh-ni-shun'.

>	ex-ter-nal

	Yup -- but I'll bet he didn't want a digraph, and so used a
trigraph.

>	e-nu-mer-ate

	Nope -- it's 'ee-noom-*rate' in the U.S.  (* sometimes a schwa).

>	con-stant

	Not in the U.S. -- the only thing we pronounce that way is
'Constantinople'.  The most common pronunciation is 'kons-tant'.


Sam'l Bassett, Sterling Software @ NASA Ames Research Center, 
Moffett Field CA 94035 Work: (415) 694-4792;  Home: (415) 969-2644
samlb@well.sf.ca.us                     samlb@ames.arc.nasa.gov 
<Disclaimer> := 'Sterling doesn't _have_ opinions -- much less NASA!'