Actual conversation today:

[conuly]

Ana was doing her TH worksheet. Due to somebody's bad choice, the hardest word (thermometer) was the one without a picture. Seriously? They couldn't've put "thumb" there instead? (I suppose thermometer follows the rules better than thumb with that silent b, but it's long and intimidating.)

Ana diligently divided it up into syllables and sounded it out. THER MO MEEE TER.

Me: Thermometer, honey.
Ana: But why is there a METER in it?
Me: Uh... because it's an unstressed syllable and in English unstressed syllables reduce to a schwa*.
Ana: Oh.

I hope I didn't go too far over her head, but like my mother always says, 10% sticks. (Eventually.)





*Actually, the way I say it, it's more like a schwi. YES THAT'S A REAL WORD.

Comments

schwi

[pne]

a schwi. YES THAT'S A REAL WORD.

Yes, and a useful one, too.

For example, "Rosa's", "abbot", and "Lennon" have a schwa in the last syllable, while "roses", "rabbit", and "Lenin" have a schwi there, at least for me.

Re: schwi

[pne]

And I think that the first sound in "exist", "example", and "emergency" might also be one.

Re: schwi

[conuly]

Not to me.

To me the sound in Roses sounds a lot like (though it isn't exactly) the sound in pit. The first sound in exist and example sounds like the sound in pet. And I either say eeemergency and uhmergency, so that's not right either.

Of course, now I'm trying to say these words without getting an observer effect. DAMN YOU!

Re: schwi

[pne]

The first sound in exist and example sounds like the sound in pet.

I used to think that was the case for me, too, until I saw a pronunciation guide that spelled it with "i-as-in-pit".

And I tried pronouncing those words and found that they were right; what I thought I said was presumably influenced by the spelling but I think I do say it like "pit", not like "pet".

Similarly with, say, "extremely" (sounds like "ikstreemli", not like "X-treemli", to me).

But "exorcism" has the "pet" sound, presumably because then the vowel is stressed, so it doesn't get reduced to schwi.

Re: schwi

[conuly]

Well, it's impossible for me to tell right now, I'm thinking too much about it. I'll try again in a bit.

[leora.livejournal.com]

Most people say kilometer much like thermometer, but I do sometimes hear it as kilo meter more like millimeter, nanometer, centimeter, etc. And sometimes I mess up kilometer just because I'm so immersed in the pattern of metric. I'm basically okay with thermometer pronounced either way. I view the whole thing as weird, personally.

[sporks5000.livejournal.com]

I would have argued that the meter is in it because the word comes from the words "thermo" meaning "temperature" and "meter" meaning "to measure"...

but that doesn't make your answer any less correct...

[conuly]

But that would not have answered the question she was asking, which (stripped of how she said it) was "Why don't I make this a long e here?"

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

I know of "schwa," but what does "schwi" sound like?

[conuly]

Instead of kinda like the vowel in cut it's kinda like the vowel in kit.

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

Oh, neat. ...I don't pronounce "thermometer" with either sound, actually. I say that middle "e" like the "e" in "let" or "bet."