I've come to the conclusion

[conuly]

that given how much time I spend in my pajamas, it's time to dramatically increase my budget for those.

Also, I miss the days of Sandra Boynton and snuggles :(

_{Jamma jamma jamma jamma P! J! It's pajama time!}

Poll #19821

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 112

View Respondents

How do you pronounce the second a in pajama?

View Answers

The vowel as in hot, /a/
48 (43.2%)

The vowel as in hat and ham, /æ/
39 (35.1%)

To me, hat and ham do not have the same vowel, and I use the one in ham
7 (6.3%)

Other
17 (15.3%)

Which term are you likely to use in speech?

View Answers

Pajamas
81 (72.3%)

Jammies
23 (20.5%)

PJs
28 (25.0%)

Other
16 (14.3%)

I wouldn't use any term for this garment
3 (2.7%)

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Comments

[cosmolinguist]

No one here says jammies. My dad does and I miss it now. :)

[miss_s_b]

You do occasionally get Jammers

[miss_s_b]

I'm British. They're PYJAMAS.

[conuly]

*gasp*

YOU TAKE THAT BACK!

[cloudsinvenice]

Haha, I was just coming here to say this!

I have never thought so much about what words we use for these as this week; you notice it constantly when the nurses are asking if you want your jammies on instead of a hospital gown, or where the clean ones are, etc. etc!

(Current pyjamas: pale blue with little anchors on them. I'd like to say it's a nod to Black Sails, but my mum bought them for me and knows nothing of my fixation.)

[gingicat]

I have said PJs or jammies, but it’s not my default.

[gingicat]

Thanks for the complex math link. I need to chew over that for a bit.

[jesuswasbatman]

British English has the second a as "ah".

[shehasathree]

In my variety of Australian English, 'hat' and 'ham' have a similar-sounding vowel (although the vowel in 'ham' is longer). The vowel in 'pajamas' is more like the vowel in..."Amish".

[alias_sqbr]

This Australian pronounces it "uh" as in "up".

[conuly]

Puh-juh-muh?

[pebblerocker]

Ooh ooh, did you also read the question as asking about the LAST A? Because even though it was spelt "pajama" right there, I think of pyjama as a word with two As and was looking at the second one as I spell it. And so all the poll choices looked very weird, not only because of the weirdness of US English completely lacking a short O sound, but because schwa wasn't an option.

[fred_mouse]

I'm with the other Australians, although I was thinking it was more like jar. (I'd say 'dance', except there are two standard Australian pronunciations of that...)

[conuly]

Is that jar rhotic or nonrhotic?

[dark_phoenix54]

I sat here trying to figure out how I say the 'a' too long, and now I can't say 'pajama' at all.

[conuly]

:(

[archangelbeth]

SAME.

(Well, I realized that I sometimes use the A-In-Ham, if I'm somehow remembering a commercial for Bananas in Pajamas, where the vowels must match...)

[jesse_the_k]

p{a|y}jamas to me are "house clothes," which vary in thickness depending on the exterior weather. (I sleep naked except for thick wool socks.)

Which reminds me of another question: if you sleep naked, what do you wear to eat breakfast?

[larryhammer]

Bathrobe, duh.

[spikethemuffin]

"A" as in "father," "waffles," or "awe." Longer than the short "o." In my family we call them "jimjams" without (much) shame or irony, and my daughter and I have a tradition of gifting each other pajama pants (my current favorite are the Avengers ones, hers are the microplush Hogwarts crests).

[conuly]

Interesting. Do you say the words "cot" and "caught" the same?

[greghousesgf]

I've never knitted or retiled a bathroom in my life and although I'm a very good cook I can't time everything so it all gets finished cooking at the same time.

[rhoda_rants]

I say "night clothes," but now I'm wondering if that's even a thing outside of House Nightingale. Hm....

[mama_kestrel]

No, that's what I've used all my adult life. I don't remember where I picked it up, though. Not at home; both my parents were "pajama" people, pronounced "p'jah-mah".

[konsectatrix]

Pajamas, PJs (infrequently), and many times I lose the first syllable and it comes out 'jamas. I counted it as another word.

[mindstalk]

The citrus thing is similar to fruit walls: http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/12/fruit-walls-urban-farming.html
also http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/12/reinventing-the-greenhouse.html

"Giardini Panteschi may have provided the only source of vitamin C on the island."

...given the prevalence of C in leafy greens, I am skeptical. It is hard to get scurvy on a diet of fresh food, unless you eat nothing but grain, maybe.

[conuly]

That is so not the point of the article. Did you see the part where they leave just a tiny entrance to crawl in? Or where one tree takes over the entire space, sprout by sprout?

[pauamma]

Re pajamas/pyjamas, depends on whether I'm speaking English or French.

[siderea]

The vowel as in hot, /a/

Wait, what? Is the vowel in "hot", as you pronounce it, the same as the vowel in the first syllable of "homonym"?

To me, the word "ham", the first syllable of "hamentaschen", and the syllable "hom" are all different. The second a in pajama is like the first vowel in "hamentaschen".

[conuly]

That's quite the conglomeration of sample words. I'm not sure if I pronounce "hamentaschen" the way one is supposed to - I've seen it written much more than I've heard it spoken.

But to answer your initial question, yes, they're both /a/ in my idiolect.