I say "iyther... "

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David - 18 Nov 2006 21:12 GMT

It seemed to me that the split between people who pronounced "either" as
"iyther" or "eether" was about 50/50. Now it seems that everyone,
especially on radio and TV, says "eether". Why is that ?

David

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Dan S. - 19 Nov 2006 02:50 GMT

> It seemed to me that the split between people who pronounced "either" as
> "iyther" or "eether" was about 50/50. Now it seems that everyone,
> especially on radio and TV, says "eether". Why is that ?
>
> David

Uhhh ... I'll venture a guess ... because it's optional?

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Dan S.

Reporting to you from South Bend
-The first step to beating an addiction is to admit that you believe in
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Haiduc - 19 Nov 2006 08:37 GMT

> > It seemed to me that the split between people who pronounced "either" as
> > "iyther" or "eether" was about 50/50. Now it seems that everyone,
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> -The first step to beating an addiction is to admit that you believe in
> addictions.

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Dan S. - 19 Nov 2006 19:50 GMT

I can't think of what the British pronunciation might be right now, however,
here in Indiana, I use both.

I will sometimes use the "I-ther" pronunciation at the beginning of a
sentence, and use the "Eether" pronunciation after a word ending in a
consonant in the middle of a sentence.

Either way is fine, though. Whatever the case, it is at the discretion of
the speaker.

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Yours,
Dan S.

Reporting to you from South Bend
-The first step to beating an addiction is to admit that you believe in
addictions.

>> > It seemed to me that the split between people who pronounced "either"
>> > as
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>> -The first step to beating an addiction is to admit that you believe in
>> addictions.

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mike.j.harvey@gmail.com - 19 Nov 2006 20:44 GMT

> I can't think of what the British pronunciation might be right now, however,
> here in Indiana, I use both.

Here in Bristol, UK, I use both, or put another way, I might use either

:) Similarly with neither. My girlfriend says she thinks she says

eye-ther more than ee-ther but it's a close call. There doesn't seem to
be any pattern that we can spot.

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Mark Wallace - 19 Nov 2006 23:13 GMT

> I can't think of what the British pronunciation might be right now, however,
> here in Indiana, I use both.
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Either way is fine, though. Whatever the case, it is at the discretion of
> the speaker.

There's an example. I would have pronounced that "eether way is fine",
at the beginning of a sentence -- but I would say "eyther A or B" at the
beginning of a sentence.

But let's not start inventing rules, eh?

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John Varela - 20 Nov 2006 17:53 GMT

> Either way is fine, though. Whatever the case, it is at the discretion of
> the speaker.

I have always and only said "eether". "Iyther" sounds phony and pretentious
to my ear, like using a broad "a" vowel in "aunt" or "vase". Unless, of
course, the speaker is non-US.

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John "M is M is not M" Varela
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Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2006

I say "iyther... "