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Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2006Correct pronunciation of "Iron"?
I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" However, is "i-run" incorrect? It is not that common, but does that mean it is an incorrect pronunciation? Thanks! > I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" > > However, is "i-run" incorrect? It is not that common, but does that > mean it is an incorrect pronunciation? I'd say it's incorrect. M-W only gives /aIRn/.  SignatureBuckwheat Soba (Nom) a écrit : >> I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" >> >> However, is "i-run" incorrect? It is not that common, but does that >> mean it is an incorrect pronunciation? > > I'd say it's incorrect. M-W only gives /aIRn/. Hachette Oxford : iron / "aI@n, US "aI@rn / > I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" > > However, is "i-run" incorrect? It is not that common, but does that > mean it is an incorrect pronunciation? > > Thanks! What's odd is irony is ai rn ee while ironic is I ron ic. go figure Ray O'Hara filted: >> I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" >> >> However, is "i-run" incorrect? It is not that common, but does that >> mean it is an incorrect pronunciation? > > What's odd is irony is ai rn ee while ironic is I ron ic. go figure Odd?...it's downright homologous....r Signature"Keep your eye on the Bishop. I want to know when he makes his move", said the Inspector, obliquely. >>I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" >> [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > What's odd is irony is ai rn ee while ironic is I ron ic. go figure Not for non-rhotics. "Irony" is "eye ron ee". SignatureRob Bannister > I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" > > However, is "i-run" incorrect? It is not that common, but does that > mean it is an incorrect pronunciation? In my experince you will find that those living in England (esp the Yorkshire / Lancashire) will pronounce it as "eye-yon", but this is one of those words that seems to vary from place to place. Newcastle and the Tyne area they often say "eye-yearn". Non-native English speakers nearly always pronounce it "eye-ron". To contradict this, I have also heard the occasional native Englishmen in the South of England (London, Biggleswade, and on up to Cambridge) saying "eye-ron" when they are trying to "put in airs and graces". But then again, the average Cambridgite will drink out of a "capp", and take the "bass" to travel to work, so you cannot really include them. > > I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" > > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > the average Cambridgite will drink out of a "capp", and take the "bass" to > travel to work, so you cannot really include them. I remember that Arthur Scargill used the "eye-ron" pronunciation (and he may still do so, for all I know). Regards, Arfur >> > I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" >I remember that Arthur Scargill used the "eye-ron" pronunciation (and >he may still do so, for all I know). Did he? I'm a bit surprised, because I always found the odd thing about Arthur Scargill's speech was that, despite his acute class-consciousness, his accent was (oops, I mean "is" -- hey, where is that crazy candy-floss-combovered cat at?) actually less broad than that of fellow Barnsleyite Michael Parkinson. SignatureMillicent Tendency (TEFKATHE) > > I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" > > > > However, is "i-run" incorrect? It is not that common, but does that > > mean it is an incorrect pronunciation? I'd say so, and I'd extend it to "environ(ment)". /Pace/ Landor: Weep Venus, and ye Adorable Three Who Venus for ever environ. Pounds shillings and pence And shrewd sober sense Have clapt the strait waistcoat on * * * <http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC03573833&id=WkaMyM0PslAC&pg=PA326&lpg=PA32 6&dq=%22Weep+Venus+and+ye%22> or <http://preview.tinyurl.com/yd26dd>. As Pound said, "Asterisks left by the author and concealing nothing." Obaue: Note the straightforward approach to the serial-comma question. Note also the lack of comma between the imperative and the person commanded, as in the correct interpretation of "Jingle Bells". > In my experince you will find that those living in England (esp the > Yorkshire / Lancashire) will pronounce it as "eye-yon", but this is one of [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > the South of England (London, Biggleswade, and on up to Cambridge) saying > "eye-ron" when they are trying to "put in airs and graces". Does "airs and graces" include singing? "Let tyrants shake their iron rod." "Between the iron gates of fate, /The seeds of time were sown." Etc. Even Web sites--nay, even Wikipedia articles--will not convince me that there's a place called "Biggleswade". > But then again, > the average Cambridgite will drink out of a "capp", and take the "bass" to > travel to work, so you cannot really include them. Aha! Buckwheat Soba says some English people pronounce "cup" almost as "cap", I agree, and now you corroborate it. SignatureJerry Friedman > the average Cambridgite will drink out of a "capp", and take the "bass" to > travel to work, so you cannot really include them. Cantabrigian, innit? --Jeff SignatureOften war is waged only in order to show valor; thus an inner dignity is ascribed to war itself, and even some philosophers have praised it as an ennoblement of humanity, forgetting the pronouncement of the Greek who said, "War is an evil in as much as it produces more wicked men than it takes away." --Immanuel Kant > I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" > > However, is "i-run" incorrect? It is not that common, but does that > mean it is an incorrect pronunciation? Pronouncing the r is certainly unusual in native speakers in everyday conversation (though I think it occurs in some Scottish forms of English), but I don't think it can be called wrong. In chemistry there are some people (a minority, to be sure) who feel it important to disambiguate between "iron" and "ion" and systematically pronounce the r in "iron". On rare occasions I've probably done this myself in contexts where both iron and ions were at issue. Even then, though, it is not usually a problem, because when one wants to talk about iron ions one usually wants to make it clear which sort of iron one is talking about, so nearly always one would say "ferric ion" or "ferrous ion". athel We are asked: > > I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" > > > > However, is "i-run" incorrect? ... Athel C.B. writes: > Pronouncing the r ... Hold on, both pronunciations have an R in them, unless you're nonrhotic. By "pronouncing the R", I take it you mean something like the original poster's "i-run"? > is certainly unusual in native speakers in everyday > conversation (though I think it occurs in some Scottish forms of > English), but I don't think it can be called wrong. It's wrong as far as I'm concerned. SignatureMark Brader, Toronto | "What Europe needs is a fresh, unused mind." msb@vex.net | -- Foreign Correspondent > We are asked: > > > I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > By "pronouncing the R", I take it you mean something like the original > poster's "i-run"? OK, you're right that there is an r in "i-yern", but never in my life have I heard anyone, whether rhotic or not, pronounce that r rhotically -- I took it to be a non-rhotic person's way of representing the schwa sound that in BrE is usually written "er" and in AmE as "uh" (and "er" doubtless looks as weird to AmE speakers as "uh" does to BrE speakers). So yes, by pronouncing the r I do indeed mean pronouncing the r in the place where it occurs in the word as normally spelt. a. > > We are asked: [firebird <helluvanengineer@gmail.com>] > > > > I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" > > > > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > OK, you're right that there is an r in "i-yern", but never in my life > have I heard anyone, whether rhotic or not, pronounce that r rhotically I think "i-yern" is a remarkable good spelling of the way I pronounce the word -- rhotically -- and many other Americans, too. Maybe there's not much of a Y in there -- it's almost identical to "I earn" (rhotic). Not "i-un". > -- I took it to be a non-rhotic person's way of representing the schwa > sound that in BrE is usually written "er" and in AmE as "uh" (and "er" > doubtless looks as weird to AmE speakers as "uh" does to BrE speakers). > So yes, by pronouncing the r I do indeed mean pronouncing the r in the > place where it occurs in the word as normally spelt. SignatureBest -- Donna Richoux An American living in the Netherlands The Mark Brader entity posted thusly: >We are asked: >> > I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > >It's wrong as far as I'm concerned. Depends on how many folks, use it, innit? I had never heard the eye-run pronunciation until I moved to Saskatchewan. It's very common here, and doesn't raise an eyebrow. >I had never heard the eye-run pronunciation until I moved to >Saskatchewan. It's very common here, and doesn't raise an eyebrow. It is the pronunciation used by Magnus Magnusson (stress on the middle syllable, I am told) who used to be a British broadcast media man (perhaps he still is); our Magnus was born Icelandic but raised in Edinburgh. Perhaps he has the literal rhoticism of Morrrdorrr. SignaturePaul In bocca al Lupo! >> I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" >> [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >conversation (though I think it occurs in some Scottish forms of >English), but I don't think it can be called wrong. I grew up in Yorkshire saying "eye-un", but somewhere along the line in my migration southwards I've gained an intermittent "r" and now sometimes catch myself saying "ire-un". >In chemistry there >are some people (a minority, to be sure) who feel it important to >disambiguate between "iron" and "ion" and systematically pronounce the >r in "iron". Really? They don't sound remotely similar to me - "eye-un" versus "eye-On". What final sound are we talking about here, if they're becoming confused? Cheers - Ian (BrE: Yorks., Notts., Hants.) >Ian Noble wrote the following words of wisdom: > > I grew up in Yorkshire saying "eye-un", but somewhere along the line > in my migration southwards I've gained an intermittent "r" and now > sometimes catch myself saying "ire-un". Do you pronounce that "Eye-ann", "Eeee-ann", or "Eeee-ran"? >>Ian Noble wrote the following words of wisdom: >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >Do you pronounce that "Eye-ann", "Eeee-ann", or "Eeee-ran"? "That". How else? Regards - Ian > I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" > > However, is "i-run" incorrect? It is not that common, but does that > mean it is an incorrect pronunciation? > > Thanks! FWIW uk chemists will often say eye-ron, simply to avoid confusion with ion, especially when talking of iron ions (IYSWIM) Derek Turner filted: >> I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >FWIW uk chemists will often say eye-ron, simply to avoid confusion with >ion, especially when talking of iron ions (IYSWIM) In my experience, chemists seldom speak of "iron ions" at all...they talk of "ferric" and "ferrous" ions....r Signature"Keep your eye on the Bishop. I want to know when he makes his move", said the Inspector, obliquely. > Derek Turner filted: >>> I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > In my experience, chemists seldom speak of "iron ions" at all...they talk of > "ferric" and "ferrous" ions....r Can't argue with your experience, but 'modern' chemistry in the UK (Nuffield science project, 1965 on) preferred Fe^2+ 'iron two' and Fe^3+ 'iron three'. May well have changed back by now though as I've been out of academic chemistry for 20 years now. > I believe the most common way to pronounce "Iron" is: "i-yern" > > However, is "i-run" incorrect? It is not that common, but does that > mean it is an incorrect pronunciation? I've not encountered that pronunciation. I have heard something pretty close to "arn". For example, down around Arn County, Missourah. Brian SignatureIf televison's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who won't shut up. -- Dorothy Gambrell (http://catandgirl.com) I'm sure all Scots are familiar with the drink Irn Bru. The Irn in Irn Bru is of course pronounced /aIrn/ in Scotland. I believe the drink is also available south of the border. Would non-rhotic speakers also try to approximate a Scottish pronunciation? Peter > I'm sure all Scots are familiar with the drink Irn Bru. The Irn in Irn > Bru is of course pronounced /aIrn/ in Scotland. I believe the drink is > also available south of the border. Would non-rhotic speakers also try > to approximate a Scottish pronunciation? I can't speak for all non-rhotic speakers, but I don't try to approximate the Scottish pronunciation. I pronounce it as though it were spelt 'iron'. Amethyst Deceiver <spam@lindsayendell.co.uk> had it: > > I'm sure all Scots are familiar with the drink Irn Bru. The Irn in Irn > > Bru is of course pronounced /aIrn/ in Scotland. I believe the drink is [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > approximate the Scottish pronunciation. I pronounce it as though it were > spelt 'iron'. There is a slightly patronising habit in my family that we say Irn Bru with a Scottish accent when in Scotland, but not in front of any real Scottish people. SignatureDavid ===== |
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