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Re: Ordinarily, temporarily, momentarily



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Re: Ordinarily, temporarily, momentarily

Charles Lindsey18 Dec 2008 11:14
>I am somewhat confused about the proper British pronunciation of words
>like "ordinarily", "temporarily", and "momentarily".

>As I understand it, in British pronunciation the adjectives
>"ordinary", "temporary", and "momentary" all have a silent "a",
>whereas Americans not only pronounce the "a", but have a secondary
>stress on that letter.

Well this English speaker usually pronounces the 'a' in the adjectives,
but without emphasis on it.

But I think it should _always_ be pronounced in the adverbs, simply because
it is almost impossible to pronounce it otherwise.

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ct17 Dec 2008 13:54
I am somewhat confused about the proper British pronunciation of words
like "ordinarily", "temporarily", and "momentarily".

As I understand it, in British pronunciation the adjectives
"ordinary", "temporary", and "momentary" all have a silent "a",
whereas Americans not only pronounce the "a", but have a secondary
stress on that letter.

But what happens when you turn the adjectives into adverbs? According
to my dictionary, the proper British pronunciation is still to have a
silent "a" in "ordinarily", "temporarily", and "momentarily" and
pronounce them all with the stress on the first syllable. However, my
feeling is that many British speakers use the American pronunciation
and stress the "a" in these words.

What is common and what is considered correct British?

--
Claus

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