Top five alternative pronunciation bugbears in English

When I tell someone I’m a pronunciation linguist in the BBC Pronunciation Unit, I can usually expect an airing of all their pronunciation bugbears.

Our job in the Pronunciation Unit is to research the pronunciation of any word, name or phrase in any language, for use by BBC journalists and broadcasters. We have to be prepared to check pronunciations in languages as diverse as Latin, Arabic, Welsh and Tibetan at a moment’s notice.

Most of the work involves researching the names of people, places, companies, political groups, and musical, scientific or other specialist terms. But we’re also asked about the pronunciation of contentious English words.

It’s not our bread-and-butter but we offer guidance when there are two or more competing pronunciations - think ‘scone’ or ‘schedule’ - or when a particular pronunciation might be preferred depending on the context - think ‘mall’ (Pall Mall versus shopping mall) or ‘encephalitis’ (medical versus general usage).

English is a language where a word can be acceptably pronounced in more than one way, so it is understandable that alternative pronunciations can provoke strong opinions.

Here is my list of the commonest alternative pronunciation queries raised by members of the public:

1. The letter ‘H’: AYTCH or HAYTCH?

AYTCH is regarded as the standard pronunciation of the letter ‘H’ in British English and this is what we would normally explain to broadcasters.

HAYTCH is an emerging pronunciation, particularly among younger speakers.

My colleague Jo Kim has summarised the issue here, alongside comments from readers.

2. Colombia: kuh-LUM-bi-uh or kuh-LOM-bi-uh?

As a bilingual speaker of Latin American Spanish, you might expect me to be unambiguous in favouring kuh-LOM-bi-uh (or, better still, kol-OM-bi-uh, which is closer to the Spanish pronunciation).

But I often hear other bilinguals saying kuh-LUM-bi-uh in English. What’s more, specialist pronunciation dictionaries list kuh-LUM-bi-uh as an attested British English variant.

I’ve often wondered where the kuh-LUM-bi-uh pronunciation originated: perhaps it has something to do with ‘Columbia pictures’, ‘Columbia University’ or ‘Christopher Columbus’? Certainly, in American English, kuh-LUM-bi-uh appears to be the most established pronunciation.

What is certain is that the pronunciation of place names can change over time, and during the period when the change is taking place more than one pronunciation can be widely heard.

3. Lieutenant: lef-TEN-uhnt or loo-TEN-uhnt?

In British English, the pronunciation is either lef-TEN-uhnt or luhf-TEN-uhnt (see first syllable in each case). The pronunciation loo-TEN-uhnt reflects an American English pronunciation.

For further information, there is an interesting paragraph in the Oxford English Dictionary entry about the numerous historical forms and pronunciations of this word.

4. Kilometre: KIL-uh-mee-tuhr or kil-OM-uh-tuhr?

The traditional pronunciation of ‘kilometre’ is with the stress on the first syllable, in keeping with other units of measurement such as MILLimetre, CENtimetre and MILLilitre. 

However, it's undeniable that the pronunciation kiLOMetre, stressing the second syllable, probably influenced by the stress pattern in instruments of measurement such as therMOMeter, speeDOMeter or pedometer, is also common and becoming more widespread.

5. Machynlleth: muh-KHUN-hleth or muh-KUN-hleth?

The pronunciation of Machynlleth undoubtedly presents a difficulty for non-Welsh speakers.

We recommend muh-KHUN-hluhth (-kh as in Scottish loch, -u as in bun, -hl as in Welsh llan).

This is slightly anglicised: in Welsh the initial ‘a’ is closer to ‘-a as in hat’ and the ‘e’ closer to ‘-e as in get’: makh-UN-hleth.

The pronunciation muh-KUN-hluhth (-k as in king) is also attested as a British English variant pronunciation.

For anyone interested in phonetics, the ‘ll’ sound in Welsh is usually described as a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative. The use by native Welsh speakers of a voiceless palatal fricative (as in German ‘ich’) is a variant pronunciation of ‘ll’.

A common misconception is that it’s pronounced as ‘kh’ in Scottish ‘loch’ or even as ‘thl’ as in ‘athlete’.

Here’s how to learn how to pronounce ‘ll’ in Welsh: put your tongue in the position of ‘l’ and then gently breathe out. You should feel a bit of air over the side/s of your tongue.

It’s a bit like saying ‘h’ and ‘l’ simultaneously, except that the ‘l’ is not voiced. 

Of course, mastering this sound on its own is one thing; it is quite another to make it sound effortless in the middle of a live broadcast.

The BBC Pronunciation Unit’s service is part of Information and Archives and is available exclusively to BBC broadcasters and programme-makers. The pronunciations discussed are represented using BBC text spelling.