Do YOU pronounce Sigil with a hard or soft G?

[RedMage125]

I missed this. Let's crack on, shall we?


My current theory is that you can't tell the difference between those two sounds.

Do you think "Up" and "Apple" have the same starting sound?

If not, then I can't explain your position at all.

No, I pronounce "SCUBA" as "SKOO-bah" and not "SKOO-buh". I've been very clear on that.

OOF. Wrong.

I never called it correct. I don't use prescriptive terms to describe language. What I DID say was that no, the vast majority of people DO NOT pronounce those words that way.

You quoted him saying that, and just entirely agreed with it, while also adding a bunch of snide and condescending remarks. So that is how you were perceived. Take some responsibility for how you come across.

Your response was to insist that everyone else in the thread disagreeing with you was just objectively wrong about what sounds they were hearing.

I actually never once told anyone "you're hearing it wrong". I also can't follow any of the links anyone has been posting. I'm on an aircraft carrier right now, and my internet is limited. Amazed this site comes up, really.

But no, I only expressed amazement that others pronounce it differently, and hypothesized that it was the focus on the way the "a" transitions into the "double p" as why they were insisting that "apple" and "apparatus" are different from the end of "SCUBA". But apparently, it's because you all say "SKOO-buh", and I say "SKOO-bah".

Meanwhile, linguists developed the IPA to better *describe* the sounds people pronounce words with. The recognized IPA renderings of the words Scuba and Apple show two different sounds being made by the same letter. This is not a prescribed "this is the correct pronunciation" documentation. It is "we listened to a bunch of English speakers pronounce this word, and here is how the majority pronounce it."

At some point, someone saying patently ridiculous things without any genuine backup is just going to be a source of humor.

And someone saying contradicting things while acting superior and condescending is amusing to me.

Because I work with several minnesotans, and never have they ever requested an Apple such that the first syllable rhymed with "Up."

I'm from Michigan, not Minnesota. As I understand it, we tend to sound a lot more nasal to others. Supposedly has something to do with how humid it is in Michigan. Most of my accent has faded from 14 years in the military, but there's still a few words where it holds true.

To my friend from Virginia, I apparently still sound like I say "bolth" when I say "both".

I never labelled anything as wrong english. Far from current understanding of how the vast majority of English speakers speak? Sure.

You have, several times now, stated that the "a" at the end of SCUBA is different from the "a" at the beginning of "apple", and that anyone who disagrees with you is wrong. And you keep citing the IPA as the authority that prescribes such.

Xuc Xac is in here too, my man. Give the guy who *literally studies speech* some credit.

You do know blue text indicates sarcasm, right?

Neither, because I never claimed your accent is wrong.
In fact, this is the FIRST TIME the "it's my accent" defense has popped up. Before this, you guys told another poster that HE must be speaking a strange dialect because he pronounced it in the most common way.


That's why I never mentioned your accent. Hell, YOU didn't mention your accent until JUST NOW, as a lame attempt to paint me into a corner I'm not even standing in.

You know what else I find amusing?

In addition to being all arrogant and condescending while saying contradicting things, you've also taken to saying blatantly untrue things, while still being condescending.

You're right, this is very amusing.

Post #19, the post of mine you responded to when you first brought up SCUBA, I discuss my accent.

And when I responded, I expressed amazement that you don't pronounce it like I do. It's not a word that comes up a lot in conversation. But I definitely say "SKOO-bah" and not "SKOO-buh".

Another poster mentioned that it rhymed with "tuba". Which is funny, because I agree. I also say "TOO-bah" and not "TOO-buh".

Lemme address this, then.

Language is a game of The Majority Wins.

The way MOST people pronounce things is going to communicate accurately to the largest number of people. Saying "hor-KRUZH" isn't wrong because JK Rowling said it is. It's wrong because that's not how people pronounce it.

Now, it can be said that people pronounce it that way because Rowling said so, and that's fine. It can happen that way. But that has tangential relation to how language functions.

By that logic, "irregardless" is a word, then, because a bunch of people say it. Even though, if it was a word, it would mean the exact opposite of how they use it, since they use it as a synonym for "regardless", and the prefix "ir-" denotes negation.

I took issue not with your personal accent, but your insistence that *the entire linguistic field* was just WRONG about the different sounds in Scuba and Apple as spoken by the majority of English speakers, with no mention of you having a particular accent *at all.* Hell, you even wrote off the IPA, one of the most important tools in understanding the sounds used by ALL human languages.

And now you're putting words in my mouth.

The only, time I have mentioned the IPA was to make a beer joke.

Try again.

So please, spare me the histrionics. If YOUR accent really does have the same sound in both words, PLEASE send us some audio because that's very interesting to me, linguistically.

I wanna hear all about your Opples.

Again, I can't do something like that because I can't connect any non-authorized device into a government computer to upload in the first place, nor can I even visit sites like the ones you've been linking.

And I never said I pronounce "opples", either.

I can describe it. The second syllable of "SKOO-bah" sounds like Ebenezer Scrooge. "Bah...humbug". That make more sense?

And feel free to tone down the overwhelming condescension any time now.