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Hamburger Pronunciation

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Ken Blake

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Sep 9, 2020, 7:23:05 PM9/9/20
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I say HAM-bur-guh, with stress on the first syllable.

My wife says ham-buh-guh, with no signicant stress on any syllable--or
perhaps a slight stress on the last syllable.

She's from Philadelphia, but I don't know whether that pronunciation is
typical of Philadelphia or not. So I was curious about how others here
pronounced it.


--
Ken

Tony Cooper

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Sep 9, 2020, 7:30:55 PM9/9/20
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On Wed, 9 Sep 2020 16:22:59 -0700, Ken Blake <k...@invalidemail.com>
wrote:
I pronounce it as ham-burger with slightly more stress on the
"burger".

I'll bet she knows what a "hoopty" is. I've only heard that word used
by people from Philly or thereabouts.



Ken Blake

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Sep 9, 2020, 7:45:41 PM9/9/20
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On 9/9/2020 4:30 PM, Tony Cooper wrote:
> On Wed, 9 Sep 2020 16:22:59 -0700, Ken Blake <k...@invalidemail.com>
> wrote:
>
>>I say HAM-bur-guh, with stress on the first syllable.
>>
>>My wife says ham-buh-guh, with no signicant stress on any syllable--or
>>perhaps a slight stress on the last syllable.
>>
>>She's from Philadelphia, but I don't know whether that pronunciation is
>>typical of Philadelphia or not. So I was curious about how others here
>>pronounced it.
>
> I pronounce it as ham-burger with slightly more stress on the
> "burger".


Thanks. That's similar to the way she say it, except you're apparently
more rhotic than she is.


> I'll bet she knows what a "hoopty" is. I've only heard that word used
> by people from Philly or thereabouts.


I just asked her. She didn't know.

I didn't either, but thanks to Google, I now know.


--
Ken

RH Draney

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Sep 9, 2020, 8:26:59 PM9/9/20
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I'm originally from southern California, the home of Bob's Big Boy and
the original home of McDonald's...only advertising people say
"hamburger"; the rest of us just say "burger"....

(BTW, some friends of my parents were named Hamburger...people used to
make jokes like "we're going over to see Willie and Darlene Hamburger
and their two little meatballs")....r

Jerry Friedman

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Sep 9, 2020, 9:53:49 PM9/9/20
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I have primary stress on the first syllable and secondary on the second.
(I'm trying out having tertiary stress on the third syllable, just for
symmetry.) I've heard it with the "burger" equally unstressed or
maybe silght secondary stress on the third syllable, but I haven't noticed
any regional pattern to that.

--
Jerry Friedman is from Cleveland, Ohio.

Dingbat

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Sep 9, 2020, 9:59:32 PM9/9/20
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Various pronunciations including amburgair and umberzhe:-)
Steve Martin playing Inspector Clouseau

Peter T. Daniels

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Sep 9, 2020, 11:16:22 PM9/9/20
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I believe in the classic (theatrical) Popeye cartoons, Wimpy uses
the two-equally-unstressed version in "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday
for a HAMburger today."

Lewis

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Sep 10, 2020, 1:57:57 AM9/10/20
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In message <hrt6ek...@mid.individual.net> Ken Blake <k...@invalidemail.com> wrote:
> I say HAM-bur-guh, with stress on the first syllable.

> My wife says ham-buh-guh, with no signicant stress on any syllable--or
> perhaps a slight stress on the last syllable.

I think your wife's pronunciation is more usual.

--
"If you want to get rich from writing, write the sort of thing that's
read by persons who move their lips when they're reading to
themselves." - Don Marquis

bil...@shaw.ca

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Sep 10, 2020, 2:05:47 AM9/10/20
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On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 8:16:22 PM UTC-7, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 9:53:49 PM UTC-4, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> > On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 5:23:05 PM UTC-6, Ken Blake wrote:
>
> > > I say HAM-bur-guh, with stress on the first syllable.
> > > My wife says ham-buh-guh, with no signicant stress on any syllable--or
> > > perhaps a slight stress on the last syllable.
> > > She's from Philadelphia, but I don't know whether that pronunciation is
> > > typical of Philadelphia or not. So I was curious about how others here
> > > pronounced it.
> >
> > I have primary stress on the first syllable and secondary on the second.
> > (I'm trying out having tertiary stress on the third syllable, just for
> > symmetry.) I've heard it with the "burger" equally unstressed or
> > maybe silght secondary stress on the third syllable, but I haven't noticed
> > any regional pattern to that.

> I believe in the classic (theatrical) Popeye cartoons, Wimpy uses
> the two-equally-unstressed version in "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday
> for a HAMburger today."

He also follows a duck around while turning the crank on a meat grinder.

However, I share his emphasis on HAMburger.

bill, aka wim

Athel Cornish-Bowden

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Sep 10, 2020, 4:23:07 AM9/10/20
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On 2020-09-10 01:53:45 +0000, Jerry Friedman said:

> On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 5:23:05 PM UTC-6, Ken Blake wrote:
>> I say HAM-bur-guh, with stress on the first syllable.
>>
>> My wife says ham-buh-guh, with no signicant stress on any syllable--or
>> perhaps a slight stress on the last syllable.
>>
>> She's from Philadelphia, but I don't know whether that pronunciation is
>> typical of Philadelphia or not. So I was curious about how others here
>> pronounced it.
>
> I have primary stress on the first syllable and secondary on the second.

That's how I say it. Final stress would sound weird to me.

> (I'm trying out having tertiary stress on the third syllable, just for
> symmetry.) I've heard it with the "burger" equally unstressed or
> maybe silght secondary stress on the third syllable, but I haven't noticed
> any regional pattern to that.


--
athel

David Kleinecke

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Sep 10, 2020, 5:11:24 AM9/10/20
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I seem to think it's two words "ham burger"

But usually just "burger".

Peter T. Daniels

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Sep 10, 2020, 10:43:18 AM9/10/20
to
On Thursday, September 10, 2020 at 4:23:07 AM UTC-4, Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:
> On 2020-09-10 01:53:45 +0000, Jerry Friedman said:
> > On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 5:23:05 PM UTC-6, Ken Blake wrote:

> >> I say HAM-bur-guh, with stress on the first syllable.
> >> My wife says ham-buh-guh, with no signicant stress on any syllable--or
> >> perhaps a slight stress on the last syllable.
> >> She's from Philadelphia, but I don't know whether that pronunciation is
> >> typical of Philadelphia or not. So I was curious about how others here
> >> pronounced it.

r-loss is certainly not typical of Philadelphia!

> > I have primary stress on the first syllable and secondary on the second.
>
> That's how I say it. Final stress would sound weird to me.

Has anyone suggested it wouldn't to them?

Peter T. Daniels

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Sep 10, 2020, 10:44:32 AM9/10/20
to
Hence "beefburger."

> But usually just "burger".

Quite.

Ken Blake

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Sep 10, 2020, 11:57:34 AM9/10/20
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On 9/9/2020 10:57 PM, Lewis wrote:
> In message <hrt6ek...@mid.individual.net> Ken Blake <k...@invalidemail.com> wrote:
>> I say HAM-bur-guh, with stress on the first syllable.
>
>> My wife says ham-buh-guh, with no signicant stress on any syllable--or
>> perhaps a slight stress on the last syllable.
>
> I think your wife's pronunciation is more usual.


Interesting, thanks. I can't remember how other members of her family
said it, but it's not at all usual to me.


--
Ken

Ken Blake

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Sep 10, 2020, 12:03:06 PM9/10/20
to
Is that a joke I don't understand, or did you mean it? It's one word,
not two. It originally was something from the German city of Hamburg.


> But usually just "burger".


Yes, that's becoming more and more common these days (it probably
started out to mean either a hamburger or a cheeseburger), although I
never say it.

However, regardless of how common "burger" is, that has nothing to do
with my question about the pronunciation of "hamburger."



--
Ken

Ken Blake

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Sep 10, 2020, 12:04:30 PM9/10/20
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Today they might say "We're going over to see Willie and Darlene
Hamburger and their two little sliders."


--
Ken

Ken Blake

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Sep 10, 2020, 12:06:16 PM9/10/20
to
On 9/9/2020 6:53 PM, Jerry Friedman wrote:

> On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 5:23:05 PM UTC-6, Ken Blake wrote:
>> I say HAM-bur-guh, with stress on the first syllable.
>>
>> My wife says ham-buh-guh, with no signicant stress on any syllable--or
>> perhaps a slight stress on the last syllable.
>>
>> She's from Philadelphia, but I don't know whether that pronunciation is
>> typical of Philadelphia or not. So I was curious about how others here
>> pronounced it.
>
> I have primary stress on the first syllable and secondary on the second.


I didn't mention my secondary stress, but it's the same for me.


> (I'm trying out having tertiary stress on the third syllable, just for
> symmetry.) I've heard it with the "burger" equally unstressed or
> maybe silght secondary stress on the third syllable, but I haven't noticed
> any regional pattern to that.



--
Ken

David Kleinecke

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Sep 10, 2020, 3:30:23 PM9/10/20
to
On Thursday, September 10, 2020 at 9:03:06 AM UTC-7, Ken Blake wrote:
> On 9/10/2020 2:11 AM, David Kleinecke wrote:
> > On Thursday, September 10, 2020 at 1:23:07 AM UTC-7, Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:
> >> On 2020-09-10 01:53:45 +0000, Jerry Friedman said:
> >>
> >> > On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 5:23:05 PM UTC-6, Ken Blake wrote:
> >> >> I say HAM-bur-guh, with stress on the first syllable.
> >> >>
> >> >> My wife says ham-buh-guh, with no signicant stress on any syllable--or
> >> >> perhaps a slight stress on the last syllable.
> >> >>
> >> >> She's from Philadelphia, but I don't know whether that pronunciation is
> >> >> typical of Philadelphia or not. So I was curious about how others here
> >> >> pronounced it.
> >> >
> >> > I have primary stress on the first syllable and secondary on the second.
> >>
> >> That's how I say it. Final stress would sound weird to me.
> >>
> >> > (I'm trying out having tertiary stress on the third syllable, just for
> >> > symmetry.) I've heard it with the "burger" equally unstressed or
> >> > maybe silght secondary stress on the third syllable, but I haven't noticed
> >> > any regional pattern to that.
> >
> > I seem to think it's two words "ham burger"
>
>
> Is that a joke I don't understand, or did you mean it? It's one word,
> not two. It originally was something from the German city of Hamburg.

The notion of "word" is fuzzy in English. I pronounce
what I write as "hamburger" as though it were written
"ham burger". There is a difference in stress. As to
why I do this - it's how I learnt it.

Ken Blake

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Sep 10, 2020, 3:52:54 PM9/10/20
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OK, I understand. You pronounce it much the same way I do.

--
Ken
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