How to pronounce 'awry'

[Anhibal]

I am confused over the word 'awry'. I have always pronounced it "awry" but I have heard others pronouncing awry as "awry" and I have been told my pronounciation is wrong. I heard an announcer on the BBC yesterdy pronounce awry as "awry" and since the BBC are usually right in issues pertaining to the English language it seems I might be wrong in saying "awry" and the correct pronounciation of awry is in fact "awry".

But it might be the case that both pronounciations are correct, it might well be that in British English awry is pronounced "awry" but in American English awry is pronounced "awry". Can anybody clear this up? Does anybody know the correct pronounciation of awry? Is it "awry" or is it "awry" or is it permissible to pronounce awry as both "awry" and "awry"?

Thank you for your input.

I shall be bringing up the issue of full stops being inside or outside quotation marks and inverted commas another time.

[Ian Jackson]

In message <fa63560d-ae8c-4a7a...@googlegroups.com>,
Anhibal <anh...@bigstring.com> writes

>
>I shall be bringing up the issue of full stops being inside or outside
>quotation marks and inverted commas another time.

I can't wait!
>
>

--
Ian

[Ian Jackson]

In message <ng4ilv$btl$2...@gioia.aioe.org>, Jeff <je...@ukra.com> writes

>
>What on earth are you on about???
>
>How can we tell how you are pronouncing a word when you spell both
>examples exactly the same!!!!
>
>By the way "pronounciations" is spelt pronunciations.
>
That spelling of 'pronounciations' has indeed gone awry. Not only is it
spelt 'pronunciations', it's also pronounced 'pronunciations', ie
'proNUNciations' (despite how many people might mistakenly pronounce it
as 'pronounciations'). The more-commonly heard singular is, of course,
'pronunciation'.
--
Ian

[Peter Percival]

Anhibal wrote:
> I am confused over the word 'awry'. I have always pronounced it

alt.usage.english is elsewhere.

--
For centuries and centuries
And under President and King,
He's always told the proper lies
And always done the proper thing.
T.S. Eliot

[Anhibal]

On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 1:02:58 PM UTC+3, Ian Jackson wrote:
> In message <ng4ilv$btl$2...@gioia.aioe.org>, Jeff <j***@ukra.com> writes

> >
> >What on earth are you on about???
> >
> >How can we tell how you are pronouncing a word when you spell both
> >examples exactly the same!!!!

Obviously they are both spelt the same way. That is not the issue. If you will read again what I wrote you will see that I was asking how they are pronunced, not how they are spelled. To understand what I mean you will have to read my post out loud. Thank you for your correction of my wrong spelling of 'pronunce', although I note that you make the same spelling mistake in your above post.

[Anhibal]

On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 1:23:41 PM UTC+3, Peter Percival wrote:
> Anhibal wrote:
> > I am confused over the word 'awry'. I have always pronounced it
>
> alt.usage.english is elsewhere.

Thank you for the link, it is useful to know and it will be of help to me in my efforts to come to grips with the English language, both written and spoken.

[Omega]

As you appear to be serious and not spoofing ...

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/awry

The full stop is always after the quotation marks, etc..

omega

[tim...]

"Anhibal" <anh...@bigstring.com> wrote in message
news:9194ac32-6a5b-482a...@googlegroups.com...

> On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 1:02:58 PM UTC+3, Ian Jackson wrote:
>> In message <ng4ilv$btl$2...@gioia.aioe.org>, Jeff <j***@ukra.com> writes
>> >
>> >What on earth are you on about???
>> >
>> >How can we tell how you are pronouncing a word when you spell both
>> >examples exactly the same!!!!
>
> Obviously they are both spelt the same way. That is not the issue. If you
> will read again what I wrote you will see that I was asking how they are
> pronunced,

oh don't be silly

how does reading out loud make

awry sound different from, um

awry?

tim

[Max Demian]

On Sun, 1 May 2016 04:21:24 -0700 (PDT), Anhibal
<anh...@bigstring.com> wrote:
> On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 1:02:58 PM UTC+3, Ian Jackson wrote:
> > In message <ng4ilv$btl$2...@gioia.aioe.org>, Jeff <j***@ukra.com>
writes

> > >What on earth are you on about???
> > >
> > >How can we tell how you are pronouncing a word when you spell
both
> > >examples exactly the same!!!!

> Obviously they are both spelt the same way. That is not the issue.

If you w=

> ill read again what I wrote you will see that I was asking how they

are pro=

> nunced, not how they are spelled. To understand what I mean you

will have t=

> o read my post out loud. Thank you for your correction of my wrong

spelling=

> of 'pronunce', although I note that you make the same spelling

mistake in =
> your above post.

It's 'pronounce'! (You must be taking the piss.)

--
Max Demian

[Anhibal]

On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 2:49:41 PM UTC+3, tim... wrote:

> oh don't be silly
>
> how does reading out loud make
>
> awry sound different from, um
>
> awry?

I've told you. It is a matter of pronunciation, not spelling. The fact that they are spelled the same does not mean they are pronunced the same. They can be spelled exactly the same but can be, and are, pronunced differently. It is the correct pronunciation I was asking about, not spelling and I made that quite clear in my first post. That should not be difficult to understand. The spelling is not an issue, as you can see, the spelling is exactly the same in both cases. You would have to read it out loud to hear the difference in pronunciation.

[Tim Jackson]

On Sun, 1 May 2016 10:35:49 +0100, Jeff wrote...

> What on earth are you on about???
>
> How can we tell how you are pronouncing a word when you spell both
> examples exactly the same!!!!

He is posting via Google groups. Do they allow HTML? Has he used HTML
to show which syllable is stressed (e.g. bold or underlining)?

If Google do allow HTML, that is rather stupid of them, since it is of
course stripped out when passed to a text-only group like this. That
would account for why we can't tell what the poster is asking.

To the original poster: the stress is on 'wry', not on 'a'. 'Wry' is
pronounced like 'rye' (the 'w' is silent).

And Google Groups is not the best way to access Usenet newsgroups.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet

--
Tim Jackson
ne...@timjackson.invalid
(Change '.invalid' to '.plus.com' to reply direct)

[Anhibal]

Excellent link, thank you. The announcer on the BBC I referrd to pronounced 'awry' as in the example for British English whereas I have been pronuncing 'awry' incorrectly as "awry." I have now corrected my mispronunciation and will henceforth pronounce 'awry' as is the case in British English.

[Tim Jackson]

On Sun, 1 May 2016 13:59:09 +0100, Tim Jackson wrote...

> To the original poster: the stress is on 'wry', not on 'a'. 'Wry' is
> pronounced like 'rye' (the 'w' is silent).

To clarify further: the 'a' is just a neutral unstressed vowel,
pronounced 'uh'. The 'w' doesn't belong to the 'a'. It's not 'aw-ry'.

[Tim Jackson]

On Sun, 1 May 2016 06:04:30 -0700 (PDT), Anhibal wrote...

> Excellent link, thank you. The announcer on the BBC I referrd to pronounced 'awry' as in the example for British English whereas I have been pronuncing 'awry' incorrectly as "awry." I have now corrected my mispronunciation and will henceforth pronounce 'awry' as is the case in British English.
>

I don't know how they look in Google Groups, but at this end all your
spellings of 'awry' look identical. So again your explanation of the
different pronunciations doesn't make much sense.

[Anhibal]

On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 2:39:45 PM UTC+3, Omega wrote:

> The full stop is always after the quotation marks, etc..

This seems to be a transantlantic thing. In the USA full stops and commas go inside the quotation marks:

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/quotation-marks-with-periods-and-commas

[Anhibal]

On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 4:17:25 PM UTC+3, Tim Jackson wrote:
> On Sun, 1 May 2016 06:04:30 -0700 (PDT), Anhibal wrote...
>
> > Excellent link, thank you. The announcer on the BBC I referrd to pronounced 'awry' as in the example for British English whereas I have been pronuncing 'awry' incorrectly as "awry." I have now corrected my mispronunciation and will henceforth pronounce 'awry' as is the case in British English.
> >
>
> I don't know how they look in Google Groups, but at this end all your
> spellings of 'awry' look identical. So again your explanation of the
> different pronunciations doesn't make much sense.

The spellings are identical, it's the pronunciation that is different. Or should I say, has been different since I have now adopted the British English pronunciation and pronounce 'awry' as "awry."

[tim...]

"Anhibal" <anh...@bigstring.com> wrote in message

news:c99a1d5b-cb92-4d74...@googlegroups.com...

> On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 2:49:41 PM UTC+3, tim... wrote:
>
>> oh don't be silly
>>
>> how does reading out loud make
>>
>> awry sound different from, um
>>
>> awry?
>
> I've told you. It is a matter of pronunciation, not spelling. The fact
> that they are spelled the same does not mean they are pronunced the same.

I know

but unless you write the phonetic spellings out I have no possibility of
understanding what the difference is

I am an individual person, I am only going to say it in one way regardless
of how many times I say it. They will always sound the same. I have no
possibility of identifying what the alterative is because I never say it
that, alternative, way

tim

[Ian Jackson]

In message <c99a1d5b-cb92-4d74...@googlegroups.com>,
Anhibal <anh...@bigstring.com> writes

I'm sure that we know that "tomato" is pronounced (note: 'pronounced' -
not 'pronunced') differently in the USA. However, despite what the song
says, "potato" isn't.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOILZ_D3aRg>

--
Ian

[Ian Jackson]

In message <MPG.31901244c...@text.usenet.plus.net>, Tim
Jackson <ne...@timjackson.invalid> writes

>On Sun, 1 May 2016 06:04:30 -0700 (PDT), Anhibal wrote...
>
>> Excellent link, thank you. The announcer on the BBC I referrd to
>>pronounced 'awry' as in the example for British English whereas I have
>>been pronuncing 'awry' incorrectly as "awry." I have now corrected my
>>mispronunciation and will henceforth pronounce 'awry' as is the case
>>in British English.
>>
>
>I don't know how they look in Google Groups, but at this end all your
>spellings of 'awry' look identical. So again your explanation of the
>different pronunciations doesn't make much sense.

As has already been suggested, it's probably a piss-take.
>

--
Ian

[Anhibal]

On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 5:13:37 PM UTC+3, tim... wrote:
> "Anhibal" <an***l@****.com> wrote in message

The matter has been sorted out now by the poster Omega who understood the differences in pronounciation which can arise and provided a link where the correct pronunciation was enunciated by both a speaker of American English and a speaker of British English.

Neither of which, by the way, was the way I was mispronouncing the word. I was not saying "awry" in either the American or the British version but instead saying "awry" which was completely wrong. But, as I said, the matter has now been cleared up and henceforth I will be pronouncing 'awry' in the British English fashion.

[Anhibal]

On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 5:29:23 PM UTC+3, Ian Jackson wrote:
> In message <c99a1d5b-cb92-4d74...@googlegroups.com>,

> Anhibal <a*****@b*****.com> writes

The word 'awry' is also pronounced differently in the USA than it is in the United Kingdom. But, strangely, neither the American nor the British version of 'awry' matched my mispronounciation. I prefer and will now stick with the British version as there has already been to much americanisation of the English language.

[Anhibal]

As has been pointed out there are at least three different ways of pronouncing 'awry', two of which are correct depending on geographical location and one which is definitly wrong and is the one I was previously using. There are probably also Australian and Pakistani ways of pronouncing 'awry' but I won't go into those.

[Ian Jackson]

In message <f1ffbff3-4e08-4fe9...@googlegroups.com>,
Anhibal <anh...@bigstring.com> writes

>But, strangely, neither the American nor the British version of 'awry'
>matched my mispronounciation.

It's pronounced (and spelt) MISPRONUNCIATION!!!
>
>

--
Ian

[Anhibal]

On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 7:07:11 PM UTC+3, Ian Jackson wrote:
> In message <f1ffbff3-4e08-4fe9...@googlegroups.com>,

> Anhibal <*****@b***g.com> writes

>
>
> >But, strangely, neither the American nor the British version of 'awry'
> >matched my mispronounciation.
>
> It's pronounced (and spelt) MISPRONUNCIATION!!!
>

It is absurd that pronounce should become pronunciation. Very confusing, like much English spelling. Just like the spelling 'awry' which can easily be mispronounced as "awry".

[Tim Jackson]

On Sun, 1 May 2016 06:24:13 -0700 (PDT), Anhibal wrote...

And the way you are writing it here *still* doesn't bring out what you
are trying to tell us.

Are you trying to add emphasis using bold or underlining or italics? It
doesn't work. This is Usenet, not Google Groups. Google just provide a
(rather poor) gateway.

Maybe Google is displaying your emphasised version to you, but it
doesn't reach us. That's why people can't understand what you are
saying (and why at least one person suspects you are taking the piss).

[Tim Jackson]

On Sun, 1 May 2016 08:51:27 -0700 (PDT), Anhibal wrote...

> As has been pointed out there are at least three different ways of pronouncing 'awry', two of which are correct depending on geographical location and one which is definitly wrong and is the one I was previously using. There are probably also Australian and Pakistani ways of pronouncing 'awry' but I won't go into those.

I think there's only one correct way. In the Cambridge Dictionaries
link you were given, the British and US examples are just two different
people with different accents, but the underlying pronunciation is the
same as shown by the versions written in the phonetic alphabet.

[Anhibal]

I'll try misspelling how I have pronounced 'awry' and see if it helps, but note, this is a misspelling intended to emphasise how I have mispronounced the word. Previously I have said something which sounds like "aw-ri" with a distinct "aw" and "ri" and the 'i' in 'ri' rhyming with the 'i' in 'nit'. Maybe this clarifies the issue.

[tim...]

"Anhibal" <anh...@bigstring.com> wrote in message

news:692584f1-972d-48dc...@googlegroups.com...

> On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 5:13:37 PM UTC+3, tim... wrote:
>> "Anhibal" <an***l@****.com> wrote in message
>> news:c99a1d5b-cb92-4d74...@googlegroups.com...
>> > On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 2:49:41 PM UTC+3, tim... wrote:
>> >
>> >> oh don't be silly
>> >>
>> >> how does reading out loud make
>> >>
>> >> awry sound different from, um
>> >>
>> >> awry?
>> >
>> > I've told you. It is a matter of pronunciation, not spelling. The fact
>> > that they are spelled the same does not mean they are pronunced the
>> > same.
>>
>> I know
>>
>> but unless you write the phonetic spellings out I have no possibility of
>> understanding what the difference is
>>
>> I am an individual person, I am only going to say it in one way
>> regardless
>> of how many times I say it. They will always sound the same. I have no
>> possibility of identifying what the alterative is because I never say it
>> that, alternative, way
>
> The matter has been sorted out now

Um no

the mater of there being two possible pronunciations has not been sorted out
as I still have no idea what the second one is.

I know what the English one is, but I can't possibly see any alternative
(unless it's like the American pronunciation of herb where they just miss a
letter out)

tim

[Max Demian]

On Sun, 1 May 2016 06:24:13 -0700 (PDT), Anhibal

<anh...@bigstring.com> wrote:
> On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 4:17:25 PM UTC+3, Tim Jackson wrote:
> > On Sun, 1 May 2016 06:04:30 -0700 (PDT), Anhibal wrote...

> > > Excellent link, thank you. The announcer on the BBC I referrd

to pronou=

> nced 'awry' as in the example for British English whereas I have

been pronu=

> ncing 'awry' incorrectly as "awry." I have now corrected my

mispronunciatio=

> n and will henceforth pronounce 'awry' as is the case in British
English.

> > I don't know how they look in Google Groups, but at this end all
your
> > spellings of 'awry' look identical. So again your explanation of
the
> > different pronunciations doesn't make much sense.

> The spellings are identical, it's the pronunciation that is

different. Or s=

> hould I say, has been different since I have now adopted the

British Englis=

> h pronunciation and pronounce 'awry' as "awry."

https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/awry gives a US pronunciation
similar to the UK one, so the Cambridge US pronunciation must be a
matter of where in the US you come from.

Google Groups doesn't show any difference in spelling or formatting.

--
Max Demian

[Anhibal]

On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 9:00:48 PM UTC+3, tim... wrote:
> "Anhibal" <a*****@*****g.com> wrote in message

> news:692584f1-972d-48dc...@googlegroups.com...
> > On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 5:13:37 PM UTC+3, tim... wrote:
> >> "Anhibal" <an***l@****.com> wrote in message
> >> news:c99a1d5b-cb92-4d74...@googlegroups.com...
> >> > On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 2:49:41 PM UTC+3, tim... wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> oh don't be silly
> >> >>
> >> >> how does reading out loud make
> >> >>
> >> >> awry sound different from, um
> >> >>
> >> >> awry?
> >> >
> >> > I've told you. It is a matter of pronunciation, not spelling. The fact
> >> > that they are spelled the same does not mean they are pronunced the
> >> > same.
> >>
> >> I know
> >>
> >> but unless you write the phonetic spellings out I have no possibility of
> >> understanding what the difference is
> >>
> >> I am an individual person, I am only going to say it in one way
> >> regardless
> >> of how many times I say it. They will always sound the same. I have no
> >> possibility of identifying what the alterative is because I never say it
> >> that, alternative, way
> >
> > The matter has been sorted out now
>
> Um no
>
> the mater of there being two possible pronunciations has not been sorted out
> as I still have no idea what the second one is.

I've posted the alternative and wrong pronunciation as best I can, if you still can't understand it I don't know how you can be helped.

> I know what the English one is, but I can't possibly see any alternative
> (unless it's like the American pronunciation of herb where they just miss a
> letter out)

'Herb' minus the 'h' is a Jamaican Rastafari term as far as I know.

[Omega]

Another poster has suggested we can correctly pronounce awry,
phonetically as, perhaps, 'a rye', the a as in, bat or cat. Quiet near
I feel.

I have a feeling the OP may have been alluding to a pronunciation of the
the word I have heard many times in life, though incorrect. Again
phonetically, ow ree.

I'm surprised the debate has gone so far.

:o)

I don't think the OP is taking the piss, he's trying to better his
English and good luck to him.

omega

[tim...]

"Omega" <cr...@last.com> wrote in message news:ng5ho5$phg$1...@dont-email.me...

oh it went on this far because most of us thought that he had added some
emphasis using HTML that we weren't seeing and we were prompting for him to
admit to that

he still hasn't BTW, so I don't understand his claim that he has tried his
best at describing the difference

tim

[Anhibal]

On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 9:46:07 PM UTC+3, tim... wrote:
> "Omega" <******@last.com> wrote in message news:ng5ho5$phg$1...@dont-email.me...

> > On 01/05/2016 19:00, tim... wrote:
> >>

> >> "Anhibal" <*******@----g.com> wrote in message

> > Another poster has suggested we can correctly pronounce awry, phonetically
> > as, perhaps, 'a rye', the a as in, bat or cat. Quiet near I feel.
> >
> > I have a feeling the OP may have been alluding to a pronunciation of the
> > the word I have heard many times in life, though incorrect. Again
> > phonetically, ow ree.
> >
> > I'm surprised the debate has gone so far.
> >
> > :o)
>
> oh it went on this far because most of us thought that he had added some
> emphasis using HTML that we weren't seeing and we were prompting for him to
> admit to that
>
> he still hasn't BTW, so I don't understand his claim that he has tried his

> best at describing the difference.

I posted this ages ago and it's about the best I can do:

************************

I'll try misspelling how I have pronounced 'awry' and see if it helps, but note, this is a misspelling intended to emphasise how I have mispronounced the word. Previously I have said something which sounds like "aw-ri" with a distinct "aw" and "ri" and the 'i' in 'ri' rhyming with the 'i' in 'nit'. Maybe this clarifies the issue.

************************

[Max Demian]

On Sun, 1 May 2016 12:07:08 -0700 (PDT), Anhibal
<anh...@bigstring.com> wrote:

> I'll try misspelling how I have pronounced 'awry' and see if it

helps, but =

> note, this is a misspelling intended to emphasise how I have

mispronounced =

> the word. Previously I have said something which sounds like

"aw-ri" with a=

> distinct "aw" and "ri" and the 'i' in 'ri' rhyming with the 'i' in

'nit'. =

> Maybe this clarifies the issue.

I think you've got to 'misspell' a word to distinguish between
different pronunciations, or rather adopt a phonetic spelling of some
sort.

I don't think anyone pronounces awry orr'-ree with the stress on the
first syllable. It's always a-rye' with the stress on the second.
Americans just have a different accent, depending on which part of
the US they come from.

--
Max Demian

[F Murtz]

The seriousness that some are taking in this post is amazing.

[Ian Jackson]

In message <c7cb2616-8528-432f...@googlegroups.com>,
Anhibal <anh...@bigstring.com> writes
>On Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 1:23:41 PM UTC+3, Peter Percival wrote:
>> Anhibal wrote:
>> > I am confused over the word 'awry'. I have always pronounced it
>>
>> alt.usage.english is elsewhere.
>
>Thank you for the link, it is useful to know and it will be of help to
>me in my efforts to come to grips with the English language, both
>written and spoken.

Also look at alt.english.usage.
--
Ian

[bella...@gmail.com]

brilliant observation!
<But it might be the case that both pronounciations are correct, it might well be that in British English awry is pronounced "awry" but in American English awry is pronounced "awry". Can anybody clear this up? Does anybody know the correct pronounciation of awry? Is it "awry" or is it "awry" or is it permissible to pronounce awry as both "awry" and "awry"?>
I'm Singaporean & both intimations sound different to me :) Kudos!

[Shitsack Moishe Goldbergstein]

On Thu, 20 Dec 2018 09:58:03 -0800 (PST), bella...@gmail.com wrote:

>brilliant observation!
><But it might be the case that both pronounciations are correct, it might well be that in British English awry is pronounced "awry" but in American English awry is pronounced "awry". Can anybody clear this up? Does anybody know the correct pronounciation of awry? Is it "awry" or is it "awry" or is it permissible to pronounce awry as both "awry" and "awry"?>

"awry" is the correct pronunciation of awry.

>I'm Singaporean & both intimations sound different to me :) Kudos!

If you're Singaporean, you probably pronounce the r as an l.

[just-a-goy]

In article <qamn1epafh7vst059...@4ax.com>,
shit...@yahoo.co.uk says...

Flied lice, anyone?

[Ian Jackson]

In message <4558b4ff-bb21-4375...@googlegroups.com>,
bella...@gmail.com writes

Are you possibly the same person who asked last week if 'analogous' was
pronounced 'analogous' or 'analogous'?

In British English, 'awry' is pronounced 'a-rye' (two syllables), where
the 'a' is as in 'hat', and 'rye' rhymes with 'pie' and 'tie'.

I've never heard any American pronounce it differently - but I guess
some might say something like 'awrie' or 'awrye'.

But instead of posting here in uk.legal, why don't you ask in
alt.usage.english or alt.english.usage?
--
Ian

[tim...]

<bella...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:4558b4ff-bb21-4375...@googlegroups.com...

> brilliant observation!
> <But it might be the case that both pronounciations are correct, it might
> well be that in British English awry is pronounced "awry" but in American
> English awry is pronounced "awry".

what am I missing. Both of these are the same

tim

[FMurtz]

You are missing the same thing as me.