Every adult I know says "matoore", and every younger person I know says "machure". Is there some age cut-off that I missed?
2006-08-10 06:08:05 · 9 answers · asked by maryeforeman 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
I find that rather annoying myself - picture, posture, capture, caricature, cincture, puncture, rapture, fixture, mixture, pasture, ligature, nature, all these words have the same ending, and yet only mature gets mispronounced! And by adults, no less! What gives? I think it sounds pretentious. And ridiculous. I mean, if you pronounced nature "natoor", how stupid would that sound? No one would understand what you were talking about. Children pronounce it correctly because they have learned how all the other words are pronounced, and it follows the same pattern. It isn't until they have heard it the other way from adults that they change their pronunciation. I do not understand why this pronunciation has taken root, but it needs to go.
2006-08-10 23:50:58 · answer #1 · answered by Jeannie 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
You don't live anywhere near me. Everyone here says "machure" because that is the common pronunciation in this dialect, and in the United States in general. There is no basis for saying that "matoor" is a better or more correct pronunciation. The majority of English speakers in the United States say "machure" because the alveolar stop is assibilated before a high front vowel (whether that vowel is in the spelling or not). Saying "matoor" makes as much phonetic sense as saying "poor" for "pure" or "koor" for "cure", there's a [y] after that [p] or [k] just like there is a [y] after the [t] in "mature", making "machoor" the natural pronunciation. The "matoor" pronunciation is what is called a "spelling pronunciation" meaning that people think that the spelling trumps the natural pronunciation. They are wrong.
2006-08-10 06:29:21 · answer #2 · answered by Taivo 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
...when you're mature enough! HA!
But seriously, even adults I know pronounce it 'machure,' so...I think it just depends on where you live, and how you've been raised to say that word. It IS a strangely difficult word to say, isn't it?!
2006-08-10 06:48:27 · answer #3 · answered by Appaloosa88 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I don't pronounce it "matoore" it just annoys the hell out of me, but you're right most people that pronounce it "matoore" tend to be older. It's like process some people pronounce the o like the o in 'bow" and others pronounce it like an "ah". I guess it's just potayto potahto.
2006-08-10 06:23:04 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
I still pronounce it as "machure".
2006-08-12 01:08:18 · answer #5 · answered by Mappi 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
From first day of ( English as second language)course in university we have learnt to say "mature".
2006-08-10 07:57:36 · answer #6 · answered by <<< sky >>> 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
When you're old enough to travel to England.
2006-08-10 06:17:36 · answer #7 · answered by BowtiePasta 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't know of any agecut-off , maybe young people just not pronouncing right
2006-08-10 06:15:20 · answer #8 · answered by jingles_200 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
i dont know anyone that pronunces it matoore
2006-08-10 06:59:37 · answer #9 · answered by Ssoroka 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋