Those yellow peachy fruit things...?

Question

So I grew up in California, and we had an apricot tree in the backyard. My mom, dad, as well as the rest of my extended family all pronounced it "ape-rih-cot." They are all extremely well educated and my mom's a writer, so they know how to pronounce words.

I moved to Connecticut a few years later, and I found out that EVERYONE pronounces it "ahp-rih-cot." Is this an East Coast vs. West Coast thing? Tomayto tomahto? The question has dogged me most of my life!

Answer 1

Well the original pronunciation of the word is ape-rih-cot just like you are saying int. The -pri in apricot is the same as the pre- in precocious and the name of the fruit literally means to ripen early. The shift in the pronunciation came when the Spanish settled the Southwest, where the apricot was most common. If you put a "European" vowel sound on the front, your long A becomes a short A sound.

So what is the correct way to pronounce it? They both are, but to keep people from getting confused, just switch to its other name, and the name by which it is known to most of the rest of the world "Passion Fruit" . . . much easier.

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

Hmm, everybody I knew in California pronouned it as "ahp-rih-cot"

Maybe we're pronouncing it wrong. Have you looked it up in the dictionary?

Answer 3

i say ape-rih-cot, but i think this pronunciation is more common in british english.

regarding the "passion fruit" as the other answerer suggested, i was under the impression that this referred to the grenadilla, not apricot

Answer 4

I grew up in FL, we call them app-rih-cots. Also, my sis who lives in CA calls almonds AM- monds (we pronounced them all-monds in FL). Funny how different ppl pronounce things.
Now I live in E TN, and not only do they use different pronunciations, but different words for things. Who knew a toboggan was a hat? :-)

Answer 5

to-MAH-toe or toe-MAY-toe?

Even in as small a place as Britain, the variety of accents is bewildering... So I'm not too surprised to hear that variation is considerable from a coast to the other. It's the local habit and not basically incorrect (though probably influenced by the presence of German settlers who do not diphthongue as much as ordinary English speakers), though my Collins English dic says /eiprikot/.

Answer 6

Need to know what country you are in and the time of year you found the fruit or better still a pic.

Answer 7

I admire your focus on the important things in life!

I love apricots. I pronouce the word as 'bananas'.

Answer 8

Pronounce it the way that sounds best to you. Don't worry about who is right or wrong.

Answer 9

Pee-can, or Pe-con?