Why is American pronunciation so inconsistent?

Question

'Penis' is pronounced as 'pee-nus'.
'Vehicle' is pronounced as 'vee-hay-kul'.
Any background to these weird pronounciations?

Answer 1

America is a polyglot nation. In other words, we descend from ancestors who come from many different countries and backgrounds, and have their own particular accents. Also, there are many regional dialects in the United States. People from the southern states, for example, have a different vernacular than northerners. Texans have a drawl. People from New England drop their "r's". Brooklynites have differing speech patterns, and Blacks use a lot of "ebonics". Put these all together and you wind up with a whole conglomoration of pronunceations. So I guess it depends on where your grandpappy came from, or what part of the country you're from, as to how words are spoken.

Answer 2

heres some more weird ones:

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to
present the present.
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail
18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Answer 3

It depends on where you are. I've lived in Brooklyn NY, where I was born and everything sounds tough. I've lived in New England where the same accent gets even more nasal and broader. Lived in Philly where the accent is nasal and sounds like a Rocky movie. Lived in the South where there is a drawl, the deep South where there is a deeper drawl, on to Arkansas and Oklahoma where it is a slow drawl with a specific cadence. Lived in Illionois and near Wisconsin where it sounds something like the movie "Fargo" dontch know. Like, lived, like in California, where, like everything is, like a question? Now I'm in Arizona where there are so many people from everyplace else that the accent is not distinguishable, except for the Navajo, who have a slow, peaceful sound to thier voices with almost a melody to thier speach pattern. It's a big country. Add to that there are educated and uneducated people in it. They tend to trash the language. Then there are all the ethnic backgrounds. Lots of variation. Funny that we can all still (usually) understand each other.

Answer 4

Well due to the vast size of the country, to put it in perspective, ask the same thing about the different pronounciations in Europe. Even within the same states here, people pronounce things differently. America is made up of so many cultures and nationalities is the best way to describe it.

Answer 5

The US is approximately a godzillion times the geographic area of the UK. There are regional variations in pronunciation, known as "accents". You could hear the same kind of variations between London and Kent.
PEE- niss
VEE-hik-ul

Answer 6

Because they are too lazy to talk normal.We got all this ghetto talk i understand i don't blame them though,But the english language is disapearing but i could care lessOr 4 the french Canada is Native land1ST nations.They should be more 1ST nations languages appearing.

Answer 7

I hate the english language too, and I hate learning it. I was raised english so I know it, but that doesn't mean I have to understand it.

Answer 8

It's called dialect. I say penis the way it's spelled. I say vehicle the way it's spelled too. It's all about how you say it.

Answer 9

English is just . . . well, boring!