So, for example:
A- "ay" ; a- "ah"
B- "bee" ; b- "buh"
C- "cee" ; c- "cuh" and so on...
When we learn the alphabet at school in UK we learn the lower case alphabet first but when foreign students learn English they are taught the upper case alphabet (capitals).
Why do we have two ways to pronounce the alphabet?
Do other languages have the same or not because when I learned foreign languages at school we were only taught one way to pronounce each letter...
2007-07-05 00:08:09 · 8 answers · asked by lerato 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
It definately wasn't just my school- my mum remembers being taught the same way and my neice has now learnt the lower case alphabet but hasn't learned the 'alphabet song' pronunciation.
2007-07-05
00:21:09 ·
update #1
I teach ESL and we teach the A
i think it might just be your school in the UK when you learned the lower case firt because i learnt upper case and in all the alphabet sings and on TV it is in upper case.
we are taught the lower case for spelling words so that it is easier to learn how to say the words, i think. because quite often the sounds in words are nothing like the upper case letter sounds.
2007-07-05 00:12:46 · answer #1 · answered by sarah.sazaroo 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Today the alphabet is taugth Phonetically which is the ah, buh, cuh way, makes it really difficult now if you are trying to teach your kids one way and the school is teaching it a different way!!
2007-07-05 00:12:14 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've never heard of two ways to pronounce the alphabet, except for the fact that the British, Canadians, etc., say 'zed' instead of 'zee'.
Other languages have their ways of pronouncing the letters of the alphabet, of course, but I've only ever heard of one way to do it in English.
2007-07-05 00:13:28 · answer #3 · answered by Sextus Marius 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Here in the US we are taught only one way. Though as an ESL teacher, I know that some try to teach what the letter really sounds like-which is what your examples seem to point to.
2007-07-05 00:13:00 · answer #4 · answered by Jim San Antonio 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I thought the 'upper case' alphabet was the 'name' or 'title' of each letter while what you are calling the 'lower case' alphabet is how the letter is pronounced on it's own. There is only one alphabet to me, the upper case where you say the name of each letter, not the pronunciation. I recite the letters the same way whether they are upper or lower case...
What is 'D'? If the upper case is said like 'dee' then the lower case would be 'duh'? What about the word 'decide'? The d is pronounced as 'dee'. It's not Duh-e-cide. Now I'm confused...
2007-07-05 00:24:38 · answer #5 · answered by Pico 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
For the youngans i guess they have different vocab pronunciation when they're younger, and i dont know weather other languages do have the same but i would think so for their younger generation too.
2007-07-05 00:12:11 · answer #6 · answered by x-..lauren..-x 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
eee?
I feel a little like teh Japanese soldier who has just learned that the war ended thirty years ago
2007-07-05 01:14:06 · answer #7 · answered by patrick o 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One is the correct way, the other way is phonetically.
2007-07-05 00:19:19 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋