2007-12-05 01:29:46 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Basic reason -- the pronunciation varied through the centuries and from one dialect to another. (To this day there are some dialects in which the 'd' can still be heard. Some of this is documented in the Oxford English Dictionary.)
A couple of observations and suggestions:
1) SPELLING
We retained the spelling with 'd' either because dialects that pronounced it were dominant (or at least 'won out' on this point) OR from the desire of teachers and grammarians to preserve some of the ROOT form of the word ("Wodens-die" and the like) even when it was no longer pronounced (something scholarly sorts have OFTEN done, at times even inserting unpronounced letters "back" into words they believed had come from a particular root). OR maybe is was some of each.
But though the "d" won in the SPELLING fight, "wensday" won the PRONUNCIATION battle.
2) PRONUNCIATION
At least one of the written forms listed in the OED is wendesdei (from ca. 1275). This inversion of letters (called "metathesis") to simplify the pronunciation is another common occurrence in spoken language. Compare the word "comfortable" which is widely pronounced as "comfterbl" or even [losing the r entirely"comtubl"].
Notice that these sorts of changes -- loss of middle sounds, esp. vowels (called "syncope" or "elision") and metathesis -- are very common in the UN-accented syllables of longer words.
At any rate, a pronunciation "Wendesday" > "Wendsday" is very easy to understand. And note that if you can scarcely hear a difference between "wends" and "wens". That's because the d an z-sounding s are both voiced AND pronounced at the same point in the mouth. [Cf. how "scents" and "sense" sound the same, despite the T in the first.]
2007-12-05 04:51:58 · answer #1 · answered by bruhaha 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How To Pronounce Wednesday
2016-11-11 04:07:18 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
7
2016-03-13 21:34:14 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because each day had a literal meaning. Sunday was the warmest day. Saturday was the day we rested as in sat. WEDnesday was the day when laws allowed marriage. This, of course, changed over the centuries. The lesson? Don't believe everything you read here. But, hey, it's fun. .
2014-05-05 14:21:49 · answer #4 · answered by jimocliff 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Because a) words at the time this word originated didn't have a single established spelling, and b) people are lazy and slur words into new, easier pronunciations/spellings over time.
"Wednesday" derives from Old English "Woden's Day" (variable spellings/mutations "Woensdag", "Wodnesdag", "Wednesdai", "Wednesdaeg" at the time). I'm sure you can see how this would be slurred into the modern pronunciation/spelling (say any of these several times quickly and you get the idea).
2007-12-05 01:42:05 · answer #5 · answered by Katie W 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Americans simply pronounce it the same way all English speaking people have always prounced it.
No one says "wed-nes-day"
It is correct to say "wenz-day".
2007-12-05 01:50:22 · answer #6 · answered by Kaye 6 · 1⤊ 5⤋
the same reason that we pronounce knife as nife and listen as lisen because the d is silent.
2007-12-05 01:38:13 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
idk i guess its because americans speak so quickly and dont really think about pronounciation, so it has just become a habbit to drop the d and pronounce it Wen-sday
2007-12-05 01:38:21 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋