Author Topic: Pronunciation question (Read 7314 times)

Jonathon · « **on:** February 02, 2005, 08:45:50 AM »

How do you pronounce the word "toward"? I have only recently learned that most people pronounce it as one syllable, not two. The Oxford English Dictionary says that the bisyllabic pronunciation is not recognized in any modern dictionary, British or American (they're wrong, though—Merriam-Webster and American Heritage still list it as a less-common variant).

So now I'm all weirded out. Am I one of the few people saying "tuh-WORD" (rhyming with "ward" or "cord")? How does everyone else say it?

Trisha · « **Reply #1 on:** February 02, 2005, 09:37:16 AM »

As long as you aren't saying "2 werd"

I say t'word. How that would be counted depends on who was doing the counting. I don't think I usually have an audible vowel after the t, but there is a puf of aspiration. I'm not saying tword.

Is "towards" a real word or just a common habit?

Porter · « **Reply #2 on:** February 02, 2005, 09:40:21 AM »

I say t'ward, as in a church ward.

Jonathon · « **Reply #3 on:** February 02, 2005, 09:53:50 AM »

"Towards" is a real word, and it's just as old as "toward." Don't believe the people who tell you that it's not, or that it's the British form while "toward" is the American form. These people are lying or, at the least, ill-informed. (I also have a suspicion that if "toward" really is more common in print in America, it's only because editors are editing out what they mistakenly think is a "British" form.)

Capt. Tagon · « **Reply #4 on:** February 02, 2005, 08:01:41 PM »

I say it with two syllables if someone is being froward with regards to my instructions. And I usually give it at least a syllable and a half unless I'm making fun of something.

rivka · « **Reply #5 on:** February 02, 2005, 09:06:31 PM »

I say it just as Trisha indicated she does.

And I completely bought the "towards is the British version" story! Henceforth, I will use it with great deliberateness.

Jonathon · « **Reply #6 on:** February 03, 2005, 08:58:36 AM »

*tents finger Mr.-Burns-style*

Excellent.

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #7 on:** February 03, 2005, 01:22:59 PM »

Heck, I don't just pronounce it twords, I spell it that way!

Jonathon · « **Reply #8 on:** February 03, 2005, 01:53:29 PM »

So there's no one here who would pronounce it like "TOE-urd" or "TORD"? 'Cause that's what Merriam-Webster and American Heritage seem to think are most common.

Porter · « **Reply #9 on:** February 03, 2005, 01:57:42 PM »

Well, then we must all be wrong.

Jonathon · « **Reply #10 on:** February 03, 2005, 02:01:47 PM »

That's not what I meant. Dictionaries usually list the most common pronunciations first. But if it's more common, then why is no one saying it that way? Is it a regional thing? An age thing? Something else?

Porter · « **Reply #11 on:** February 03, 2005, 02:19:36 PM »

I was just joking. What I really meant is that I think they are wrong.

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #12 on:** February 03, 2005, 02:32:16 PM »

I suppose what I say sounds like TORD, because I talk fast and slur my words. Hmm... now I've got to say it out loud a lot and listen.

Brinestone · « **Reply #13 on:** February 03, 2005, 03:02:49 PM »

I've got one. For the word legitimate, how do you pronounce the last syllable? M-W says it's a schwa, but I just can't pronounce it that way. I think I say mit. How about you?

Jonathon · « **Reply #14 on:** February 03, 2005, 04:50:41 PM »

Me too. And I think I'd use a schwa in the first syllable in place of a short i. That's not so weird, though, because reduced vowels are slippery and often interchangeable.

sarcasticmuppet · « **Reply #15 on:** February 03, 2005, 06:31:57 PM »

I think I pronounce it with a weaker W -- possibly even nonexistent. You'll have to catch me saying it when I'm not thinking about it to know for sure.

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #16 on:** February 03, 2005, 07:18:54 PM »

Quote

For the word legitimate, how do you pronounce the last syllable? M-W says it's a schwa, but I just can't pronounce it that way. I think I say mit. How about you?

I say mit too... if anything, it would be closer to met than schwa. But I kind of hate the schwa - especially when it's in perilous in the National Anthem - so I make an effort not to use it.

Jonathon · « **Reply #17 on:** February 03, 2005, 07:44:33 PM »

Heh. For a schwa-hater, you speak the wrong languages.

Trisha · « **Reply #18 on:** February 03, 2005, 08:10:54 PM »

Okay, so what is the difference between toward and towards? Is one an adverb and the other a preposition?

Capt. Tagon · « **Reply #19 on:** February 03, 2005, 08:29:01 PM »

It's true that "toward" can be used in a number of situations where "towards" would sound silly and probably be wrong. Like as the opposite of "untoward". But other than that I don't know that there really is any difference.

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #20 on:** February 03, 2005, 10:07:08 PM »

The difference is that one is British and the other American.

Jonathon · « **Reply #21 on:** February 04, 2005, 08:09:10 AM »

*pies Annie*

Quote

It's true that "toward" can be used in a number of situations where "towards" would sound silly and probably be wrong.

No, it's not true.

Quote

Like as the opposite of "untoward". But other than that I don't know that there really is any difference.

You're right there, though. The words untoward and untowards were coined in the fourteenth century, but the latter didn't survive to the fifteenth.

According to Webster's Dictionary of English Usage:

Quote

Many commentators have observed that toward is the more common choice in American English, while the preference in British English is for towards. Our evidence confirms that such is indeed the case. Both words are commonly used in the U.S., but toward is undoubtedly prevalent. . . .

At one time some critics (as Ayres 1881) preferred toward because they believed the -s of towards had died away. Letters from our correspondents sometimes seem to be seeking some semantic basis for a differentiation between these forms, but there is none.

Trisha · « **Reply #22 on:** February 04, 2005, 10:08:04 AM »

So you're saying there is no difference?

Jonathon · « **Reply #23 on:** February 04, 2005, 11:18:56 AM »

Correct.

Crazy Harry · « **Reply #24 on:** February 04, 2005, 09:08:09 PM »

I think that the reason that using "towards/untowards" died out is because it sounds silly. If you don't think it sounds silly, then try saying it out loud in public.