Has pronunciation of "apparently" changed?

Sin1981

Is it just me, or have many in the media, radio /tv changed how they pronounce apparent /apparently???

I'm almost certain journalists /presenters have have changed how they pronounce this word!

The 'par' part of the word was pronounced like par in golf. Whereas now it's pronounced 'pair'.

Thoughts? 😊

hullaballoo

It's the influence of American English undoubtedly.

That said, I know some people of my parents' generation who have as far as I remember always pronounced it the American way. There might be some regional variance in Ireland? Certainly I think it's standard in Dublin to say "par" rather than "pair" but not universal there either.

ezra_pound

hullaballoo wrote: »

It's the influence of American English undoubtedly.

That said, I know some people of my parents' generation who have as far as I remember always pronounced it the American way. There might be some regional variance in Ireland? Certainly I think it's standard in Dublin to say "par" rather than "pair" but not universal there either.

Isn't it like either - either ≈ eedher - eyedher where two different vowel sounds are interchangeable regardless of 'dialect' etc.

Dial Hard

hullaballoo wrote:

There might be some regional variance in Ireland? Certainly I think it's standard in Dublin to say "par" rather than "pair" but not universal there either.

I'm a lifelong Dub and it has always been "appairently" where I'm from (Terenure).

I don't think it's particularly weird or puzzling. Think of how "parent" is pronounced.

Sin1981

I agree, it probably should be pair, seeing as how we pronounce parents.
Just thought there was a sudden switch among some broadcasters that's all.

ezra_pound

Sin1981 wrote: »

I agree, it probably should be pair, seeing as how we pronounce parents.
Just thought there was a sudden switch among some broadcasters that's all.

I'm afraid you just can't use that kind of logic with English spelling/pronunciation - maybe in Russian or even Irish, but certainly not English.


I'll see "parents" and raise you:
Spar
Part
Apart
Parenthesis
Party
Parson
Parsimonious
Parachute
Paramount
Parliament


Think about great, meat, bear etc. English vowel spelling is completely irregular.

hullaballoo

Dial Hard wrote: »

I'm a lifelong Dub and it has always been "appairently" where I'm from (Terenure).

I don't think it's particularly weird or puzzling. Think of how "parent" is pronounced.

Where are your parents from?

Genuine question, the few people I know who have adopted the pair pronunciation have a non-Dublin influence. My mother is from Terenure as well and wouldn't say it that way.

Fwiw, I think both are acceptable. In fact I don't think pronunciation has many unacceptable variations!

Dial Hard

hullaballoo wrote:

Where are your parents from?

My dad is also a lifelong Dub. My mum was born in Meath but moved to Dublin when she was 8.

I can't remember how my maternal grandparents pronounced it but my paternal ones (also Dubs) definitely pronounced it "appairently" too.

Tbh, I don't actually know anyone who uses the "par" pronunciation. Going to have to keep an ear out for that now.

fineso.mom

Just reading this and have realised that I pronounce the 'par' in apparent and apparently differently. I use the golf par in apparent and the parent par in apparently.
I've no idea why. I've just said this out loud ..."apparently I pronounce apparent and apparently differently and this has only become apparent to me now". Weird.
Father from West Limerick, my mother was American though.

Dial Hard

ezra_pound wrote:

I'll see "parents" and raise you: Spar Part Apart Parenthesis Party Parson Parsimonious Parachute Paramount Parliament

In fairness, it's the "e" after the "r" that lengthens the vowel sound in "parents", which all of your examples are missing, bar "parenthesis" and I know people who'd pronounce that with the "pair" (or even "pare"!) sound.

But I actually agree with your point in general about the difficulty of trying to attribute logic to many English pronunciations.

ezra_pound

Dial Hard wrote: »

In fairness, it's the "e" after the "r" that lengthens the vowel sound in "parents", which all of your examples are missing, bar "parenthesis" and I know people who'd pronounce that with the "pair" (or even "pare"!) sound.

But I actually agree with your point in general about the difficulty of trying to attribute logic to many English pronunciations.

True ... but the "e" is clearly there for the vowel sound of "ent" rather than necessarily to define the "a" vowel sound.

... I'm aware that you agree with me, however, and that "parenthesis" clearly supports this.

ezra_pound

It looks as if Wictionary may shine some light on the question.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apparently

(UK) IPA(key): /əˈpaɹəntli/
(US) IPA(key): /əˈp?ɹ.ɨnt.li/

So UK = A par ent ly
and US = A pair ent ly

Interestingly there are two (not equivalent) US pronunciations listed for apparent:

(UK) IPA(key): /əˈp?.ɹənt/
(US) IPA(key): /əˈp?.ɹənt/, /əˈpɛ.ɹənt/

SO UK and US = A pair ent and US also = App ur ent

Edit : some of the phonetic symbols aren't appearing in my post, apparently, but you can obviously check it out on Wictionary yourselves.

ezra_pound

Just to clarify, according to Wictionary the UK pronunciations for apparent and apparently are "a pair ent" but "a par ent ly".

Dial Hard

The word has lost all meaning for me at this stage, I've read and said it so many times now

looksee

I pronounce the par to rhyme with pat rather than far - a very short 'a', but then I have a north of england accent. All versions sound ok to me.

Sin1981

I get it. There are two ways to pronounce it.
I noticed that a friend I grew up with used the pair sound recently. She definitely didn't always pronounce it like that. I think for some people it's the American influence.