Comments on: our, pronounced “are” or like the letter “r” http://www.grammarerrors.com/pronunciation/our-pronounced-are-or-like-the-letter-r/ Common usage errors in English Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:18:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Debbie http://www.grammarerrors.com/pronunciation/our-pronounced-are-or-like-the-letter-r/comment-page-1/#comment-1142 Debbie Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:32:53 +0000 http://www.grammarerrors.com/wordpress/?p=168#comment-1142 I'm sorry if this sounds rude, I do not mean it to I just find a lot of what you're saying very offensive. (I came across this site while trying to research where my pronunciation of 'our' as 'are' is mainly used and if it was a more modern change to language.) You display a very prescriptivist and judgmental view- especially considering that the majority of Northern English speakers pronounce 'our' as a homophone of 'hour' whilst Southern English speakers, (which by the way I am, and I feel insulted by the suggestion that having a regional accent apparently makes me inferior) pronounce 'our' as a homophone of 'are'. There is no such thing as language 'decaying'. Language- like any other part of society needs to progress and language change is necessary. This argument about language decaying has been around since the beginning of language and is made regardless of any advances in language. There is no such thing as correct in language, language is standard or non-standard (and even that is a judgmental way of looking at things), and considering the fact that what constitutes standard changes over time I don't think you can tell people how they must pronounce things. Finally, the purpose of language is to be understood not for you to pass judgments about other people based on which part of the country/world they happened to be in when the 'correct' way of speaking was decided. I do not understand why, when so many other prejudices are rightly condemned, prejudice towards people based on their use of language is still deemed acceptable in this day and age. I’m sorry if this sounds rude, I do not mean it to I just find a lot of what you’re saying very offensive. (I came across this site while trying to research where my pronunciation of ‘our’ as ‘are’ is mainly used and if it was a more modern change to language.)

You display a very prescriptivist and judgmental view- especially considering that the majority of Northern English speakers pronounce ‘our’ as a homophone of ‘hour’ whilst Southern English speakers, (which by the way I am, and I feel insulted by the suggestion that having a regional accent apparently makes me inferior) pronounce ‘our’ as a homophone of ‘are’.

There is no such thing as language ‘decaying’. Language- like any other part of society needs to progress and language change is necessary. This argument about language decaying has been around since the beginning of language and is made regardless of any advances in language.

There is no such thing as correct in language, language is standard or non-standard (and even that is a judgmental way of looking at things), and considering the fact that what constitutes standard changes over time I don’t think you can tell people how they must pronounce things.

Finally, the purpose of language is to be understood not for you to pass judgments about other people based on which part of the country/world they happened to be in when the ‘correct’ way of speaking was decided. I do not understand why, when so many other prejudices are rightly condemned, prejudice towards people based on their use of language is still deemed acceptable in this day and age.

]]> By: Peadar http://www.grammarerrors.com/pronunciation/our-pronounced-are-or-like-the-letter-r/comment-page-1/#comment-588 Peadar Thu, 21 Apr 2011 21:45:19 +0000 http://www.grammarerrors.com/wordpress/?p=168#comment-588 So perhaps we should also rhyme 'your' with 'secure' instead of 'yore'? Sure enough, this was the original pronunciation, but that's the way all short, frequent & usually unstressed words behave -- they decay more readily than the other ones, compare 'a', originally the same word as 'one'. The fact that 'our' has resisted the change longer because it's rarer ('your' has to cover the meaning of 'thy' as well as its own) doesn't mean that some mysterious forces will prevent it from yielding to the _linguistic change_ forever. You may not like it as a matter of style, but it's weird to call it a 'blunder'. Contemporary languages are one big blunder if you take the point of view of our forefathers. So perhaps we should also rhyme ‘your’ with ‘secure’ instead of ‘yore’? Sure enough, this was the original pronunciation, but that’s the way all short, frequent & usually unstressed words behave — they decay more readily than the other ones, compare ‘a’, originally the same word as ‘one’. The fact that ‘our’ has resisted the change longer because it’s rarer (‘your’ has to cover the meaning of ‘thy’ as well as its own) doesn’t mean that some mysterious forces will prevent it from yielding to the _linguistic change_ forever. You may not like it as a matter of style, but it’s weird to call it a ‘blunder’. Contemporary languages are one big blunder if you take the point of view of our forefathers.

]]> By: to the letter http://www.grammarerrors.com/pronunciation/our-pronounced-are-or-like-the-letter-r/comment-page-1/#comment-74 to the letter Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:21:15 +0000 http://www.grammarerrors.com/wordpress/?p=168#comment-74 [...] latest piece of her ongoing ... One Response to Typographer Designs Alphabet Down To the Letter ...Our, pronounced are or like the letter r | GrammarErrors.comIt is common to hear the possessive pronoun our incorrectly pronounced like the verb are or the [...] [...] latest piece of her ongoing … One Response to Typographer Designs Alphabet Down To the Letter …Our, pronounced are or like the letter r | GrammarErrors.comIt is common to hear the possessive pronoun our incorrectly pronounced like the verb are or the [...]

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