The word pamphlet is often mispronounced pamplet, with a pl instead of a phl sound in the second syllable. The proper pronunciation is pamphlet, with a phl sound as in the word phlegm.
pamphlet
Posted in Pronunciation.
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So it’s not a dialectal difference to you; it’s simply “wrong”. What do you say to people with a pin/pen merger? Or who pronounce cot and caught the same way? What about Michiganders and their bizarre vowel spaces, or the British lack of word-final rhotics? (Unless you’re from Bristol, of course.)
And let’s not get started on the debate between prescriptive and descriptive linguistics.
If you get anything out of this comment, I hope you at least look at some of the phonological rules and inventories of the various varieties of English. That should be fun for anyone who likes language as much as I can gather you do.
Thank you for your comments. I understand that there are a variety of dialect/accent differences in regards to pronunciation, especially with vowel sounds where the differences can sometimes be subtle and difficult to distinguish (as in cot and caught, the examples you mentioned). But, in my opinion, the omission of the ph sound in pamphlet really doesn’t qualify as a dialect/accent issue.
Thank you! English is my second language and I hate it when they “correct” me by saying “pamplet”. I ask them if they also say pone instead of phone.