3 ms·

I'm surprised as well, I would've intuitively leaned towards pronouncing it more like "cog" than "cock". Like in Coq au Vin, but I guess that cannot be ordered

I'm surprised as well, I would've intuitively leaned towards pronouncing it more like "cog" than "cock". Like in Coq au Vin, but I guess that cannot be ordered in the US, gotta go for rooster in wine (or freedom rooster?) to make sure nobody gets upset when their mind's first interpretation of a sound is "penis".

toxik 6y ago
I’m pretty sure the vowel sounds the same in cog and cock in US English.
- luckylion 6y ago
  Right, but the ending does not, does it? "cog" and "cock" are like "god" and "got", "dog" and "dock(er)". Are people getting upset when they say "cogwheel" or "a small cog in a big wheel"?
  - toxik 6y ago
    Then I simply don't understand. Coq au vin is pronounced cock, not cog.
dragonwriter 6y ago
> Like in Coq au Vin Even assuming you mean “like that is pronounced in English”, its worth noting that there are at least three different first (or only, as some don’t provide more than one) pronunciations of the “Coq” in “Coq au Vin” in thr half-dozen English dictionaries I’ve just checked.)
- luckylion 6y ago
  Thanks, I wasn't aware that they're slaughtering not only the bird but also the pronunciation! Is it one of those things where not being exposed to French at all makes one unable to produce both a hard k-sound as in "ck" and a softer k-sound that is somewhere between g and k, but definitely closer to "cog" than to "cock"?
  - dragonwriter 6y ago
    > Is it one of those things where not being exposed to French at all makes one unable to produce both a hard k-sound as in "ck" and a softer k-sound that is somewhere between g and k, but definitely closer to "cog" than to "cock"? No, its the fact that the vowel sound in “coq” does not usually occur in English, and is about equidistant from the ones in coke and cock, which are the more common in English; different English dictionaries give each of the three primary status. I can’t find any source with any variation in the final consonant sound, giving it consistently as voiceless (IPA “k”, like “cock”) not voiced (IPA “g”, like “cog”), both in English and French.

toxik 6y ago

I’m pretty sure the vowel sounds the same in cog and cock in US English.

luckylion 6y ago
Right, but the ending does not, does it? "cog" and "cock" are like "god" and "got", "dog" and "dock(er)". Are people getting upset when they say "cogwheel" or "a small cog in a big wheel"?
- toxik 6y ago
  Then I simply don't understand. Coq au vin is pronounced cock, not cog.

dragonwriter 6y ago

> Like in Coq au Vin Even assuming you mean “like that is pronounced in English”, its worth noting that there are at least three different first (or only, as some don’t provide more than one) pronunciations of the “Coq” in “Coq au Vin” in thr half-dozen English dictionaries I’ve just checked.)

luckylion 6y ago
Thanks, I wasn't aware that they're slaughtering not only the bird but also the pronunciation! Is it one of those things where not being exposed to French at all makes one unable to produce both a hard k-sound as in "ck" and a softer k-sound that is somewhere between g and k, but definitely closer to "cog" than to "cock"?
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  > Is it one of those things where not being exposed to French at all makes one unable to produce both a hard k-sound as in "ck" and a softer k-sound that is somewhere between g and k, but definitely closer to "cog" than to "cock"? No, its the fact that the vowel sound in “coq” does not usually occur in English, and is about equidistant from the ones in coke and cock, which are the more common in English; different English dictionaries give each of the three primary status. I can’t find any source with any variation in the final consonant sound, giving it consistently as voiceless (IPA “k”, like “cock”) not voiced (IPA “g”, like “cog”), both in English and French.