4 ms·

> I mean, how do you explain oeuf vs. oeufs? Just like 'hour' and 'our' in English I assume. They just happened to sound exactly alike for different(?) reasons

> I mean, how do you explain oeuf vs. oeufs? Just like 'hour' and 'our' in English I assume. They just happened to sound exactly alike for different(?) reasons. EDIT: Probably similar reasons, actually? The "h" here participates in in a vowel sound (effectively silencing it) and the 's' suffix is often (but not always!) silent in French? Spelling is a tension between going purely for sounding things out (e.g IPA) and being able to find commonality with other pronunciations (dialects spoken by neighboring peoples), etc. It's going to get ad hoc because people.

adastra22 3y ago
Hour and our are not pronounced the same, at least not in American English.
- jghn 3y ago
  They can be. Depends on the person/region.
- Quekid5 3y ago
  Do you have an example accent/dialect? I'm honestly curious, because I can't think of any... but then I'm neither a Brit nor an American, so... :)
  - adastra22 3y ago
    I’m a California native. “Hour” in my dialect is like “ow-er” where the first sound is like the beginning of “ouch!” but it is distinctly two sounds. “Our” is a single sound very close to “are”.
    - Quekid5 3y ago
      Thank you, I think I "hear" it with your explanation! Shades of Irish in that one. Also, I'm suddenly reminded of the complete reverse, "Aaron earned an iron urn" meme for some random reason :)
      - adastra22 3y ago
        Huh, I’d never heard that one! There may be some truth to the Irish influence. On the US generally (more people of Irish descent than Ireland itself), and California specifically as a lot of transcontinental railroad workers settled here.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
- hydrok9 3y ago
  They are pronounced the same, however in casual speak the "ou" sound tends to get dropped in favour of the "r". Think of the phrase "to our house," spoken quickly, with the end of each word blending into the beginning of the next.
somat 3y ago
I went down the rabbit hole of trying to figure out what "match"(as in the same thing) and "match"(what you start fires with) had to do with each other. It turns out they are different words with different origins that are spelled and sound the same. whee. A fun fact "match"(the fire one) shares a root with mucus, it has something to do with oil lamps. And candle snot is a thing.(it is the bit of the wick that needs trimmed.

adastra22 3y ago

Hour and our are not pronounced the same, at least not in American English.

jghn 3y ago
They can be. Depends on the person/region.
Quekid5 3y ago
Do you have an example accent/dialect? I'm honestly curious, because I can't think of any... but then I'm neither a Brit nor an American, so... :)
- adastra22 3y ago
  I’m a California native. “Hour” in my dialect is like “ow-er” where the first sound is like the beginning of “ouch!” but it is distinctly two sounds. “Our” is a single sound very close to “are”.
  - Quekid5 3y ago
    Thank you, I think I "hear" it with your explanation! Shades of Irish in that one. Also, I'm suddenly reminded of the complete reverse, "Aaron earned an iron urn" meme for some random reason :)
    - adastra22 3y ago
      Huh, I’d never heard that one! There may be some truth to the Irish influence. On the US generally (more people of Irish descent than Ireland itself), and California specifically as a lot of transcontinental railroad workers settled here.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
hydrok9 3y ago
They are pronounced the same, however in casual speak the "ou" sound tends to get dropped in favour of the "r". Think of the phrase "to our house," spoken quickly, with the end of each word blending into the beginning of the next.

somat 3y ago

I went down the rabbit hole of trying to figure out what "match"(as in the same thing) and "match"(what you start fires with) had to do with each other. It turns out they are different words with different origins that are spelled and sound the same. whee. A fun fact "match"(the fire one) shares a root with mucus, it has something to do with oil lamps. And candle snot is a thing.(it is the bit of the wick that needs trimmed.