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How do you pronounce this word - lethargy?

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Reply 20

lskdgjsj

BlueAngel

I dont understand, sorry, whats a soft g????

A hard 'g' is the sound of a 'g' in words such as 'get' or 'give'; a soft 'g' is the sound of a 'g' in a word such as 'adage'.

Reply 21

AngelofnoColour

pikaboo

Posh = leth-arrrrr-gee
Mancunian = leth-a-gee
Southern = leth-errrrr-gee

Take your pick :p:

mancunian. I dont like the r's. But its the gee bit that I dont get and I cant explain it in words :redface:

Reply 22

Kew

svidrigailov

That would be the American pronunciation. The Oxford English Dictionary has the 'r' sound silent, in keeping with standard Received Pronunciation.

??? No way do I have an American accent! I speak using the standard recieved pronounciation, as far as I know.

Edit: I wouldn't pronounce the 'r' very strongly.

Reply 23

AngelofnoColour

svidrigailov

a soft 'g' is the sound of a 'g' in a word such as 'adage'.

never heard of that word. :redface:

Reply 24

pikaboo

okay, it's like the 'g' sound made by the 'j' in 'jeans'.

Reply 25

Kew

pikaboo

okay, it's like the 'g' sound made by the 'j' in 'jeans'.

Not really though, the 'j' in 'jeans' is still quite hard. Quite close though.

Reply 26

lskdgjsj

kew96158

??? No way do I have an American accent! I speak using the standard recieved pronounciation, as far as I know.

Edit: I wouldn't pronounce the 'r' very strongly.

I didn't say that you have an American accent; I said that that dictionary entry represented the American pronunciation. RP is nonrhotic, if you pronounce your 'r's clearly, you don't have an RP accent. It may be that you think you pronounce your 'r's, when really you make a sort of elongated 'a' sound.

Reply 27

AngelofnoColour

pikaboo

okay, it's like the 'g' sound made by the 'j' in 'jeans'.

thank you

Yeah I got it now. leth a jee. :smile:

Reply 28

lskdgjsj

kew96158

Not really though, the 'j' in 'jeans' is still quite hard. Quite close though.

The 'j' in jeans is soft; it's exactly the same sound. It's just a linguistic convention that we use 'j' in certain places and 'g' in others.

Reply 29

lskdgjsj

BlueAngel

never heard of that word. :redface:

An adage is just a proverb.

Reply 30

pikaboo

kew96158

Not really though, the 'j' in 'jeans' is still quite hard. Quite close though.

Pedant!

Reply 31

Kew

svidrigailov

The 'j' in jeans is soft; it's exactly the same sound. It's just a linguistic convention that we use 'j' in certain places and 'g' in others.

Yes, I know. But nevertheless, the sound in 'adage' (to use an earlier example) sounds different to the 'j' in 'jeans'.

Reply 32

lskdgjsj

kew96158

Yes, I know. But nevertheless, the sound in 'adage' (to use an earlier example) sounds different to the 'j' in 'jeans'.

It shouldn't; perhaps you aren't parsing the sounds correctly. Each should be pronounced as an assibilated palatal, in RP at least. God this is dull.

Reply 33

Monteferro

I say "Leth-ar-gee" - although I do switch between the American and British pronunciations (i.e. "Can-'t" and "Cah-n't") as I speak with a mixture of both.

Reply 34

DaveManUK

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=lethargy

Reply 35

Create

The g sound is the same as in budgie isn't it?

I'd go for the ur in the middle too.

Didn't realise how difficult it was to describe how to pronouce something!

Good luck with your presentation BlueAngel