Rhymes in English

Discussion in 'Questions about English' started by Alexx, Apr 16, 2009.

  1. wer

    wer Well-Known Member

    I simply can’t believe “orndž” could be one single syllable. “Ordž” is possible, like in “George”, but “orndž” is too much. There must be some nucleus in the “rndž” sound (schwa or another vowel, eventually a syllabic r) and thus the “o” must be a syllable on its own.

    Maybe different, but not wrong. :wink:

    Scrimshaw’s terminology is orthographic (traditional, based on old English pronunciation), yours is phonetic.
     
  2. scrimshaw

    scrimshaw Well-Known Member

    That's interesting. But oddly enough, in the southern style, there is no stop whatsoever in that word. It just all runs together. :D

    Dipthongs are rare in american english
    auto...is not pronounced with a dipthong....it is pronounced aw-to

    Interesting though, in the deep southern states, Mississipi, Alabamba, Georgia, they create dipthongs where no dipthong should be....that is called the southern drawl (lenghtening of the word)

    You draw really well.
    With the drawl....You drauw really well.
     
  3. wer

    wer Well-Known Member

    I still think there is a schwa, scrimshaw. Is it feasible to pronounce it the same way, but with a pause between the “o” and “r”?

    Dipthong is not combination of two letters each representing a vowel, it’s one vowel which change quality during its pronunciation. English is full of dipthons, e.g. cow, loud, night.
     
  4. GlennInFlorida

    GlennInFlorida Well-Known Member

    true - I was visiting my sister in Pensacola, Florida(really it is L.A. - Lower Alabama) and it was raining. Overheard a neighbor calling out "Be careful you don't get way-yet (wet). :)
     
  5. bibax

    bibax Well-Known Member

    The Greek-Latin diphthong au in auto is pronounced as a single wovel in British English as well. It is pronounced like a true diphthong in Romance (except French), German, Czech, etc.
     
  6. scrimshaw

    scrimshaw Well-Known Member

    I have to laugh at myself, misspelling english words......diphthong...not..dipthong

    About the orange pronunciation.
    I'd be curious to hear Glenn's comments about that. He's a southerner too.
    English dictionary definitely breaks it into two syllables.
    or..ange

    I have definitely heard or..inge
    and I think I sometimes say it
    but....mostly to me the word is
    orn..dž(ge)....
    Since now I am thinking about it so much, and paying attention to it.

    I notice when I slow the word down
    I have to put the tip of the tongue to the top of the mouth well behind the teeth to get the final N sound, but when I add the G sound at the end and put it all together,
    the tongue does not have to touch the top of the mouth to get the N sound. Maybe it does, for a millisecond, but it all just runs together.

    It's like beginning the word with ORE, as in iron ore, no break at all between the O and the R

    That's my little corner of the world.....not international pronunciation :D

    And yea, I guess I didn't fully understand the meaning of diphthong.

    Never to old to learn.
     
  7. cestina

    cestina Active Member

    I've been sitting here for the past ten minutes, as a British English speaker, who generally uses received pronunciation, trying to produce a one-syllabled "orange" and I simply can't do it.

    To me the word splits up into o-ringe and can never in a month of Sundays rhyme with finch.....
     
  8. scrimshaw

    scrimshaw Well-Known Member

    If I do break it into syllables it is ORN...ge

    To me the ge sound is like an afterthought, much less empahsized.

    If the second syllable was emphasized then we could make it ryhme.

    There once was an o-ringe
    t'was top stony stone henge

    I long to behold,
    a beautiful o-ringe
    so bright, so bold
    'pon my heart, t'will impinge

    Ok,ok, so I'm not a poet
     
  9. bibax

    bibax Well-Known Member

    According to dictionary.cambridge.org and dictionary.reference.com

    orange rhymes with impinge.

    aw-rinj .......... im-pinj

    The only difference is the stress.
     
  10. GlennInFlorida

    GlennInFlorida Well-Known Member

    well, like scrimshaw said, orange is a one syllable word to me with a bit of an afterthought for the ge (ORNj - the j sort of like the English j in just) and the plural is ORNjez :?
     
  11. scrimshaw

    scrimshaw Well-Known Member

    Thanks Glenn :D
     
  12. cestina

    cestina Active Member

    Well unsatisfactory though the rhymes are I would have to go with Stonehenge and impinge :D I'd have to mangle o-ringe though and stress the last part rather than the "o" which I would normally do. Or of course stress the "imp".......

    It had never occurred to me before that Brits and Americans must read some poetry quite differently.
     
  13. bibax

    bibax Well-Known Member

    I think the metre (measure) is more important than a rhyme.
    (that is the number of syllables, their quantity and stress).

    Are you able to read an old hexametre correctly?
     
  14. wer

    wer Well-Known Member

    Hexameter in English? That must be ridiculous. :D
     
  15. scrimshaw

    scrimshaw Well-Known Member

    Never heard of a hexameter,

    but I do agree absolutely, it is the meter, and rhythym that make the poem
     
  16. bibax

    bibax Well-Known Member

    Hexameter in Czech is ridiculous as well.

    Stůj, noho posvátná! :)
    místa jsou, kamkoli kráčíš,
    ...
    (Jan Kollár: Slávy dcera)
     
  17. rsalc1

    rsalc1 Well-Known Member

    There are many ways to pronounce orange, depending of where you live and what your regional accent is.

    Take a look at Merriam Webster's dictionary (for the American variants):

    Main Entry: 1or-ange
    Pronunciation: \ˈär-inj, ˈär(-ə)nj; chiefly Northern & Midland ˈȯr-inj, ˈȯr(-ə)nj\
    They even have a couple of audio files on their website :)
     
  18. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member

    Well, the original goes "Stůj, noho! Posvátná místa jsou kamkoli kráčíš..."
     
  19. scrimshaw

    scrimshaw Well-Known Member

    Stop, feet!
    The sacred places are wherever you tread.

    Hope i got the quote right.
     
  20. Sova

    Sova Well-Known Member

    As a fellow southerner, I have to second (third?) what scrimshaw and Glenn say about "orange" being pronounced in the South as a single syllable, no schwa.

    Old radio skit:

    <Southern man pulls up in his care to a fast food drive-through window>: I'll have a double cheeseburger, french fries, and a large arnj (orange) drank (drink).

    <restaurant worker with muffled voice through the drive-through speaker> Wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa.

    <man in car>: No, no, no! I said, double cheeseburger, french fries, and a large arnj drank.

    <worker> Wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa.

    <man in car>: No, no, no! Say it with me: double cheeseburger ...

    <worker> Wa-wa-waaa-wa-wa

    <man in car>: ... french fries ...

    <worker> Wa-wa

    <man in car>: ... and a large arnj drank.

    <worker> Wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa

    <man in car>: No, no, no!

    etc.
     

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