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goodmythical • yesterday at 8:18 PM • 2 replies • view on HN

But that's not always the sound it makes.

"Queue" is not pronounced as the sound that the 'q' in "quick" or "quack" makes.

My favorite is "ghoti"[1] which is pronounced as "fish" because of:

gh, pronounced /f/ as in enough /ɪˈnʌf/ or tough /tʌf/; o, pronounced /ɪ/ as in women /ˈwɪmɪn/; ti, pronounced /ʃ/ as in nation /ˈneɪʃən/ or motion /ˈmoʊʃən/.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoti


Replies

Izkata • today at 4:46 AM

You only get that pronunciation by breaking at least two English pronunciation rules: Leading "g" is always pronounced like a "g" (and in this position the "h" prevents it from being pronounced like a "j"), and "ti" is only pronounced like "sh" when followed by a vowel. Can't remember if there was a rule it broke about the "o".

readthenotes1 • yesterday at 8:38 PM

Huh? How do you pronounce the name of the first letter of the word queue, and how does that differ from when you pronounce the word queue?

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