How to say: HMS Bulwark
| 12:19 UK time, Friday, 21 July 2006
A guide to words and names in the news, from Martha Figueroa-Clark of the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Pronunciation Unit.
"The Pronunciation Unit recommends the pronunciation BUUL-wuhrk.
"Pronunciation dictionaries give the above pronunciation as the preferred British English pronunciation of 'bulwark' (the word), although other acceptable pronunciations of this word include BUL- (as in 'cup') initially or -WURK (as in 'her') finally. For the name of the ship, we checked the pronunciation with the Royal Navy Press Office."
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Comments
Get an American and an Englishman to say "lieutenant" or "Birmingham", and you will immediately know which is which.
bulwark : bullwharque. Bull as in 'Beware of the bull'
Des Currie
What a wonderful name for the head of the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Pronunciation Unit. Just how do you pronouncethe Figueroa in Martha Figueroa-Clark?
So there still is a Pronunciation Unit. Hooray! I thought it must be long gone. But why do so many broadcasters fail to consult the Unit? Or is it powerless to intervene?
What do the experts make of the current vogue for 'killommetter'; 'reesearch' and then, paradoxically, 'diffuze' for 'defuse' and so on?
Equally distracting is the eager adoption of 'for real', 'for free' and other ungrammatical Americanisms by people who should know better. I thought we were supposed to be an independent island race?
And as for Estuary-speak - sometimes called 'Mockney' - why has this plague spread throughout the country? Genuine Cockney is perfectly acceptable and, happily, is still maintained. Surely we should all be equally proud of our different origins?
Damn - number 3 has just pipped me to the post!
Forgive me if this one has been raised before but why do ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ newsreaders all of a sudden persist in pronouncing "controversy" "contra-versy" - surely there should be a rula bout this? Or has America finally won the battle? What next? "Diarised" or maybe "finessing"...?
Regarding the evolution of the pronunciation of English words. English is a living and therefore evolving language. Words come in and out of fashion. Prithy & Forsooth are two words that come to mind that have been dropped from the common lexicon. Just because a word is coined in North America (which by the way, includes Canada for those with no map) it is not by default, bad. The love of English is alive and well in Canada. While I am on topic, would someone please smack the next person that uses the non-word "irregardless". If you doubt the beauty of common English: play with the punctuation and pronunciation of this phrase.."Eats shoots and leaves"