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Miriam
Which route will you take? Route 66!
I was astonished to hear the word route pronounced /ɹaʊt/ (so, that it rhymes with "shout") in an American TV series as I was only familiar with the pronunciation /ɹuːt/ (so, that it sounds like "root") as it is common in British but also American English (apparently, depending on the region). Wiktionary states that route is also pronounced /ɹʉːt/ in Australia and /ɹut/ and /ɹʌʊt/ in Canada.

Now my question is: Do those who pronounce route as /ɹaʊt/ or /ɹʌʊt/, also say /ɹaʊt/ 66 or /ɹʌʊt/ 66 or do they pronounce the name Route 66 as /ɹuːt/ 66?

Also: Do you make a distinction between a router, a tool for cutting grooves, and router, a device for connecting to the internet, and pronounce the first as /ˈɹaʊtə(ɹ)/ or /ˈɹaʊtɚ/, while the second as /ˈɹuːtə(ɹ)/, or do you pronounce both the same as /ˈɹaʊtɚ/?

Here's a video for learners, where the different pronunciations of route and router are explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd9FRM-KUq8.

Do you know other words where the pronunciation depends on the context or the meaning?

Comments · 18

2
Returning to the question @miraim asked in her original post: "Do you know other words where the pronunciation depends on the context or the meaning?"

There's always read(reed) & read(red) -
"Are you going to read(reed) this newspaper?" - "No, I read(red) it this morning."

And lead(leed) & lead(led) -
Could you please lead(leed) me to the place where the lead(led) is kept?

It turns out that these are called heteronyms (or heterophones), and there is a long list of them on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heteronym_(linguistics)


1
@Su. Ki. Sure:
A goth sloth plighted his troth to a moth afloat in the froth of his broth.

There are fewer rhymes for "oath":
(When the two were asked why their pants/trouser legs were hemmed too short) both quoth growth.
1
I was surprised to learn that sloth rhymes with cloth in American English (rather than both, as it does in British English). Slow..w....w...wth.
1
Oh.... sorry...
Withdrawal 🤔
1
@Volt Age
Please scroll down to my comment directly before Dan Smith‘s comments. I already mentioned routine... Maybe you routinely overlooked my comment en route to the top of the discussion thread...

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