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HelpHow do you pronounce "Tr" and "Dr"? Adrian, Tristan, Patricia, etc?
I just watched a YouTube video by Dr. Geoff Lindsey, a British expert on how the English language changes over time, on how the pronunciation of certain words have changed in English-speaking countries over the last 50 years or so, where he was interviewing four experts much younger than himself, including one from the USA. Here is a link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCmTKLhHyPc
The majority of the pronunciation differences in this video didn't surprise me at all. But then right at the end they discussed "tr" and "dr", using as main examples the words trip and drip, where he said that the majority of English speakers under the age of 40 -- evidently all around the world -- use the "ch" sound of "chance" in "tr" words and the "j" sound of "John" in "dr" words. As a 72-year-old this completely floored me. I have had no perception that the pronunciation of those words was changing in that way. What completely amazed me was that the young American language expert in the video is himself named Adrian, and said when he was young he was always confused as to why his name was NOT spelling with a "j", as he perceives himself as pronouncing it as with the "j" sound, I guess as "Age-ree-un".
Suddenly I understand the name "Jream" much better. I actually had been assuming this name was probably pronounced "Jay-ream", but now after watching this video I realize that it must simply be a phonetic respelling for younger people of how they perceive themselves as pronouncing the word "dream".
So -- if you are a native speaker of English, how do you say named with "tr" and "dr"? Do you perceive names like Tracy, Patricia, Tristan, Travis, Trenton, Trevor, Trinity, Troy, Trudy, etc. as being pronounced with the "ch" sound of "chance" or "match" before the r's? Does Patrick seem like it should be spelled "Patchrick" to you? Do you pronounce names like Adrian, Andrew, Drew, Drake, Dream, Drusilla, etc. with the "J" sound of John or Jennifer before the "r"? How old are you, and where in the world were you living at around age 14, when one's accent is usually set to that of the other teenagers one is growing up around?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCmTKLhHyPc
The majority of the pronunciation differences in this video didn't surprise me at all. But then right at the end they discussed "tr" and "dr", using as main examples the words trip and drip, where he said that the majority of English speakers under the age of 40 -- evidently all around the world -- use the "ch" sound of "chance" in "tr" words and the "j" sound of "John" in "dr" words. As a 72-year-old this completely floored me. I have had no perception that the pronunciation of those words was changing in that way. What completely amazed me was that the young American language expert in the video is himself named Adrian, and said when he was young he was always confused as to why his name was NOT spelling with a "j", as he perceives himself as pronouncing it as with the "j" sound, I guess as "Age-ree-un".
Suddenly I understand the name "Jream" much better. I actually had been assuming this name was probably pronounced "Jay-ream", but now after watching this video I realize that it must simply be a phonetic respelling for younger people of how they perceive themselves as pronouncing the word "dream".
So -- if you are a native speaker of English, how do you say named with "tr" and "dr"? Do you perceive names like Tracy, Patricia, Tristan, Travis, Trenton, Trevor, Trinity, Troy, Trudy, etc. as being pronounced with the "ch" sound of "chance" or "match" before the r's? Does Patrick seem like it should be spelled "Patchrick" to you? Do you pronounce names like Adrian, Andrew, Drew, Drake, Dream, Drusilla, etc. with the "J" sound of John or Jennifer before the "r"? How old are you, and where in the world were you living at around age 14, when one's accent is usually set to that of the other teenagers one is growing up around?
This message was edited 12/11/2023, 6:40 AM
