Zebra - Revision history

PeterWilson at 09:40, 4 August 2017

2017-08-04T09:40:58Z

PeterWilson at 06:42, 8 November 2014

2014-11-08T06:42:41Z

PeterWilson at 11:52, 23 August 2014

2014-08-23T11:52:00Z

AlanBrod: British and US pronunciations were transposed

2013-09-11T02:30:04Z

British and US pronunciations were transposed

PeterWilson at 17:02, 12 April 2012

2012-04-12T17:02:15Z

JoachimNoreiko at 15:44, 21 June 2007

2007-06-21T15:44:01Z

Wintermute at 16:13, 27 March 2007

2007-03-27T16:13:36Z

New page

The traditional British English pronunciation has the first syllable rhyming with 'sea' - 'ZEE-bra' /"zi:brA. The American pronunciation, which has the first syllable rhyming with 'said' or 'bed' /"zEbrA/, is becoming more common in the UK. Jones says that this is especially true of the 'zebra crossing' to help pedestrians cross roads more safely.

Older speakers prefer the traditional - and academic teachers are often older than their students.

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 ::Among AWE's more recent informants, an American-born reference librarian at the New York Public Library said that he'd never heard the 'ZEBB-ruh' pronunciation (2014), but drew attention to the entry in [[Merriam-Webster 3rd New International Dictionary|Webster]], which says that the pronunciation is 'ZEE-bra' - but occasionally 'ZEBB ra' in British English. (''[[OED]]'' (1921) gives both pronunciations, allowing 'ZEE-bra' priority.) An older, British-born informant who grew up and was educated in Mytholmroyd (where she had been born in 1923) remembers learning 'ZEBBra' at home from her parents - he being manager of the mill - and then being reprimanded on her arrival at Grammar School (therefore c. 1934) for 'that nasty American pronunciation': ZEEBra was the British way.
-Older speakers prefer the traditional pronunciation - and academic teachers are often older than their students.
+Many older speakers prefer the traditional pronunciation - and academic teachers are often older than their students.
 [[category:pronunciation]]
 [[category:AmE]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:42, 8 November 2014
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	The traditional pronunciation of the name of the horse-like animal with black and white stripes has the first vowel like that of 'sea' (and 'see'): 'ZEE-bruh', {{IPA\|ˈziː brə (''[or'')a)}}. An alternative, with a vowel like that of 'get' and the [British] '[[zed]] - 'ZEBB-ruh', /ˈzɛ brə (''[or'') a/ - began to be heard in the twentieth century (AWE has not yet found evidence for its existence before 1921), although it is now the more common pronunciation in the UK. John Wells ('Our changing pronunciation', in ''Transactions of the Yorkshire Dialect Society'' xix.42-48) says that "/ˈze brə/ is preferred over /ˈziːbrə/ by 65% [of older speakers] rising to 96% [among younger speakers]." (The statistic is taken from ''[[LPD]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>'s 1988 survey.)	+	The traditional pronunciation of the name of the horse-like animal with black and white stripes has the first vowel like that of 'sea' (and 'see'): 'ZEE-bruh', {{IPA\|ˈziː brə (''or'' a)}}. An alternative, with a vowel like that of 'get' and the [British] '[[zed]] - 'ZEBB-ruh', /ˈzɛ brə (''or'' a)/ - began to be heard in the twentieth century (AWE has not yet found evidence for its existence before 1921), although it is now the more common pronunciation in the UK. John Wells ('Our changing pronunciation', in ''Transactions of the Yorkshire Dialect Society'' xix.42-48) says that "/ˈze brə/ is preferred over /ˈziːbrə/ by 65% [of older speakers] rising to 96% [among younger speakers]." (The statistic is taken from ''[[LPD]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>'s 1988 survey.)
	::Among AWE's more recent informants, an American-born reference librarian at the New York Public Library said that he'd never heard the 'ZEBB-ruh' pronunciation (2014), but drew attention to the entry in [[Merriam-Webster 3rd New International Dictionary\|Webster]], which says that the pronunciation is 'ZEE-bra' - but occasionally 'ZEBB ra' in British English. (''[[OED]]'' (1921) gives both pronunciations, allowing 'ZEE-bra' priority.) An older, British-born informant who grew up and was educated in Mytholmroyd (where she had been born in 1923) remembers learning 'ZEBBra' at home from her parents - he being manager of the mill - and then being reprimanded on her arrival at Grammar School (therefore c. 1934) for 'that nasty American pronunciation': ZEEBra was the British way.		::Among AWE's more recent informants, an American-born reference librarian at the New York Public Library said that he'd never heard the 'ZEBB-ruh' pronunciation (2014), but drew attention to the entry in [[Merriam-Webster 3rd New International Dictionary\|Webster]], which says that the pronunciation is 'ZEE-bra' - but occasionally 'ZEBB ra' in British English. (''[[OED]]'' (1921) gives both pronunciations, allowing 'ZEE-bra' priority.) An older, British-born informant who grew up and was educated in Mytholmroyd (where she had been born in 1923) remembers learning 'ZEBBra' at home from her parents - he being manager of the mill - and then being reprimanded on her arrival at Grammar School (therefore c. 1934) for 'that nasty American pronunciation': ZEEBra was the British way.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-The traditional British English pronunciation has the first syllable rhyming with 'said' or 'bed', {{IPA|ËˆzÉ›b rÉ™}}. The American pronunciation, which has the first syllable rhyming with 'sea' - 'ZEE-bra', {{IPA|ËˆziË brÉ™}}, is becoming more common in the UK. Jones says that this is especially true of the 'zebra crossing' to help pedestrians cross roads more safely.
+The traditional pronunciation of the name of the horse-like animal with black and white stripes has the first vowel like that of 'sea' (and 'see'): 'ZEE-bruh', {{IPA|ˈziː brə (''[or'')a)}}. An alternative, with a vowel like that of 'get' and the [British] '[[zed]] - 'ZEBB-ruh', /ˈzɛ brə (''[or'') a/ - began to be heard in the twentieth century (AWE has not yet found evidence for its existence before 1921), although it is now the more common pronunciation in the UK.  John Wells ('Our changing pronunciation', in ''Transactions of the Yorkshire Dialect Society'' xix.42-48) says that "/ˈze brə/ is preferred over /ˈziːbrə/ by 65% [of older speakers] rising to 96% [among younger speakers]." (The statistic is taken from ''[[LPD]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>'s 1988 survey.)
-Older speakers prefer the traditional - and academic teachers are often older than their students.
+Older speakers prefer the traditional pronunciation - and academic teachers are often older than their students.
 [[category:pronunciation]]
 [[category:AmE]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:30, 11 September 2013
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	The traditional British English pronunciation has the first syllable rhyming with '~~sea~~' - '~~ZEE-bra~~', {{IPA\|~~ËˆziË brÉ™~~}}. The American pronunciation, which has the first syllable rhyming with '~~said~~' or '~~bed~~', ~~/ËˆzÉ›b rÉ™/~~, is becoming more common in the UK. Jones says that this is especially true of the 'zebra crossing' to help pedestrians cross roads more safely.	+	The traditional British English pronunciation has the first syllable rhyming with 'said' or 'bed', {{IPA\|ËˆzÉ›b rÉ™}}. The American pronunciation, which has the first syllable rhyming with 'sea' - 'ZEE-bra', {{IPA\|ËˆziË brÉ™}}, is becoming more common in the UK. Jones says that this is especially true of the 'zebra crossing' to help pedestrians cross roads more safely.

	Older speakers prefer the traditional - and academic teachers are often older than their students.		Older speakers prefer the traditional - and academic teachers are often older than their students.

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:02, 12 April 2012
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	The traditional British English pronunciation has the first syllable rhyming with 'sea' - 'ZEE-bra' {{~~SAMPA~~\|~~"zi:brA~~}}. The American pronunciation, which has the first syllable rhyming with 'said' or 'bed' ~~{{SAMPA\|"zEbrA}}~~, is becoming more common in the UK. Jones says that this is especially true of the 'zebra crossing' to help pedestrians cross roads more safely.	+	The traditional British English pronunciation has the first syllable rhyming with 'sea' - 'ZEE-bra', {{IPA\|ËˆziË brÉ™}}. The American pronunciation, which has the first syllable rhyming with 'said' or 'bed', /ËˆzÉ›b rÉ™/, is becoming more common in the UK. Jones says that this is especially true of the 'zebra crossing' to help pedestrians cross roads more safely.

	Older speakers prefer the traditional - and academic teachers are often older than their students.		Older speakers prefer the traditional - and academic teachers are often older than their students.

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:44, 21 June 2007
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	The traditional British English pronunciation has the first syllable rhyming with 'sea' - 'ZEE-bra' /"zi:brA. The American pronunciation, which has the first syllable rhyming with 'said' or 'bed' /"zEbrA/, is becoming more common in the UK. Jones says that this is especially true of the 'zebra crossing' to help pedestrians cross roads more safely.	+	The traditional British English pronunciation has the first syllable rhyming with 'sea' - 'ZEE-bra' {{SAMPA\|"zi:brA}}. The American pronunciation, which has the first syllable rhyming with 'said' or 'bed' {{SAMPA\|"zEbrA}}, is becoming more common in the UK. Jones says that this is especially true of the 'zebra crossing' to help pedestrians cross roads more safely.

	Older speakers prefer the traditional - and academic teachers are often older than their students.		Older speakers prefer the traditional - and academic teachers are often older than their students.
		+
		+	[[category:pronunciation]]
		+	[[category:AmE]]