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elmerjfudd

Pronunciation - Is this regional, generational, lazy, or what?

4 months ago

I was just saw a TV weather segment. The weather specialist was male but I don't think that has any impact on what I observed that I'd like to ask for quick comments about.

He was discussing possible storm tracks for Hurricane Milton as it develops and moves through the Gulf of Mexico toward the west coast of Florida.

His pronunciation of the storm's name is what caught my attention.

So "Milton". To me, that's Mill ton. Slight emphasis on the first syllable. Ton sounds like the word for 2000 pounds.

The weatherman said Mil 'un. He spoke with no apparent accent (the "TV accent") and had no physical features immediately suggesting he was from an American ethnic or racial minority. I've heard a similar pronunciation habit, dropping hard consonants, by other people with other words.

Is this a regional pronunciation? An uneducated one? A lazy one? Or something younger people do? Or none of the above?

As it interests me, I'm going to ask my kids and older grandkids to pronounce the word and see what I hear. (all are used to getting random questions from me). All of them speak with the same non-accented accent I have, that of California.

How do you say Milton?

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