"ant" from me too. Although, I do hear "ont" from time to time too.

Ant for me, along with most people I know.

We typically said Ant like the insect, only occasionally Aunt when a woman preferred that pronunciation. In my immediate family all were fine with Ant. Then, I married. All the aunts are Teta (pronounced Taytah).

As the nieces, nephews on DHs side become older (some have children of their own now and old enough to talk) I notice they are dropping the Aunt or Teta and addressing me by my first name. As long as they continue to show an interest and continue to call, I really have no preference 😊

"ahnt". I vividly recall being corrected when I was very young by my aunt who sternly said that she was NOT an insect.

Ant.

I say it as "ant", but I know several people who say "awnt".

When I moved to the South, I became accustomed to hearing ”awnt” and that is the only way I can pronounce it at this point. Growing up in Central NY with my mid-western parents. all I ever heard was ”ant”.

My DM was from New England. I learned 'ont', but it's ant where I grew up in the Midwest.

My DIL's family is Polish-American. Her family uses the Polish words for family members: 'Chactcha' is Aunt. DS kids that he became a 'Buick' (Uncle).

Diverging: This is a very minor instance of where One Common Tongue makes life more congenial wherever you are -- and the reverse is true. I believe it's a nagging wedge to unity when immigrants anywhere fail to assimilate via language.

^ Except if you're from RI (which I am, originally), and then it's ont. Like pahking the cah.

Having lived in the South for a very long time it's the difference between ethnicity? Strange but true here. I never once heard awnt or auntie, until I moved here. For me, it's the company in which I am present as to which I use. I try hard to respect.

Ant for me & all my sibs too. But, ”Antie” is reserved for one aunt that I’m especially close to.

I grew up in classy Boston and I say, like the British, Aunnnnt

" I vividly recall being corrected when I was very young by my aunt who sternly said "

What a terrible way for an aunt to speak to a very young niece.

We had dinner with my 50-something niece not too long ago. While we were talking, I realized she was calling me Uncle Elmer (substitute my real name).

I told her that we had known one another long enough (since she was a newborn) that she could probably address me now with just my first name. We had a chuckle and that title is forever gone with her. Next, I have to work with her sister.

Always ant and I know no one who said otherwise. It must be regional.

NYC here. I hear both versions but we use ”ant”.

Always "ant", and I've only heard Fred and Lamont Sanford say "ont", as in "Ont Ester".

Pronunciation differences are both regional and ethnic.

I grew up pronouncing both the insects and my parents' sisters as aints (long A). The black neighbors seemed to be saying awntee for the female but aint (long A) for the insect.

I've only recently heard more of the ONT but I grew up saying and still say ant like the insect.

Ant here. But i’ve heard a lot of ’ont’ pronunciations.

🐜

Elmer, funny about your niece, but why switch now? As for me, for me I try to avoid titles at any age. While I wouldn’t ”correct” a child who calls me Mr Stump because I know that’s how they’re brought up and they’re being polite, as was I, I always introduce myself as Food. Wherever that leads is ok but I prefer Food. I dislike Uncle Food as well but whatever.

Ont here, although all my family use auntie (pronounced ontee).

Ont-ant is too harsh. Same as amen not A -men.

" Same as amen not A -men. "

This is a word much less commonly used than aunt.

In Oz, it’s “ahnt”. But with my American accent, it’s ”ant”.

Do those who say 'ant' also say 'ant-y', or is it 'ont-y'? I think the musical is "Ant-y Mame".

I looked this up. It was originally 'ant' until some Brits sought to sound 'special' with ''ont'. Today it's back to 'ant' -- because people don't want to sound pretentious.

I have three sisters and we're all aunties and I really don't know how that came about.

I love being an aunt and one of my nephews a few years ago, started calling me by my name without the auntie part. His sister actually corrected him and told him how much I loved being an aunt and anyone can call me by my first name but only a select few can put auntie in front of it.

I think I'll take a poll among my friends as to what their nieces and nephews call them.

I grew up in the Midwest, and it was ant. My husband grew up in Connecticut and had a very pretentious mother. I'm not sure which is the reason he says ont.

" Elmer, funny about your niece, but why switch now? "

When I heard it, It sounded wrong. And silly and unnecessary to continue with, after many decades of her adult existence. Her husband said he'd always wondered why she always called me Uncle Elmer. No mas.

For me, with other adults, whether in a professional or private social setting, when introducing myself to start that sequence or responding to someone else doing so, I always say "Hi, I'm Elmer Fudd". Should any further conversation include calling me Mr. Fudd, I will say "Please call me Elmer".

With little kids, I think any trivial correction is very unkind and unnecessary. Sushipup still remembers the incident with her aunt that was what, now 60+ years ago? It was a terrible thing for her aunt to say to her. Childhood memories should be all good.

Elmer, it was said lovingly, and no harm done. My favorite aunt, nothing ever changed that.

Ant

@chisue, I think I found the article you’re paraphrasing regarding the British pronounciation, but it simply says that the vowel shifted after America was colonised, not that the Brits wanted to sound “special”. If anything, it says that the colonies which retained a stronger communication with Britain after colonsiation shifted their pronounciation to ”ahnt” ”as a mark of distinction”. I suspect that ”distinction” here is used in the sense of ”distinguishing one thing from another” rather than ”sophistication or specialness”.

Growing up in the South, it was ‘’awnt” with everyone, always. I only heard ant from those I met from , well, not the South.

Being from NY, Ant.

Husband was from Boston, Mass, Ont

I'm from Texas, the Houston area...we all said "ant". I've started hearing people say "ahntie" lately. Just sounds weird to me.

In the South (which includes Texas), I've noticed that nephews and nieces always say Aunt+first name and Uncle+first name, and that is just what seems normal. However, Kevin and I have a nephew that is four years younger than Kevin, and I'm not sure he called Kevin "Uncle", but he did call me "Uncle", but then I'm 19 years older and demanded respect and discipline from him when I had to babysit him.

My sister has three stepsons, and none of them call me "Uncle," but I do not consider them to be my relatives or family, but I do consider them to be part of my sister's family. Their father was my brother-in-law, but the relationship ended there, but not because I didn't like them. It did not seem right to have them call me "Uncle".

My brother Mike in Texas also has stepchildren, and I do not consider them to be my relatives either - none of them call me "Uncle," but if they did consider me a relative, I would expect for me to call me "Uncle."

I spend little time in Texas, and so I am seldom around my step-nephews/nieces.

http://dialect.redlog.net/staticmaps/q_1.html for maps of pronunciation distribution in the USA.

In my version of British English, which is standard British southern it's ahnt and does not rhyme with ant. But there are plenty of regional variations here just as in the USA some of which rhyme the two words. There isn't a homogenous 'British' accent. And none of the pronunciations are used to sound 'special'.

In the U.S., certain British accents are sometimes used by pretentious people to sound special, and I've never understood this.

I am aware that there are class distinctions in Britain regarding various accents, however, but I don't think any of them are used to sound special, although they do often indicate class. More often, I think they indicate region, but I've never been to UK, and so my experience with the accents there are through media and people I've met from there. There is a sizable British expat community in L.A., largely centered in Santa Monica.

I grew up in New England and never called them "ant". They would have been insulted.