Friday, October 30, 2009

Ohio, it is pronounced "ofn"

I miss blogging. Today, I was in the classroom of a very well qualified 6th grade reading teacher. One of the kids I was talking to while the teacher was out of the room said "ofTen". I corrected her and had to prove myself with the dictionary. When the teacher returned the students asked her to say the word spelled "O-F-T-E-N". What did she say? She pronounced it how everyone else in Ohio does, "ofTen". I would say 75% of MN, gets this right, but only about 2% of Ohio. Shape up Ohioans...
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5 comments:

  1. RobbyOctober 30, 2009 at 7:16 PM

    http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/often

    Often was pronounced with a t-sound until the 17th century, when a pronunciation without the [t] Show IPA came to predominate in the speech of the educated, in both North America and Great Britain, and the earlier pronunciation fell into disfavor. Common use of a spelling pronunciation has since restored the [t] for many speakers, and today [aw-fuhn] and [awf-tuhn] [or [of-uhn] and [of-tuhn]] exist side by side. Although it is still sometimes criticized, often with a [t] is now so widely heard from educated speakers that it has become fully standard once again.

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  2. Robert "Bobby" DrodofskyOctober 31, 2009 at 4:06 PM

    yeah, i think we've gotten to the root[rute] of the problem. it's RYAN who needs to shape up and get with the times

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  3. supperdoozieDecember 12, 2009 at 2:18 PM

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  4. supperdoozieDecember 12, 2009 at 2:20 PM

    ryan, i have to agree with bobby here. I think Minnesota is just behind the times in this matter like so many other things ... just because Minnesota hasn't caught on that the t is audible again doesn't mean it's wrong pronunciation. It's like the difference between color and colour, or theatre and theater ... same language, but different regions, people, and countries spell it differently ... all would be correct depending on the dictionary you use ... what year the dictionary was printed or even which country it was printed in ... all english. For crying out loud, ain't is in the dictionary now. Hope to find you and your family in the best of health :)

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  5. AnonymousDecember 14, 2009 at 10:11 PM

    This is a pet peeve of mine, but the last time I looked it up in a dictionary, when Reah was saying "ofTen," I learned that either is acceptable. I'm trying to adjust. Some words are acceptable, especially in lyrics, to be said in a manner which I think is wrong. Aunt Jodi

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