Pronunciation: aunt

My family went through the serious dust bowl years of Okla/Texas and some of my older relatives say AINT. As in old AINT Edna. I love the differnet regional dialects.

Well I must say, I'm astonished to see so many posts on the subject. I'm from the midwest, and my whole family pronounces the "au" in the word "aunt" just like the "au" is pronounced in the words "guant" or "flaunt". I think everyone is running around in circles with the whole "ont" "ahnt" and "awnt". Realistically I think everyone has one of two variations of the word in their verbal arsenal. People either say "ant" or "aunt" ("au" like in "flaunt"), and based upon their ethnic and regional backgrounds, all of these derivations take place.

In my personal opinion, I am more likely to accept "aunt" ("au" pronounced like the "au" in "flaunt") as the correct pronunciation of the word for the sole purpose that it follows the unvarying, uniform pattern of every other word in the English language that contains the string of letters "aunt".

It's very hard for people to accept that there may be two right answers, but there, in fact, may be.

P.S. I found Tyrone's post the funniest and most entertaining of all the posts on this page. It was a nice change of pace from the mundane, repetitive, and often meaningless arguments that everyone else is trying to make.

I live in Kentucky and everyone I know... with the exception of one aquaintence from Philadelphia... says "ant." Black people and white people. "Ont" is thought to be a northern thing.

I am originally from South Carolina but currently live in Maryland. Growing up, I always heard aunt pronounced 'ant' and I was taught to pronounce it that way. When I moved to Maryland, I noticed that everyone from this area pronounced the word 'ont'. I actually got into a heated discussion with one of my dear friends from here who insisted that only uneducated people pronounced aunt as 'ant'. I insisted that it wasn't a matter of education but a matter of geography.

Very strange how heated this topic makes people. I guess nobody wants to admit that they have been pronouncing the word incorrectly their whole lives! Or, even worse, no one wants to think that they sound uneducated.

My guess is that it's okay to say either. You say 'toe-may-toe', I say 'to-mah-toe'.

I am Black and I say "ASK" and cringe when I hear otherwise. I also pronounce the word aunt as "ANT" and cringe when I hear otherwise. I'm a lawyer -- born, raised, and WHOLLY educated in New York. I went to Catholic school, university, and law school -- all places where grammar and pronunciation are stressed. 99% of the people in all of my schools, no matter race or color, pronounced aunt "ant."

I think it's a matter of education. I say that because many of my poorer and less educated cousins say "awnt." It, like everything thing in this world, is not a "black" and "white" thing. It's an education/money thing.
Also, Caribbean Blacks say "ant" because we call all female elders "ant-y," not "awnt-y." I am half Caribbean so I can attest to that! That's a regional difference as well. So, you can't lump all Blacks into one category -- imagine that!

Dan,
You spelled "grammar" wrong in your last post and "caucasian" wrong in the one before that.

Whilst you're going on doing pointless racial surveys about people's mispronunciations and other assorted foolishness, maybe you should muster up an equal amount of gumption to enroll in an English course at your local primary school for a review of elementary spelling.

Cheers,
AC

I've found an excellent way to amuse myself for hours--reading the ant-ont debate (which has now become the ant--ont-aint-awnt debate!)

I love accents of all sorts and have great fun guessing where people grew up based on how they speak. If you actually cringe when you hear someone say a word a certain way, it is definitely your problem (look it up--it's called "projection," and it has to do with what you are afraid you are. In this case, apparently, ignorant!)

I now have white friends who imitate the black 'ax' and black friends who never say 'ax.' Some say ant and some ont, but my rural southern family members say aint. I gave that up when I lived in Indiana and got laughed at...so yes, it is normal to speak the way those around you speak. Duh. Humans are social creatures. How else do you learn language? Apparently, some people think it was piped into their heads in its pure, "correct" form.

The joke about language is that there is no right and wrong (yes, I know that's heresy on this board), but only whether people understand you or not. I have many language-loving friends who adore deliberately distorting words for their own and others' amusement.

Of course, when you write or speak to many people, you also have to concern yourself with the judgments readers make about your intelligence and education, so you try not to trip up--that means you use what doesn't upset the most people. It's just like American politics...you choose the least offensive action. That's why newspeople have bland, unaccented voices. They are one of the reasons I love Holly Hunter--no one has managed to beat the accent out of her.

Finally, as a science writer, well, what can I say to the guy who commented on racial differences being science-based? The big secret is that the different 'races' are pretty darned similar, and getting more homogenized every day. You can call a person black who is 75% white, and no one will argue with you if his skin is even slightly mocha. Does that mean he is significantly genetically different from a white person? Um, no. I'm looking forward to the browning of America.
Melanin is far too unevenly distributed here! And just for fun, I'm gonna start saying "awnt."

After scratching my head for a while, trying to figure out why IET would post his/her opinion with such an air of superiority, and then follow it up with proof that s/he's wrong, I've come to the conclusion that s/he must have misunderstood the meaning of an "educated pronunciation." This does not mean that "ahnt" is the pronunciation used by educated people, but rather that it is the pronunciation "fostered by the schools" in those areas, under the mistaken opinion that no two words in English can have different spellings and yet be pronounced the same way.

The fact is that the original pronunciation of "aunt" is the same as "ant." Anyone who says that the "ant" pronunciation is incorrect is simply wrong, as this was the pronunciation used before the introduction of "ahnt" in order to try to sound more French.

Aint Bee, the "ahnt" pronunciation is a newer invention. It seems a little strange to insist that those who use the older pronunciation are wrong.

Just because "ant" is pronounced the same as "aunt" does not make an "aunt" an insect. I suppose you'd also consider a "dear" to be a four-legged animal.

In your opinion, should the "oo" in "book" and "soon" sound the same? Are you among those who consider "its" and "it's" interchangeable?

Why do we pronounce "through" the same as "threw" instead of "throw?" According to your logic, the pronunciation of "though" would prove the latter correct.

The problem with the argument I've seen here in favor of the "ahnt" pronuciation is that it grossly over-simplifies English pronunciation.

"You say po-tay-tow, and I say po-taw-tow...

Let's call the whole thing off."

Ontario, Canada lad. "Ant". Awnt sounds snobby. And if you spell it correctlt, and people understand you either way, who cares?

Ha, I misspelled "correctly" LOL!

I hate to hear ONT or Ahnt. I'm in Nebraska. But my husband only says Ahnt because that is what he thinks it is in German. His mom says ant.
Ahnt sounds stuffy and not American.

The pronunciation of "ask" as "aks" is sometimes seen as a sign of ignorance, but it should not be. I found the following explanation online:

"While the pronunciation /aks/ for ask is not considered standard, it is a very common regional pronunciation with a long history. The Old English verb áscian underwent a normal linguistic process called metathesis sometime in the 14th century. Metathesis is what occurs when two sounds or syllables switch places in a word. This happens all the time in spoken language (think nuclear pronounced as /nukular/ and asterisk pronounced as /asteriks/).

Metathesis is usually a slip of the tongue, but (as in the cases of /asteriks/ and /nukular/) it can become a variant of the original word. This alternative version in Old English was axian or acsian, as in Chaucer's: "I axe, why the fyfte man Was nought housband to the Samaritan?" (Wife's Prologue 1386). Ascian and axian co-existed and evolved separately in various regions of England. The ascian version gives us the modern standard English ask, but the axian variant ax can still be found in England's Midland and Southern dialects.

In American English, the /aks/ pronunciation was originally dominant in New England. The popularity of this pronunciation faded in the North early in the 19th century as it became more common in the South. Today the pronunciation is perceived in the US as either Southern or African-American. Both of these perceptions underestimate the popularity of the form.

/aks/ is still found frequently in the South, and is a characteristic of some speech communities as far North as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Iowa. It is one of the shared characteristics between African-American English and Southern dialects of American English. The wide distribution of speakers from these two groups accounts for the presence of the /aks/ pronunciation in Northern urban communities.

So in fact, your colleague is correct in calling /aks/ a regional pronunciation, one with a distribution that covers nearly half of the territory in the United States and England."

(Source: http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19991216)

The pronunciation is common enough to have engendered a very old joke:

Somebody asked Miss Lizzie the time of day. Said she: "I don't know, but I'll go and ax Father."

That was current humor in 1892. Still not funny, really.

Re "If the U wasn't to be pronounced, then it wouldn't be in the word" — do you pronounce the K in "knit," the L in "colonel," the P in "pychology," the H in "chorus," and the GH in "through"? If you believes your own argument, you would be pronouncing them: until you follow your own logic, do not ask others to do so. (If it degrades an aunt to pronounce her title as "ant," then it must degrade knitting to pronounce "knit" identically with the larva of a louse.)

@An English Professor - "There are over a thousand words in Webster Dictionary as well as The Oxford Dictionary which begin with the letters "au" and every one of them is pronounced with the "awe" sound."

Better look again prof. Even if we ignore the outright French words like au jus where the au = ō (BTW, I think I did mention that aunt comes from Old French ante didn't I?) there are words like aubade ōˈbäd. The folks in Augustus, GA say əˈgəstə ... not awe, aumbry ˈambrē, and a few more. In fact, I think most of the words beginning with "au" came thru French and we're mispronouncing them by saying "awe".

As an English prof, you're likely aware that in ME, it was also spelled ante ... "Ion was Crystes ante sonne." (Mirk's Festial: A Collection of Homilies by Johannes Mirkus)

Anent "our" ... The "are" pronunciation is closer to the original pronunciation of the OE "ur, ure" (and that was also a ME spelling: It was in ure seckes don.) so it isn't surprising that many eschew the "hour" pronunciation as it was never that in the first place. That is merely the case of pronunciation chasing the spelling ... As a English prof, you're certainly aware that the Norman-French scribes often substituted the French "ou" for the English "u". Thou was originally þu then thu and then thou (still pronounced thu with the French spelling) and later the pronunciation followed the spelling with "ou" = the "ou" in about, house. Maybe the right thing to do would be to correct the spelling back to ure!

There’s only one way to say it. PERIOD.
The sister of your mother is pronounced exactly the same as if she was a tiny creature living with a million others in a dirt hill

I say 'ant' and 'Aw -di' as in Claude, or audio. I'm Irish.

I can't recall hearing "ont" from a Canadian, but I've heard it fairly often in the US. Still, most Americans of my acquaintance, east or west, say "ant"

What is Chris on about (Oct 29)? "Ax" instead of "Ask", which is 'common' here. In Australia we tend to have more of an Ah-nt; almost halfway between ant and ohnt. In the South, such as Victoria, it is a soft sound, and further north, towards the Top End, it becomes stronger, like 'Arnt'

To the ignoramous who wrote this ^^^^

What you have written is a complete waste of anyone's time. Please refrain from this type of garbage in the future and consult your dictionary next time before making my day a little worse.

merry mary married hairy harry, what an idiot.

Okay, now I'm totally baffled. I've been amused until now with how very distressed and even holier-than-thou people can be about mere regionalistic pronunciations! But this new "Merry Mary Married Hairy Harry" things has me scratching my head ~ how can all of these POSSIBLY be pronounced the exact same way???

I'm surprised to see you say that, Sara. I am very curious. Exactly what part of the country are you from? Do note, The dictionary lists four different and distinct pronunciations. It has been my experience that most English speaking people pronounce them all differently, with four different vowel sounds as well. This applies to Americans, British, and others who speak English as an international language. Here in In the northeastern US / New England area I have never heard them pronounced the same either. I met one person in college who had a twangy rural accent (not sure from where) who did pronounce them all the same. What was particularly interesting is, not only did she say them the same, she also could not hear the difference when someone else said them differently! It most definitely is a regional/accent variation. See, amazed? You ahvae no reason to be baffled.

Give it up Porsche, uh I mean "Anonymous." Even after your 1,001st post on this topic, you're not convincing anyone.

The /w/ sound is a rounded velar approximant. This is the sound found it words such as "we", "well", "win". This sound is not found in words such as "taunt", "gaunt", "flaunt" in US and Canadian English. The vowel sound in these words is a low back vowel.

Ok I did my own survey on the words aunt, ask. I wrote down on paper ASK pronounced ASK, ASK pronounced AXE or AXED with 2 rows for blacks and whites. I did the same for the word AUNT pronounced ANT, and AUNT pronounced AWNT or ONT or UNT or AWNTY. Most of this survey was taken from courtroom drame shows such as Peoples Court, Judge Maria Lopez, Judge Hachett. Here are my results:
ASK pronounced ASK: 3 black 10 white.
ASK pronounced AXE, AXED: 20 black 1 white.
AUNT pronounced ANT: 0 blacks 11 whites.
AUNT pronounced AWNT, ONT: 12 black 1 white.
AUNT pronounced AWNTY: 8 black 0 white.

So whoever it was that said "it's just retarded to think that being black has anything to do with how you speak. dialect and pronunciation are regional traits." is wrong according to my survey results.
These courtroom shows are taped in different parts of the country from what I notice. Some CA some NY some Mass. and I saw one that was I think in Atlanta.
Friday night a few of us went out for beers after work. 3 of which are black. I asked them why black people say AXE instead of ASK. I didnt get a real anser except from Josh who replied "you dont hear me saying AXE, I was raised in a Caucasion house."

PS, Grammar Police --

I'm a "she." I love how you assume with all of the sexist logic you can muster that a lawyer must be male. Most reasonably intelligent people err on the side of caution and say he/she when they don't know the person.

Dan, I think people get offended when you say it has to do with them being black -- period -- as opposed to any other reasonable explanation. Can you consider for a moment that it may have something to do with education/region? Do you think that Barack Obama, for instance, says "awnt" or "ax?" (I'm just using him as an example that I hope we all have heard speak in the past few weeks.) This is an academic inquiry, please don't be offended.

(a) I watch the BBC; in fact one of my fave sitcoms is "Coupling." I am fully aware of other pronunciations around the world. Re-read my comments -- never said anything other than about American English and Caribbean pronunciation.

(b) Bostonians have awful diction -- "Go "pahk" the "cah" (translation - park the car) is also something I cringe at. Bad example, hon.

(c) Been around the world and snagged a Canadian husband whilst at it.

(d) Most of the people who say "awnt/ont" as pronounce ask as "ax," caramel as "carmel," engine as "injun," and library as "liberry" to name a few ugly, awful, obvious examples.

(e) Get a life; I'm entitled to my superior, elitist opinion about those who butcher American English.

To all who try to use the spelling of "aunt" to justify the "ahnt" pronunciation, please be aware that present spelling of English words often has nothing to do with their original pronunciations. Nor should anyone assume that Americans have "bastardized" the English language, and that anyone from the English aristocracy speaks "pure English." The truth is that "posh" English has been heavily influenced by French. Much, but not all, of this shift in British English took place after the colonists had left for America, causing Americans to continue using the older forms, while many of the English shifted to the more "French" forms. Since there were no radios or recordings at the time, the English soon forgot the older words and pronunciations, causing quite a bit of shock when they once again heard them, generations later, from the Americans.

Also, I'm not sure what IET was trying to prove a few posts earlier, as his/her quotation clearly states that "the /æ/[a] pronunciation of aunt was brought to America before British English developed the /É‘/[ah] in such words as aunt, dance, and laugh."

R, your post is complete and utter nonsense. The word is pronounced AHNT. An ant is an insect. period. Deal with it. You can argue in circles till you're blue in the face and at the end of the day you'll still be pronouncing aunt incorrectly. Good Lord, reminds me of a Hillary Clinton "popular vote" fanatic in denial.

Some say AHNT and some say ANT.

There you have it.

Next question, please.

R,
In all the pronunciation examples you've given, there are several words within each pronunciation group that are pronounced the same (ie...even though the "oo" has several sounds depending on the word, there are many words in the group that are pronounced like "book"---some examples are nook, look, crook, etc. There are also many words pronounced like "soon" --- noon, loon, boon, etc.)

Even with homophones (dear, deer) there are normally several examples of other words with the same spelling that match these in pronunciation (tear, beer)

There is a METHOD to the madness that is English.

The problem with your argument is that your pronunciation of "aunt" as "ant" is COMPLETELY UNLIKE all of the words you've mentioned. According to you and the majority of the people on this board who stubbornly cling to a pronunciation that isn't logical (just because they were raised pronouncing it that way), "aunt" is the ONLY word of its spelling that is pronounced like "ant," whereas ALL THE OTHER WORDS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE that end in "-aunt" belong to another pronunciation group. To a rational person, this doesn't make sense. Unfortunately, as we have seen time and time again, many people are not rational.

As a side note, other than random dictionary notes in North American dictionaries, there really is very little empirical evidence that the "ant" pronunciation preceded the AHNT pronunciation. And common sense would tell you otherwise if you were just to take a hot second to THINK about the fact that this is the ONLY "-aunt" word that has a popular pronunciation that is different from ALL the other -aunt words. Obviously the pronunciation was changed from AHNT to "ant" and NOT vice versa.

The fact is that the "ant" pronunciation has become accepted and is the mainstream pronunciation in English speaking North America. I don't think anyone disputes that. How this came about is only a scholar's GUESS.

It's only when very ignorant people proclaim that the "AHNT" pronunciation is wrong that problems arise. It isn't wrong, as is evidenced by the fact that the majority of the non North American English speaking world (as well as a large minority of Americans) pronounces it as such AND that the AHNT pronunciation is in line with all of the other -aunt words in the English language. To argue against it, as many people on this board have done, shows a kind of ignorant and foolish arrogance that defies explanation.

well I'm an Irish Indian African who lives in Western Canada and I say you're all crazy for continuing to add to this post two and a half years later.

Oh, and I love coming back to this thread.

I moved to Pittsburgh, PA about 5 years ago from New England and was hit with a TON of new vocabulary that the locals consider to be "correct" or acceptable. ie: a vacuum cleaner is called a "sweeper".

When you're raised pronouncing something, or even describing something a certain way, you become "proud" and refuse to accept what the real definition is.... as is proof with the whole "sweeper" thing....

Go ahead and dispute this anyone, it's really just a matter of ignorance...

Let's hear if for AHNT..... that or let's just change the pronounciation of audio to "adio", cause that's right, right?

Good one, Mick. Hey, Scaryfunhouse, did you run out of gas because your ch-AH-ffeur forgot to check the fuel g-AH-ge?

"Auhnt" from new england

People let's use nationalities when we refer to ourselves verses the misnomer of skin color like the two gentlemen who wrote earlier. There is no country called white or black, ignorance is a killer.

I'm African-Asian American living in Atlanta, GA and perfer to use "awnt" verses "ant." It seems a bit improper to me to use "ant." However, I realize according to the dictionary both "ant" and "awnt" are acceptable. I totally agree with earlier writer...it's not incorrect because it is used less.

It's interesting to see how passionate some get over the pronunciation of this one word. For the record, I pronounce it like want, though I can't be certain how anyone pronounces that word, either.

I am seeing three distinct pronunciations represented: Ant (like the bug), Awnt, and Ahnt. I have never felt any of these to be superior to the others; they are simply regional and cultural differences. Why not enjoy the salad?

You say tomato, I say tomato, but don't you be dissin' my Auntie!

I say ahnt. I'm not black. I'm from New England. If you say ant here people might look at you as though you've got 3 heads. You may argue that it's opinion, but I think ant is incorrect. But if someone from the west or wherever says ant then I really don't care, because that's how they were raised and what is accepted there. However, all these people here complaining about New Englanders saying ahnt is really sad. We are Americans too. And we'll pronounce aunt the way we've always been saying it. If you can't deal with that, I don't know what to say. We are part of the US. In fact, if it weren't for us, then there would be no US. Just because we have a different accent, tend to be more liberal, and might seem snobby doesn't make us from another planet. Go piss off if you have a problem with New England, cause it's not going to change only because you think it's not aMURican enough for you.

Let Shakespeare settle the issue:

"The lark, that tirra-lira chants —
With hey, with hey, the thrush and the jay —
Are summer songs for me and my aunts
While we lie tumbling in the hay."
— THE WINTER'S TALE, Act IV, Scene iii

Plainly, he rhymed "aunts" with "chants."

The standard and proper pronunciation of aunt is aunt, not ant. This is why we spell them differently. They have different pronunciations supported by different rules of spelling and pronunciation. There are over a thousand words in Webster Dictionary as well as The Oxford Dictionary which begin with the letters "au" and every one of them is pronounced with the "awe" sound. It is not actually regional but rather due to unintended laziness or improperly developed articulators. Of course many of us use what we grew up hearing becasue we are accustomed to hearing it. We make statements such as "It doesn't sound right." This is an inaccurate statement. Nothing literally sounds correct or incorrect. Langauge is arbitrary. We must not confuse what we are accustomed to hearing with what is standard or correct usage. Numerous people shorten both words and pronunciations. Aunt takes more effort to pronounce than ant. The articulators (lips, teeth, tongue, hard and soft palates used in producing speech sounds) must work harder (mouth opens more in pronouncing aunt). Even though citizens change the way words are pronounced over many years of usage, Webster's often does not differentiate slang pronunciation from standard pronunciation. The spelling and pronunciation rules indicate that aunt is pronounced with the "awe"sound. Shortening the vowel to the "a" sound as in "cat" or "ant" does not logically apply to the word aunt. But people will still pronounce aunt using the illogical short "a" pronunciation. We do this with more words than we realize: Remember "our" is actually pronounced the way we pronounce "hour." Yet some insist on pronouncing "our" as "are" which is another common mispronunciation. Pronouncing aunt with the "awe" sound has nothing to do with being British, African-American, or "posh." It has everything to do with standard and correct pronunciation that is supported by sound spelling and pronunciation rules. Oh, some may say there are exceptions, but as most learned linguists realize, if there is an exception to a rule, it's a flawed rule.

United United United prem Champs 07 United

Hello everybody
Just to say that I was really amused at this post. I think that english is possibly the only language in the world where you can have such a discussion … or at least the only indo-european language that do not have rules to relate prononciation and spelling.
By the way is anyone there in the audience that can explain me why is that so ?
I mean how comes that english seems to be the only language in the world (OK I don’t know about chinese) where you don’t have simple rules to link signs on paper and sounds ?
Thanks in advance

It's all to do with the rising power of England in World War I, along with America and their consequential colonising of other parts of the world, either politically, or culturally, which causes it to be hyper-inclusive of a multitude of languages. Also, for want of a better word, it is an uncreative language, which seeks to retain the spellings of the original languages it borrowed from, rather than derive its own form.

And yes, Chinese will be as challenging, because it is a tonal language, amongst many others (it has 4 tones, and one toneless), and each tone has as many as 25 different characters to it. Sometimes, Chinese words will mimic the pronunciation of the foreign word it is trying to refer to, simply for lack of having its own vocabulary for it. Imagine trying to figure out which characters and tones the foreign words will conjure (e.g., 'Hamburger' is pronounced as 'HAN BAO BAO', and unless you know chinese, you'll have a hard time ploughing through more than a few hundred different combinations of charactes with the same phonetic symbols).

So if you think English tears strands off your head, try Chinese, and you'll go bald in no time!

I grew up in Loudoun County in Northern Virginia, and my immediate family always pronounced the word aunt as "aint" like "saint" when referring to a particular person. That comes from my mother's side of the family who are all from Northern Virginia, but I have no idea where they got it from, since no one else around here pronounces it that way. However, if are talking about "aunt" in general, such as "her aunt is coming to dinner," we pronounce it "ant." If we are talking about a particular person in our family, it's "Aint Alice" or "Aint Nancy." I guess we were the local hillbillies.

I believe my father's side of the family, which originated from southwest Virginia and migrated to Northern Virginia, generally say "ant."

Grammar Police,

While you make a few valid points, I have no idea why you're offended by me cringing at improper English. By your rationale, everything in the English language should be pronounced the way it's spelled. And your "reasonably" intelligent tome, I assume you know that that is simply not the case. BTW - My husband, who is black and CANADIAN and also an attorney - also says "ant." So I guess it's the majority of people who have it wrong and the minority of mostly uneducated (regardless of color) people who have it wrong. Right ...

I went looking for a place to stand on my soapbox and complain about what's happened to the English language (American version, that is) and found this very entertaining thread which has seemed to survive for quite a long time.

For the record, I'm an "ant" person and would feel very odd to start saying "ont". But, I'm also a tomAHto person - just the way I was brought up - and feel like I'm getting very slangy if I join the huge majority saying tomAYto. But those two don't really bother me.

Here are my hot buttons - should they start new threads, go to a different blog, or just stay right here?

FebUary as opposed to FebRUary. I was shocked and dismayed to find one on-line source telling me that the former is acceptable and maybe even becoming "preferred".

NucUlar as opposed to NucLEar. The former is still (fortunately) considered improper, in spite of it having been the choice of most recent US Presidents.

KYEWpon as opposed to KOOpon. Where did anyone ever get the idea that "cou" could or should be pronounced "KEW"?

NYews as opposed to Nooze. I think that goes along with KYEWpon - people think it sounds classier to mispronounce it that way.

In coastal New England there are five ABSOLUTES in pronunciation:

1) Aunt is pronounced "ah-nt"
2) Quahog is pronounced "kwa-hog"
3) Tomato is pronounced "toe MAH toe"
4) Often is pronounced with the "T" SILENT!
5) Caramel is pronounced "Ca-rah-mel" (NOT "CARMEL"!)

To all of you who believe the proper pronunciation of aunt is ant (and that anyone who pronounces it as aant or ahnt is uneducated), try opening your mind and stepping out of your "if the majority does it, then it must be right" world. I have pasted information from Roget's dictionary below. I would think those of you who consider yourselves "educated" would do a bit of research on the topic before deciding to lambaste others. I am sure you also use the word "myself" improperly as do most who consider themselves to be amongst the "most educated." But hey, just about everyone says, "John and myself..." or "..both Sue and myself..." or "Contact Richard or myself..." and some of these people graduated from highly-regarded if not "prestigious" universities, so it must be right....right?

Open your mind, open a few books, and travel the world (and picking up a husband from Canada doesn't count).

From Roget's Dictionary:

aunt /ænt, É‘nt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ant, ahnt]

—Pronunciation note The usual vowel of aunt in the United States is the /æ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[a] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation of rant except in New England and eastern Virginia, where it is commonly the “New England broad a,” a vowel similar to French /a/[a] and having a quality between the /æ/[a] of hat and the /É‘/[ah] of car. The vowel /É‘/[ah] itself is also used. In New England and eastern Virginia /É‘/[ah] or the /a/[a]-like sound occur in aunt in the speech of all social groups, even where a “broad a” is not used in words like dance and laugh. Elsewhere, the “broader” a is chiefly an educated pronunciation, fostered by the schools with only partial success (“Your relative isn't an insect, is she?”), and is sometimes regarded as an affectation. Aunt with the vowel of paint is chiefly South Midland United States and is limited to folk speech.
The /æ/[a] pronunciation of aunt was brought to America before British English developed the /É‘/[ah] in such words as aunt, dance, and laugh. In American English, /É‘/[ah] is most common in the areas that maintained the closest cultural ties with England after the /É‘/[ah] pronunciation developed there in these words.

Wow, IET posted all that information to prove himself wrong about the pronunciation of aunt! Perhaps he is trying to pry open his own mind. I wish him all the success in the world with that--it can be a lifelong endeavor, though certainly worthwhile.

Clearly, Roget says that aunt is pronounced like ant. My dictionary has the 'ant' pronunciation first, and the second pronunciation has an umlaut over the a. That means, I presume, that they are both correct but that the 'ant' pronunciation is preferred. So Roget and Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (Second Edition) agree that AUNT (your mom or dad's sister) is preferably pronounced like ANT (the six-legged guest you didn't invite to your picnic.)

And, contrary to what some would believe, if the vast majority of people say the word--any word--in a way that is now considered "incorrect," the "incorrect" one may very well become the "correct" pronunciation in the future. Lexicographers are not supposed to invent, but only report.

I'm African American and have always pronounced "aunt" as "ont". Most of my friends do as well. I have noticed that my white co-workers pronouce aunt as "ant" and on every TV show or movie I've ever seen aunt is pronounced "ant".

It wasn't until I was watching The View last fall when I noticed Sherri Sheppard said "ont" when she was talking then a few minutes later she said it again but this time she said "ant". It got me to wondering why she changed the way she pronounced it so quickly. I mean it was literally within seconds. Ever since then I've wanted to know what is the correct way to say it... I mean Austin, Texas is "Awstin" not "Astin".

I will say that after reading what everyone had to say that you can really say it the way you want. I really wish someone would clear it up either way. This has been on my mind so much that is why I decided to do a search for it on MSN and this website came up. Proof that you can find anything on the web.

Take care.

Maybe they should just change the spelling to "ant" and we can end this whole ridiculous and obtuse argument.

I'll pronounce it "properly" but I'll never tell..........

P.S.- Some of you guys are real assholes, maybe think about changing your professions.... that, or just find a way to stay off the internet

And Lamborghini, I shouldn't even dignify your snide post with a reply, but not convincing anyone? What I've said is consistent with most of the other posters' comments. I'd love to hear from you regarding exactly what comments of mine you disagree with:

The same combination of letters can have different pronunciations in different words.

-au- has several different pronuncations depending on the particular word.

You can't use the pronunciation of one word to justify how a different word is pronounced.

Most people in this post are discussing ant vs. ah-nt, not aw-nt.

So Lamborghini, how about it? Specifically, which of the above do you disagree with and why? I'd be happy to support anything I've mentioned with facts. Please, if you're still monitoring this post, respond to the questions and leave the snide comments at home. Oh, and you think I'm porsche? I'm not. There are a lot of anonymous posters on this topic. I only commented on the topics I mentioned above.

Uncle Ben, I must disagree with some of your points. Aunt is not the only 'au' word that has an 'a' sound. What about 'laugh'? And how about 'draught,' variation of draft' and pronounced the same, or 'launce', variation of 'lance'?

Also, if aunt were the only word pronounced that way (which it isn't), that still wouldn't really prove anything. I'm pretty sure that 'gauge' is the only word pronounced g-ay-ge, with an 'ay' sound. No other word uses the 'ay' sound for 'au', but no one at all would claim that it's pronounced g-ah-ge or g-aw-ge, right?

Of course, I do agree with your main points: both a-nt and ah-nt are correct pronunciations with a-nt perhaps being somewhat more common, depending on geography. Why something so simple has become such a battle out here is really beyond me.

I don't think it's beyond you Porsche. I just think you're very stubborn and unreasonable to accept a valid point with which you disagree. "Ant" is more common in the U.S., but not in the rest of the world.

The examples you've given in your latest spittle are fairly absurd, given that "launce" and "draught" are hardly ever used in American English and "laugh" does NOT have a short "a" sound when spoken in England, the country that invented English.

Well said Uncle Ben.

i say them both! i'm from the DC area... i'll say "im going to see my ont" but if i actually say the aunt's name, i'll say their ant "i'm going to see ant margie" ... i cant figure out if its regional or not either

i'm from connecticut and i've always said "ont" and i only ever hear people say "ont" i recently found out that pretty much only people in new england pronounce it like that.

Personally I like to pronounce it like it's spelled. NOT like the bug... maybe the bug should be spelled "aunt" if it sounds like "ant" anyway, right.....
You grow up with pronouncing it one way or another, I guess I just grew up pronouncing it the right way!

p.s. - that was meant to be ironic

Personaly I looked this up to get the correct way of saying Aunt because of a diagreement at work today. Guess what I still don't know so for me it will be Ant

the u makes the "a" a short a

I (african-american born in northern NJ) believe ant comes from the sound, long a + ont or a-unt pronounced casually sounding like ant. Somewhere along the line some pronounced it ant with no obvious connection to aunt. In the south or southern decendents it's many times pronounced aint like the improper contraction. Which puts me in mind of my late aunt whom I referred to as Aint Thelma. It's more due to accent than preferred pronunciation.

Education and good sense are two different things.

We (born and brought up in Boston area, more specifically A"h"lington) were just discusssing this very subject. We pronounce it ahnt, as in laughter. Where did "ont" come from? I've never heard that. We were also discussing the path vs pahth, along with bath, etc. We pronounce all of these the same as ahnt.
Funny story. When we moved one town over, I went to the library with my sons and asked where the books on sharks (shahks) were located. I might as well have been speaking a foreign language. The librarian finally asked, "Do you meal small houses?" (shacks). My kids grew up here and my son came home from basketball practice on day and was using the term "pom" the ball! (palm) I had no clue what he was talking about because of course I would pronounce it pahm.
They have all moved to different areas of MA and now my grand-children pick me up on my pronunciations. They are all starting to have a generic accent like tv news anchors! Takes the fun out of it!

though it can be pronounced anyway really, the true correct pronunciation is "aunt" though most people say ant because.....i have no fucking idea, i say aunt...

Nick, how do you pronounce "laugh"?

I'm from Maine, and the word "aunt" seems to be primarily (as far as I've heard it pronounced in 41 years, as the way you would say "font" There is no "w" at all in the prononciation. I am saddened to see that such a simple question posed by one person could have elicited such nasty replies. In all honesty, the dictionary, whether you use Websters, Merriams, or Dictionary.com, all say that it can be pronounced either way (we could get into a discussion on how to pronounce "either and neither" if it would be profitable, but I'm just not going to go there...). I have a dear friend down in SC that we all affectionately call "Ant" Shirley, as that is how we were introduced by her family and that is perfectly fine with me. She likes the designation, so I'm happy for her.
God Bless

Hey, I'm from Toronto, and moved to Ottawa for 2 years.

It's pretty much the same for both cities. As far as I can remember, I remember being taught aunt like ant. No one really says aunt like "ahnt" - that sounds very southern to me - though people pronounce aunt like awe, and then -nt (one syllable, of course).

But I hear more or less maybe 20%, half the people say it the first way, the other half say it the third way mentioned.

However, I'd say at least 90% of people who say it the third way also incorporate the word 'auntie', either interchangeably, both meaning the word 'aunt', or distinctively, 'auntie' being like a close family friend (female, of course). I've never heard of a male version of the word 'auntie'.

And so, my theory growing up was always that auntie pronounced the third way was always ok, since it was a different word anyway. However, aunt should be properly pronounced like ant the first way. For me, it was like people who didn't know how to pronounce aunt were people who learned 'auntie', first, and then shortened it. I analogise this with how the word 'spliff' turned into 'splee', and then, in turn, to spleezy, that the origin of the word as spliff could not be traced back if you've never heard spliff before.

However, both cities I'm from are so filled with immigrants and the descendants of them, the pronunciation of words have shifted and/or varies as often as from school to school, or even one school can have teachers that pronounce things so differently.

My other theory while growing up was that the third pronunciation of aunt was wrong, because it was the result of people pronouncing the word before hearing it. Since it was different from the 'ant' spelling, it should be pronounced the third way, and the people around them who said it that way just the more confirmed it. On the other hand, I made sure I always said it the first way, because words shouldn't be pronounced the way it's spelt; you know better! Like, 'nobody' is pronounced differently from 'no body' or 'no bodies', although I know most US Americans say it the same way. Same with 'anybody', 'somebody.

For all the black people and others who were offended by the theories on cultural links. I do understand you, especially in the states, but it doesn't mean everyone's being racist or whatever; I know the feeling of when even when the person is saying it in a non-racist way, you know he's still being racist. Now this can come off as a generalisation, as well as an offence in itself, but I think people in the states don't even know what stereotypes are. There are differences between stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, etc. The stereotype that black people say aunt the third way is simply a stereotype (I've actually never heard of this stereotype before today). However, because it is one it makes it true. That is, because people have this image in their head when they hear aunt the third way or think of a black person saying aunt, they think these two things link together. Of course, it doesn't mean it's in their genes to say 'aunt' the third way; that's preposterous. Both white people and black people, and other people, say it both ways. It just means that for the people that think that, they think most people in a certain group say it that way.. maybe because every single person in that group they've met so far do say it that way.. unlucky individuals that they are! That means it makes it true! It means most people or all people they've met so far do say it that way. Stereotypes are the exact same thing as statistics, except they're not actually statistically proven, if that even makes sense. Because maybe statistically, they're wrong, and it's just the black people in their area that say it that way.

But it by no means makes it discrimination at all, unless they're behaving a certain way because of their preconceived notions! Who cares! Stereotypes is a way to learn! And, for those of you who did think people who had stereotypes about black people are stupid and have preconceived notions, you are also having a preconceived notion about them! (except for those people who made it explicit, such as the users who used "UK wide" and things like that)

I live in Va and pronounce it "ont" but i family who live in Buffalo,Ny who pronounce it "ant"!!

Jason,

I pronounce both "aren't" and "aunt" like you do (I'm in NZ but am from the UK originally). There's a play on the homophony of "aren't" and "aunt" in the Two Ronnies' "answering the question before last" sketch which you can find on Youtube.

Im from north carolina i say 'ont' but most people where i come from say 'ant' personally i like to say an ant is an animal not a person :)

I am from Nashville, Tennessee and I pronounce it more closely to ont.

The standard and proper pronunciation of aunt is aunt, not ant. This is why we spell them differently. They have different pronunciations supported by different rules of spelling and pronunciation. There are over a thousand words in Webster's as well as Oxford's which begin with the letters "au" and every one of them are pronounced with the "awe" sound. It is not actually regional but rather due to unintended laziness or improperly developed articulators. Of course many of us use what we grew up hearing becasue we are accustomed to hearing it. We make statements such as "It doesn't sound right." This is an inaccurate statement. Nothing literally sounds correct or incorrect. Langauge is arbitrary. We must not confuse what we are accustomed to hearing with what is standard or correct usege. Numerous people shorten both words and pronunciations. Aunt takes more effort to pronounce than ant. The articulators (lips, teeth, tongue, hard and soft palat used in producing speech sounds) must work harder (mouth opens more in pronouncing aunt). Even though citizens change the way words are pronounced over many years of usage, Webster's often does not differentiate slang pronunciation from standard pronunciation. The spelling and pronunciation rules indicate that aunt is pronounced with the "awe"sound. Shortening the vowel to the "a" sound as in "cat" or "ant" does not logically apply to the word aunt. But people will still pronounce aunt using the illogical short "a" pronunciation. We do this with more words than we realize: Remember "our" is actually pronounced the way we pronounce "hour." Yet some insist on pronouncing "our" as "are" which is another common mispronunciation. Pronouncing aunt with the "awe" sound has nothing to do with being British, African-American, or "posh." It has everything to do with standard and correct pronunciation that is supported by sound spelling and pronunciation rules. Oh, some may say there are exceptions, but as most learned linguists realize, if there is an exception to a rule, it's a flawed rule.

Most Canadians pronounce 'aunt' like 'ant'....it's in the dictionary. Likewise, we use the same 'ay' sound in Tanya, Sarah, tacos, pajamas (second 'a'). But on American tv shows I hear the 'aw' sound in the same words (Tawnya, Sawrah, tawcos, pajawmas). I think it's a dialectal difference, and it may vary within the US accordingly.

Hey everybody, I need to know if you pronounce aunt like your parents did, or, if you have changed and, as an adult, pronounce it different now. I grew up with aunt being "ant" (like the insect) and feel my children should respect that and continue with the family pronounciation.

I'm from Central Virginia, and we say "Aint" - yep, just like the slang word "ain't". Ai rhyming with hay. Sorry, professor, but your long treatise of proper pronunciation completely omitted the matter of dialect! :-) Aint Kay, Aint Joyce. And yes, we call them Aint or Uncle where I'm from because it's a term of respect. Oh, just FYI, my father and uncle pronounced house "hosse" and about "aboot". The "ou" came out sounding more like they started to say 'ow' but changed their mind and said 'oh' - almost a diphthong, but not quite. But then they and their family were all of Scottish descent, so who could blame them? Oh, and I live in a town called Staunton, but it's pronounced "Stan-tun". Drives the telemarketers crazy!!

Happy days!

I think of aunt as in water ya wouldn't say waaaaater haha
Or like taught, but there are words like gauge that sound like ayy
But I still say aunt as in taunt.
It doesn't matter if one's way sounds better or correct, it's a matter of what YOU think
But still, personally I say aunt not ant

It drives me nuts when people say ant. I was brought up to say ahnt and very clearly remember my high school English teacher admonishing students that an ant is something that crawls on the ground. And, although my ahnt may do that occasionally, I still refer to her as my ahnt! Lol

In Ohio we say "ant".

I grew up in Texas. Everyone and their dog, regardless of race, says it like the insect--'ant'. American blacks regardless of where they are from within the U.S. all now say it like 'ought' sound, because sometime in the 80s, some big shot black celeb/politician (most likely Jesse Jackson) decided to say it that way in a speech. Blacks all over the country picked up on it, so as to sound "more sophisticated". I can promise you up until that time, blacks in the South all said it 'ANT', as did N. E. Coast blacks. It's sounds so ridiculous, because when you got all these blacks saying things like 'axe' for ask and 'wutchyou...' for 'what are you...', but got to say all poshy Brit-like 'aunt', it's like Eliza Doolittle posturing.

There was a 'flip" of the pronunciation sometime in the late 70s/early 80s. Black Americans began pronouncing it as a Brit would say it--'ought' sound. Before then, it was always like the bug--'ant'.
I believe it had to do with wanting to sound more sophisticated, as growing up as a black man or woman in the USA in the 70s and 80s was still troubled, especially living and working in predominately Caucasian areas. Most likely a well known figure like Jesse Jackson or a more controversial one like Don King used it like that in a speech and it caught on.
Personally I think it sounds very ridiculous when you hear that same person saying "axe" for ask and other Ebonic pronunciations, but they hold on fast to the "ought" sound for aunt.

I'm Mexican native American from Los Angeles California and I use Ant not aunt but I have heard my cousins say aunt before. Personally I prefer ant.

Aunt should rhyme with "haunt" and "taunt." Raised in Southern California, but my family hails from Arkansas.

I'm 55 and from Long Island. Ive pronounced it like "ant" my whole life and I refuse to change. And while we're on the subject, i can't stand when people pronounce "anna" as "on a". I mean the two sounds for the letter a is long a as in "acorn" and short a as in "accurate"

It was only pronounced "ant" until around the 1700's when the French started to move to Great Britain even more than before. They're accents started to blend into English and resulted in "ah-nt." "Ant" is correct, but, despite the explanation, people will still disagree.

If you call an Aunt an Ant do you call your mother a "Moth"er? If you call an Aunt an Ant do you pronounce Australia like Aestralia? I fear that the mispronunciation of Aunt comes from the inability of current people's ancestors to read. So very much like the current trend of troglodytes to use double negatives to add emphasis to their statements I am inclined to think that people mispronouncing Aunt as Ant is simply a matter of ignorance of how written English should be pronounced.

I have always pronounced "aunt" as ANT.

all brown people say aaaaaahnt-y

In England 'Aunt' is generally pronounced as 'Ant'. The only people who pronounce it 'Ont' are members of the aristocracy and the upper classes. The overwhelming majority of black people pronounce the word 'Ask' as 'Axe', and as this phenomenon seems to exist on both sounds of the atlantic, i would surmise that this is indeed a 'black ting', much in the same way as the Irish cannot pronounce words that include the letters 'OW' or 'OU'. Words such as 'Now' for example, become 'Noy' and 'Downtown' becomes 'Dointoin'. None of this would normally register with the average Brit, who generally cares very little about the bastardisation of his/her language by the less-fortunate in foreign countries. However, as a result of the unswerving project by the politically-correct lunatic brigade to apparently maintain a multi-cultural society in our once fine nation, it is the case now that every news-reader, tv presenter, weather person, sport commentator etc etc. in Britain is now either Irish or Black, or both, maybe with the odd jock thrown in for good measure, and consequently we are bombarded with such mis-pronunciation on a daily basis. I have never been to Ireland, and doubt I ever will, My mother was injured by an IRA bomb in '96, my city was blown to smithereens, Irish tinkers move into my local park once a year and leave three months later with no turf, toilet blocks or swings still in existence, not to mention the three month local crime spree which usually results in the theft of every lawn mower and bicycle within a ten mile radius. Therefore I have no love of the Irish race as a whole. However, if I was to visit the place and found myself switching on a TV, i place extreme doubt upon the likelihood of me being faced with an English human, which all seems a little unfair. Irish people can mis-pronounce words as much as they like in their own cesspit of a country, why do they have to come and do it in mine?, that is the question. So they ran out of spuds a few years ago, but surely they could have found something else to eat rather than starving to death or scrounging off us, the fuckin peasants, perhaps this gives some insight into the weak character as well as the illiteracy of the average Irish person...

your all wrong, it oint!!! Damn that felt good

I say rnt.
Like R, then nt.
I'm English

Seems not too many canadians visit this web sight . I came across it at midnight (couldn't sleep ) and it is now2.30 a.m. Oh so many different explanations of one little word, I have always pronounced aunt ant and truly have not heard ont except from my british friends. Interesting eh!

Listen here Grammer Police. I never said I was superior in any way. You are making that assumption and you are wrong. I just wondered why and came here and asked or should I say axed? You apparently did not read or care to take into consideration my little survey I did. These people are from all over the country not one specific region as you claim is the reason why people pronounce words differently. I work with many different races of people (no pink or purple though). All but one black person I work with says axe or axed. All the white, spanish speaking, and asian say ask. Now I never had the opportunity to hear my co-workers say the word aunt so I cant say one way or another how they pronounce it. Maybe I will do so someday as we all get along just fine and I consider some pretty good friends. That includes black and spanish and asian. They will not be offended if I ask. Now they might be offended if I axed them as that could cause serious damage and I would be in jail. :) Plus I like them and would not want to axe them.

I did not have time to proof my message as I had to leave for work. I figured there were a few errors as almost every message I write has some. I know this because I use spellcheck in Outlook and there does not appear to be one here. I never claimed to be a perfect speller or as smart as you or anyone else here in the first place. But I do pronounce words correctly. I say ask when I want to ask someone a question, not ax. And the bottom line is that blacks say ax A LOT. And I just wanted to know why that is so. No one can answer that question though without throwing hateful emails back at me and whoever else asks similar questions. People like you try to imply that we are being racist by asking a perfectly legitimate question. The only reason I did my "pointless racial survey", was that someone on here said that it was "retarded" to think that race had anything to do with the way someone pronounces a word. They are wrong. It did not take much gumption at all to muster up a piece of paper and a pen and put a little check in the correct row. And I was watching TV anyway so it took no extra time or effort.
For the record my back is to the TV while I am writing this and The Price Is Right is on. I hear a guy talking who was picked to play, and he was saying hello to his family...I hear him say "hi Aunty so and so". Yes he was black but I knew that before I turned around to see. :)
Cheers back at ya,
Dan
PS I ran this through spellcheck and I misspelled 3 words. That is pretty good for someone as stupid as I am. :) It says axe is spelled ax so I left it that way. I looked it up and it appears you can spell it either way

OH.. I'm from Cape Cod.

"And, contrary to what some would believe, if the vast majority of people say the word--any word--in a way that is now considered "incorrect," the "incorrect" one may very well become the "correct" pronunciation in the future."

Many grammar "authorities" just can't accept that popular majority determines usage in language. It's the grammatical equivalent of "look at my Johnny, he's the only one in step in the whole parade."

"Lexicographers are not supposed to invent, but only report."

Unfortunately, lexicographers, like the rest of us, are all too human. They bring their pet notions and causes to the task at hand. There's a long history of obscure and made-up words being advocated by lexicographers. Indeed, some dictionaries deliberately invent fake words for copyright purposes.

As an example, google the word "esquivalience."

Dear Black Lawyer:

As a reasonably well educated Bostonian (Swarthmore undergrade, Yale grad) and one who pronounces all the "r"s that are in words and none of the ones that are not. I find your arrogance towards the "ahnt" pronunciation shocking. Your examples of the other mispronunciations used by "ahnt" speakers seems overtly racist and ignorant. I too cringe when I hear the word mispronunced. "Ant" should never be used for that word. It is not only incorrect, it sounds offensive. However, I do not lord my superiority over those who speak differently than I do, I simply go about my life thinking "wow that undereducated, offensive word - 'ant' - came out of the mouth of a lawyer."

If you disagree with me in any way feel free to base your issues on my statements and not on any misspellings or mistaken grammar you may find. I weakens your case not to deal with issues.

John, WHAT are you talking about with "...The /w/ sound is a rounded velar approximant..."??

You don't actually think that the letter W has only one sound, do you?

What about the word awning, or tawny? They do have the same vowel sound as taunt, don't they? DON'T THEY??

Most dictionaries actually USE "aw" as the phonetic representation of "au" in words like taunt, etc.!! RIGHT??

The "aw" sound in taunt has NOTHING to do with the "w" sound in "we" or "well", and, yes, "aw", um, has a DOUBLE-U IN IT!!!!

I'm from Maine, and we've said "ont". But I moved to Florida and everyone here says "ant" unless they're from up north.

I personally say "ont" and my girlfriend makes fun of me because apparently "ant" is the "normal" way to say it (according to her).

I've always said ONT. She's always said ANT.

I've grown up at Southern California and so has she.

The only thing that's different about us is that my parents are from Taiwan and I basically learned English on my own and she was born in West Virginia, her parents are from the east coast and midwest.

So there...toe-MAY-toe, toe-MA-toe lol...

Just do to this link.

It shows it is correct to pronounce it either way and also explains the origins of each pronunciation.

:o)

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