"ANT" vs "AHNT", etc.

[giggledude]

Sorry I don't know how to link, but I recently read a humourous article written by a woman who pronounces aunt, "AHNT," in opposition to her husband's pronunciation, "ANT," which prevails in the majority of their family as well. What surprised me about the article was reading a bit of research thrown in which showed that, in the U.S., AHNTs are a dying breed living only in pockets of New England while the rest of the country has been overrun with ANTs for generations.

Now I have always said AHNT (with the exception of learning to call pancakes ANT Jemima, though not always consistently), and thought ANT to be a regional affectation of the sort that people who leave the region where it prevails generally discard. Of my acquaintance, the pronunciations are split about evenly, but I'd been making the subtle distinction all along that those I'd consider to be people of culture said AHNT, though perhaps that's just because, either in real life or on talk radio, I must have heard such sentences as, "Me and my husband went to my ANT's house," at least a hundred times. I would swear in court that I have never in the last twenty years heard anyone who said, "Me and my husband," or any equally ungrammatical phrase, refer to an AHNT. But I should like now to apologize to all those people of culture who do happen to say ANT for doubting their very existence.

Curiously, though, AHNTIE almost drives me to distraction. It must be one of the five most twee words in existence. (Apologies if the use of twee isn't strictly correct.) But ANTIE has never bothered me much, which must be due to a certain Wizard.

Does anyone have any similar experience, if not with AHNT/ANT, then with any other words with multiple pronunciations?

 

[Flatfoot]

I've gotten into this argument with my wife, recently. She follows the AHNT pronunciation, and she happens to be from Connecticut, supporting the New England theory. I was born in New Jersey, which I guess must be just outside the cultured New England area, because I've always said ANT. Although, one aunt in particular I was brought up to call her "Chuchie" (don't know about the spelling), which I think was supposed to be Polish for aunt, or something.

As far as other examples, when I was younger, my family and I moved from New Jersey to Texas for a brief period, and I, never having been in the South, before, remember how confused I was when I heard everyone saying "Y'all". I don't know how long it took me before I figured out what it meant. It also used to tick me off when my teacher would grade a student's grammar work, saying something like:

"Y'all can't start a sentence with 'Because'."

or

"Y'all can't say 'me and my friends' at the start of a sentence. Y'all should say 'My friends and I'."

In the military, it seems everyone says "Y'all", regardless of personal geographical vernacular. I guess it just rubs off, after a while. Just being in the Marine Corps has opened me up to a whole list of different pronunciations for things, since I deal with people from all around the country. Almost every day there is an argument over whether soda is soda, or pop, or soda-pop. Heck, there are even some that call it Coke regardless of the flavor.

"What kinda Coke do you want?"

"Mountain Dew"

Personally, I've always called it soda.

I've heard other instances about Peas and Carrots versus Carrots and Peas. I'm not too sure about that one. I think it's supposed to be Peas and Carrots, because that just rolls right off the tongue. Carrots and Peas is more like tripping over a log.

 

[Deleted member 2452]

i only know one person

the pronunciation of "ahnt". he's from wisconcin, and maintains that everyone there uses ahnt.
aslo i have noticed that just about every black person i've ever heard say "aunt" has used the "ahnt" pronunciation. my wife teaches in a school the is predominantly black, and she says that the kids she teaches use the "ahnt" way. so maybe it's culteral also?
steve

 

[HeBeGeeBee]

Re: i only know one person

he's from wisconcin, and maintains that everyone there uses ahnt.
aslo i have noticed that just about every black person i've ever heard say "aunt" has used the "ahnt" pronunciation.

?????? As a Wisconsinite, rest assured that almost everyone here says "ant". However, almost every black person I have ever heard say the word said it "ahnt". I agree that it is probably cultural.

 

[giggledude]

That is interesting. I'd thought maybe there were ties to things British. I almost wish I knew more about when the ANT invasion began.

 

[dvnc]

I'd always understood the pronunciation of "aunt" to be "ahnt", in "proper" English, and that the "ant" pronunciation was an Americanism, a colloquial difference in pronunciation. The word's English, from England, and we, in the US, *do* tend to change such things as it suits us.

It's one o' them "toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe" deals. I find that I fall back to "ant" when I ain't thinkin' 'bout it, and "ahnt" when I'm tryin' t'behave.

dvnc

 

[giggledude]

Ah, a person of occasional culture!

 

[Biggles of 266]

In English it's AHNT, but Americans don't seem to speak that language.

If you're really interested in the difference between British english and American english, read Bill Bryson's book 'Mother Tongue'. It explains why Americans have Toosday instead of just saying it like the rest of us. A very interesting book for anyone who enjoys language.