[General] Pronunciation of Often

[anupumh]

Hi,

I have heard 2 pronunciations of "Often" though only one is found in most of the dictionaries.

1) Often: Ofn (normal pronunciation)
2) Often: OfTen (a prominent T sound)

The no 2 pronunciation is British or American?
Which one popular and widely accepted?

Thanks

[mara_ce]

Originally Posted by anupumh

Hi,

I have heard 2 pronunciations of "Often" though only one is found in most of the dictionaries.

1) Often: Ofn (normal pronunciation)
2) Often: OfTen (a prominent T sound)

The no 2 pronunciation is British or American?

According to my dictionary both pronunciations are possible in British and American.

/ofn/ /oftn/ (British)
/a:fn/ /a:ftn/ (American)

[BonaVista]

When we were learning English 20 years ago in China, we were told to pronounce 'OFN'.

After years, however, I found more and more people say 'OFTN'.

Finally I asked an English linguistic professional, and she said both are correct, whereas 'OFTN' is more widely used in North America.

[Huda-M]

The T in often would be silent.

[BobK]

Originally Posted by Huda-M

The T in often would be silent.

Interesting use of "would" - I suppose the full sentence would be:

The T in often would be silent in the speech of someone who believed that there was only one correct answer, and that that answer was that the T should be silent.

As previous answers have said, both pronunciations are acceptable. There was a silly prescriptive rule in favour of many 'silent' letters; the suppression of the T in 'often' is one of the more tenacious shibboleths (it was drummed into me for my first 5 years, and going to school was an eye-opener - 'What were these people saying?'). But very few people today omit the L in 'golf' (which used to be regarded as the only acceptable pronunciation).

b

[konungursvia]

I hear both, but usually we pronounce it without the T sound.

[Huda-M]

Originally Posted by BobK

Interesting use of "would" - I suppose the full sentence would be:

The T in often would be silent in the speech of someone who believed that there was only one correct answer, and that that answer was that the T should be silent.

As previous answers have said, both pronunciations are acceptable. There was a silly prescriptive rule in favour of many 'silent' letters; the suppression of the T in 'often' is one of the more tenacious shibboleths (it was drummed into me for my first 5 years, and going to school was an eye-opener - 'What were these people saying?'). But very few people today omit the L in 'golf' (which used to be regarded as the only acceptable pronunciation).

b

I have always heard often as OFEN, I mean with T silent.... Often looks pretty strange to me.....
Is it a difference of the two Englishes ??

[BobK]

Only two?

b

[Searching for language]

Originally Posted by konungursvia

I hear both, but usually we pronounce it without the T sound.

Interesting, since I live only approximately 50 km. (as the crow flies across Lake Ontario) from you, I hear it pronounced with the T here. I always pronounce it, but that could be because of my German heritage.

[Huda-M]

Originally Posted by BobK

Only two?

b

Are there more????

I'm not a native, and I have heard only about British and American english.... And I don't even know the difference between those two, you are saying there are MORE....