The correct pronunciation of the word "Garage".

Status
Not open for further replies.

Ian_M

New member
Joined
Sep 22, 2005
Quick question: The correct pronunciation of the word "Garage".
Is "Garage" pronounced "Ga-ridge" or a softer "Ga-rah-ge".
We say for "Storage" : "Stor-ridge" never "Stor-rah-ge" , and for "Mirage" :Never "Mir-ridge" , but "Mir-rah-ge".
The structure of all these words is the same, therefore what governs the pronounciation of these words.
Hmmm? Is it because some of these words are derived from France?
Thanks... Ian Mathieson. :lol:
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
You'll hear both pronunciations used. In the UK, the more conservative view of language tends to favour "Ga-rah-ge". However, I cannot account for the incosistency in pronunciation.
 

Umut HIZAR

Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2005
Ian_M said:
Quick question: The correct pronunciation of the word "Garage".
Is "Garage" pronounced "Ga-ridge" or a softer "Ga-rah-ge".
We say for "Storage" : "Stor-ridge" never "Stor-rah-ge" , and for "Mirage" :Never "Mir-ridge" , but "Mir-rah-ge".
The structure of all these words is the same, therefore what governs the pronounciation of these words.
Hmmm? Is it because some of these words are derived from France?
Thanks... Ian Mathieson. :lol:
I've allways heard and used it as [ga-rah-ge]; I agree with you that it must be because ıf its origin.
 
A

AlainK

Guest
Umut HIZAR said:
I've allways heard and used it as [ga-rah-ge]; I agree with you that it must be because ıf its origin.

Yes, garage and mirage (most likely) come from the French.
But "storage" is English, there is no such verb as "storer" in french. It was probably constructed on the model of the others.
What is interesting (to me at least ;-) ) is that in French, "storage" is "stockage", from the English "stock" and the French suffix -age.
-age is added to a verb to express "the action of..."
(se) garer -> to park, un garage -> a place where you can park a car (parking lot, car-park; garage : where they are parked to be repaired)
And we say "un parking" for a car-park :roll:
 

JJM Ballantyne

Junior Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2005
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Canada
Current Location
Canada
"Is 'Garage' pronounced 'Ga-ridge' or a softer 'Ga-rah-ge.'"

Your choice. Either is fine. Pick one and stick with it.
 

Umut HIZAR

Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2005
JJM Ballantyne said:
"Is 'Garage' pronounced 'Ga-ridge' or a softer 'Ga-rah-ge.'"

Your choice. Either is fine. Pick one and stick with it.

The softer one 'Ga-rah-ge.'"

[gu'raazh] American
[ga'raazh] or [garji]
 
Last edited:

Umut HIZAR

Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2005
English pronunciation varies considerably across the English speaking world. WordWeb only provides a rough guide, concentrating on the “standard” American and RP (BBC English) varieties that are widely comprehended. The correct local pronunciation will depend on where you are. In particular the vowel sounds vary very widely; words that rhyme in one locale may not in another (though in many cases vowel sounds change in a consistent pattern).

Hold the mouse cursor over the pronunciation to display a larger breakdown into the following sounds:

b but a cat, anger u ado, about
d door ã cast, grass* ú up, brother
f fall aa arm, calm û book, put
g good aw out, now
h happy e bet, egg
j jug eh air, wear
k cut ee sleep, each
l list ey day, rain
m moon eu coiffeur
n near i tip, inch
p part I eye, fry ch rich
r rest** o organ, law sh shut
s soft ó cot, orange* th theme
t turn oo too, food dh the
v village ow toad, own zh confusion
w wet ów cold, whole ng sing
y yet oy boy, boil xh Bach
z zoom
* These vowel sounds move around considerably with location. In the US ó often sounds similar to aa or sometimes o. In the south UK ã is the same as aa, but in the US and north UK usually the sound is like a (the actual sound of a is also different).
** In British “RP” r is generally only sounded if before a vowel; ur is sometimes as in fir.


Primary stresses are marked with ‘, secondary stresses with `. The stress can vary depending on part of speech and in some cases the sense.

Sounds that are sometimes present are enclosed in brackets.

Examples:

other ' údhu(r) quirky 'kwurkee
overlook [n] 'owvur`lûk coast kowst
overlook [v] `owvur'lûk deny di'nI
There are some broad rules on whether optional sounds are voiced or not. The (y) sound is almost always present in British English (and many other varieties), but often absent in US English; so news is pronounced n(y)ooz - which is nooz in the US and nyooz in the UK Optional (r) sounds are usually present at some level in US English, but not sounded in British English. So other sounds like údhu in the UK but like údhur in the US.

It's a liitle bit much but take it easy.
 
Joined
Sep 2, 2005
Member Type
Other
>Hmmm? Is it because some of these words are derived from France?

I had read somewhere that words with French origin, that end in 'age'
are pronounced - ah-ge.

An example of this is - barrage

But the problem for me is that I don't know which words have a French
origin (without refering to a dictionary). I have heard the word
"garbage" pronounced as "gar-bah-ge" but in a tongue-in-cheek manner.
 

Casiopea

VIP Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2003
Member Type
Other
englishstudent said:
But the problem for me is that I don't know which words have a French origin (without refering to a dictionary).
It doesn't matter. ;-)

English speakers who actually knew some French were the ones who initially adopted the French pronunciation gara[zh]. [zh] as in the French, 1st person singular, subject pronoun Je ("I"). The word gara[zh] was spread around from speaker to speaker, even to people who knew little or nothing of French, but they understood the word, and even used the word themselves. Some used it according to the pronunication they heard and other according to the rules of the dialect of English they spoke. The new word became conventionalized. That's why it has various pronunciations and, morever, why you need not memorize every French loanword that ends in -age.

For a list of English loanwords go to http://www.ruf.rice.edu/
 

selena

New member
Joined
Mar 7, 2006
Yeah, I'm always having arguments with my friends over the correct pronunciation of some words:

If i correct them when they say "dunkey" instead of "donkey", they say how come you dont pronounce "mun-key" as "mon-key" then.

It's the same with tumaetoe/tumahtoe,
yog-ert/yo-gert,

Which is right??
 

Coffa

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2006
A friend of mine in Minnesota once asked me this one. She said "you Brits all say 'guhraj', doncha?"

Well, no. That's the RP, but I honestly haven't heard it for quite a while, even in the South (of England). I've heard three versions. I am old enough to remember when, if you had one, you were almost obliged to call it your 'guhraj' - it was rude not to. We looked up to those folk.

My parents were 'upwardly-mobile', so we moved into a house with a 'GAraj', and I still remember my mother telling me not to mix with the offspring of the riff-raff who had no choice but to share a communal block of 'garridges'.

Plus ca change, eh?
 

rewboss

Key Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2006
Member Type
English Teacher
selena said:
It's the same with tumaetoe/tumahtoe,
yog-ert/yo-gert,
Which is right??
Depends mainly on what side of the Atlantic you are on. There is no right and wrong here, only a standard American pronunciation and a standard British pronunciation.
 

royh

Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2005
Member Type
Student or Learner
The American pronunciation is similar to UK's isnt it?
I mean I would seriously freak out if I hear anyone pronunce it as 'gah-ridge'.
Sounds like a new type of fridge that is made especially for garages.
:lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top