ye olde

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birdeen's call

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How would you pronounce "ye" in this name? I am interested in learning whether the etymologically justified pronunciation survives. When a person knows that this pronunciation is /ðiː/ or /ðə/, do they usually pronounce the word this way? (Of couse, they will rarely have reason to say it, but what would they choose if they had to?)
 

BobK

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Thank you, but it doesn't really help. I already knew what is written there. I would like to know how people pronounce it.

There's a button you can click.

But I think the compilers have been tempted by their knowledge to make more of an elision than I am used to hearing. The pronunciation on that page is almost a monosyllable; whereas the version I commonly hear is /ji: ɒldi:/ (sometimes without the final /i:/).

I'm not a fan of 'sounds like' statements (as, if the example is already mispronounced, then the new word will perpetuate the same mispronunciation); but in this case I feel justified as many people feel there's a link between this sort of 'ye' and the archaic 2nd person plural 'ye' - "They're both archaic so who cares about the difference in meaning? It's the same word.' Of course, it's not.)

b
 

birdeen's call

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There's a button you can click.

But I think the compilers have been tempted by their knowledge to make more of an elision than I am used to hearing. The pronunciation on that page is almost a monosyllable; whereas the version I commonly hear is /ji: ɒldi:/ (sometimes without the final /i:/).

I'm not a fan of 'sounds like' statements (as, if the example is already mispronounced, then the new word will perpetuate the same mispronunciation); but in this case I feel justified as many people feel there's a link between this sort of 'ye' and the archaic 2nd person plural 'ye' - "They're both archaic so who cares about the difference in meaning? It's the same word.' Of course, it's not.)

b
Thanks. Do you ever hear the /ðiː/ pronunciation? Different dictionaries give different information on this, so I'm note sure what the truth is. If you heard someone use this pronunciation, would you find them pretentious?
 

5jj

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I think the compilers have been tempted by their knowledge to make more of an elision than I am used to hearing. The pronunciation on that page is almost a monosyllable; whereas the version I commonly hear is /ji: ɒldi:/ (sometimes without the final /i:/).
I agree.

I have never heard the /ðiː/ pronunciation.

I would consider it pretentious and/or silly. As far as I am concerned, this mock olde worlde word is 'ye', pronounced /ji:/
 

Tdol

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Thanks. Do you ever hear the /ðiː/ pronunciation? Different dictionaries give different information on this, so I'm note sure what the truth is. If you heard someone use this pronunciation, would you find them pretentious?

I have only ever heard /j/. If someone used /ð/, it would be hard to know what the spelling was.
 
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