Accent question for any Brits here

midwintermidwinter
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I was listening to a reading of _Life of Pi_ from another thread, and the reader, a Brit, pronounced the worth "sloth" (the name of the animal, not the sin) with a long "o." I'm curious, since I've never heard it pronounced it this way, whether this is a typical English pronunciation of the word, or whether it's some kind of regional dialect. Could any Brits on the boards let me know how you pronounce it/have heard it pronounced? Some information about where in England you are (and if you're from London, where in London you are) would be most informative.



Cheers!

Scott

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    alpha macalpha mac Posts: 463member
    Sloth (Sl-ooo-th) is by the Oxford Dictionary on my desk is the right way to pronounce Sloth.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    stoostoo Posts: 1,490member
    I've always heard it pronounced "sl oth", rather than "slow th".
  • Reply 3 of 7
    rodukroduk Posts: 706member
    Sl-ooo-th seems to sound too much like sleuth \
  • Reply 4 of 7
    retrograderetrograde Posts: 503member
    As a Canadian living in britain now I do remember noticing people here pronouncing sloth with a long "o" as in "slow + th".



    I was brought up pronouncing it like "cloth".
  • Reply 5 of 7
    hassan i sabbahhassan i sabbah Posts: 3,987member
    I say 'slowth' and say 'roth' for 'wrath' too.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    midwintermidwinter Posts: 10,060member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Hassan i Sabbah

    I say 'slowth' and say 'roth' for 'wrath' too.



    What I'm wondering is whether this is a regional thing in England?or perhaps even in London. That is, do folks in west London say "slowth" (long "o") and people in the north or east say "slAth" (short "o")? The last time I was in London (a couple of years ago) I had a long discussion about the differences in various London accents with a friend of mine from west London. It was something I'd never noticed before that night, and I've been curious about ever since. I suppose part of the problem with this, though, is that just like anywhere else, people have an ability to move fairly freely from accent to accent dependin upon the situation.



    Cheers

    Scott
  • Reply 7 of 7
    simonroyjonessimonroyjones Posts: 1member
    Midwinter



    I come from Richmond in Surrey. I was taught at school the the animal was a 'slo th' and the lazyness was 'slow th'.



    Out of interest where is the site where you listened to someone reading the life of pi ?



    Simon.
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