Why many native speakers can't pronounce "Nuclear" properly?

[IceJad]

I hear it all too often in youtube videos especially American ones. Why can't they pronounce nuclear as just nu-clear instead of the ear grading nu-cu-lar. The word "clear" is in the spelling for the love of the Lord Almighty. Pronounce NU + CLEAR it is that simple.

English is my second language and the second most widely spoken in my country. And let me say I have never heard a single Malaysian pronounce it as nu-cu-lar. It is all nu-clear.

Baffles me to no end.

 

[Sketcher]

Nuc-le-ar.

 

[IceJad]

Nuc-le-ar.

It is nu-kle-ar if you want to break it down. cle is pronounce as kle. Not nuk-le-ar

 

[LeGato]

I hear it all too often in youtube videos especially American ones. Why can't they pronounce nuclear as just nu-clear instead of the ear grading nu-cu-lar. The word "clear" is in the spelling for the love of the Lord Almighty. Pronounce NU + CLEAR it is that simple.

English is my second language and the second most widely spoken in my country. And let me say I have never heard a single Malaysian pronounce it as nu-cu-lar. It is all nu-clear.

Baffles me to no end.

New-Clee-Err
Is that it?

 

[Pavel Mosko]

I hear it all too often in youtube videos especially American ones. Why can't they pronounce nuclear as just nu-clear instead of the ear grading nu-cu-lar. The word "clear" is in the spelling for the love of the Lord Almighty. Pronounce NU + CLEAR it is that simple.

English is my second language and the second most widely spoken in my country. And let me say I have never heard a single Malaysian pronounce it as nu-cu-lar. It is all nu-clear.

Baffles me to no end.

Well my my California dialect pronounces it as, "Nuke-lear"

 

[sfs]

Why can't they pronounce nuclear as just nu-clear instead of the ear grading nu-cu-lar.

Because (a) it's easier on the tongue to follow the 'k' sound with a back vowel than with a consonant ('l') that has the tip of the tongue touching the roof of the mouth (alveolar consonant), and (b) Why Do People Pronounce 'Nuclear' As 'Nucular'? (Video)

 

[Sketcher]

It is nu-kle-ar if you want to break it down. cle is pronounce as kle. Not nuk-le-ar

Take it from a native English speaker. Unless you want to be embarrassed in conversation with one.

 

[IceJad]

New-Clee-Err
Is that it?

I don't know why but the pic of your cat with the way you write it just made my mind pronounce it in cat talk.

 

[LeGato]

I don't know why but the pic of your cat with the way you write it just made my mind pronounce it in cat talk.

Well this cat can pronounce Nuclear

 

[dzheremi]

Here's linguist Geoff Nunberg's take on it at the Language Log blog hosted at the University of Pennsylvania. While it's written in response to Stephen Pinker's article concerning Sarah Palin's speech patterns in particular, I think he makes a few points that are also applicable more generally.

 

[sandman]

New-cleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-airrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[Aldebaran]

Nu clee ar wessels!

 

[IceJad]

Nu clee ar wessels!

It's in Alameda. And I shall pronounce it as A-lar-med-darr.

 

[Quasiblogo]

Wyatt, it is NUH-clay-aw, in the deep South. They-aw you have it.

Juss ask President Jimmy Carter, if you are so predisposed to disagree--he having been a sahpurb submarine commander? (Do notice how my declarative suggestion sounds interrogatory in naytchuh).

 

[OldAbramBrown]

Nuke-ular.

 

[The Liturgist]

I hear it all too often in youtube videos especially American ones. Why can't they pronounce nuclear as just nu-clear instead of the ear grading nu-cu-lar. The word "clear" is in the spelling for the love of the Lord Almighty. Pronounce NU + CLEAR it is that simple.

English is my second language and the second most widely spoken in my country. And let me say I have never heard a single Malaysian pronounce it as nu-cu-lar. It is all nu-clear.

Baffles me to no end.

Its a legitimate difference in dialect. It is not that people from some regions of the US pronounce it incorrectly, rather, it is specific to their accent. Just like how most English people pronounce “China” as “Chiner” and Dinner as “Dinnah” (a dialect feature called Rhoticity, which also features in some American accents of Boston, New York and the South).

 

[Occams Barber]

Its a legitimate difference in dialect. It is not that people from some regions of the US pronounce it incorrectly, rather, it is specific to their accent. Just like how most English people pronounce “China” as “Chiner” and Dinner as “Dinnah” (a dialect feature called Rhoticity, which also features in some American accents of Boston, New York and the South).

You're right.

"New- cue - lar" is a legitimate dialect variation within the US - but, Gee, it's irritating to those of us who speak proper English.

What makes it worse is the US propensity to pronounce 'new' as 'noo' and deliberately pronounce the final 'R'. (Americans tend to have big Rs while the rest of us have little 'Rs". )

In proper (Australian) English, 'nuclear' is pronounced 'n-you-clee-ah' (no final 'R' sound)

In Americanese it gets twisted up into 'noo-cue-larr' (the 'R' is pronounced).


OB

 

[dzheremi]

What makes it worse is the US propensity to pronounce 'new' as 'noo' and deliberately pronounce the final 'R'. (Americans tend to have big Rs while the rest of us have little 'Rs". )

In proper (Australian) English, 'nuclear' is pronounced 'n-you-clee-ah' (no final 'R' sound)

In Americanese it gets twisted up into 'noo-cue-larr' (the 'R' is pronounced).


OB

I don't have a copy of Labov, Ash, and Boberg's Atlas of North American English to back this up with (since I never focused on English dialects in my academic studies), but even then I'm pretty sure that any standard reference work which you can find on this topic will mention that non-rhotic dialects (ones where the R is dropped) in North America are pretty much isolated to parts of New England and New York.

So in an 'Americanese' context, it is the speakers of non-rhotic dialects who would be seen by the majority as not speaking "proper English".

And I refuse to take anything that Australians say about other varieties of English the least bit seriously while it is still considered acceptable in your country for adults who are not speaking to toddlers to use diminutives for everything in day to day speech. No, I'm not having brekkie while watching the telly, and I can't say that I've ever enjoyed a choccy biccy or however you'd say that, because I'm too busy using my adult words like "breakfast", "television", and "chocolate chip cookie". It may take half a second longer to say these things, but it is worth it.

 

[Occams Barber]

I don't have a copy of Labov, Ash, and Boberg's Atlas of North American English to back this up with (since I never focused on English dialects in my academic studies), but even then I'm pretty sure that any standard reference work which you can find on this topic will mention that non-rhotic dialects (ones where the R is dropped) in North America are pretty much isolated to parts of New England and New York.

So in an 'Americanese' context, it is the speakers of non-rhotic dialects who would be seen by the majority as not speaking "proper English".

And I refuse to take anything that Australians say about other varieties of English the least bit seriously while it is still considered acceptable in your country for adults who are not speaking to toddlers to use diminutives for everything in day to day speech. No, I'm not having brekkie while watching the telly, and I can't say that I've ever enjoyed a choccy biccy or however you'd say that, because I'm too busy using my adult words like "breakfast", "television", and "chocolate chip cookie". It may take half a second longer to say these things, but it is worth it.

Most people don't realise that Australian English is one of the more efficient variations of English. By selectively shortening words we have achieved an incredibly high rate of "information per syllable". There is a suggestion that Australian English be adopted for international military communications based on this 'data per syllable' efficiency along with its inaccessibility to non-English speakers.

(I have an ancient minor in Linguistics and recall reading Labov, Chomsky and Sapir many years ago. I currently have a copy of Wolfram and Schilling on "American English-Dialects and Variation" sitting on my desk. I am an unrepentant word nerd and Spelling Nazi with a casual interest in the history and etymology of English.)


OB

 

[The Liturgist]

irritating to those of us who speak proper English.

The US dialects are as proper as any other dialect. I could go on at length about the Australian vowel shift if we were to argue about propriety, but I won’t, since I enjoy both the American accents and the Australian accents.

What I dislike is the increasing disappearance of regional accents in the UK and North America. Canadians should not sound like Californians, nor should Texans sound like Nevadans, nor should Mancunians, Brummies, or Geordies sound like Londoners or Anglians. For that matter, the differences between the dialects of Australia and New Zealand and the Falklands must be guarded zealously.