A British pronunciation issue - English Stack Exchange

Most dictionaries list the pronunciation of issue as /ˈɪʃuː/ (ĭsho͞o) in American English and /ˈɪs.juː/ (ĭsyo͞o) possibly alongside /ˈɪʃjuː/ ... EnglishLanguage&UsageStackExchangeisaquestionandanswersiteforlinguists,etymologists,andseriousEnglishlanguageenthusiasts.Itonlytakesaminutetosignup. Signuptojointhiscommunity Anybodycanaskaquestion Anybodycananswer Thebestanswersarevotedupandrisetothetop Home Public Questions Tags Users Unanswered Teams StackOverflowforTeams –Startcollaboratingandsharingorganizationalknowledge. CreateafreeTeam WhyTeams? Teams CreatefreeTeam Teams Q&Aforwork Connectandshareknowledgewithinasinglelocationthatisstructuredandeasytosearch. LearnmoreaboutTeams ABritishpronunciationissue AskQuestion Asked 9yearsago Modified 2years,7monthsago Viewed 35ktimes 11 2 Mostdictionarieslistthepronunciationofissueas /ˈɪʃuː/(ĭsho͞o)inAmericanEnglishand/ˈɪs.juː/(ĭsyo͞o)possiblyalongside/ˈɪʃjuː/(ĭshyo͞o)and/ˈɪʃuː/inBritishEnglish.Oneinformalpollgivesequalfiguresfor/ˈɪʃuː/and/ˈɪs.juː/inBritishEnglish. IsthereanymannertohowthesethreepronunciationsmapoutinBritishEnglish?Isitaregionalvariation,aclassvariation,purelyindividualvariations? pronunciationbritish-english Share Improvethisquestion Follow editedAug28,2013at15:50 Gilles'SO-stopbeingevil' askedAug28,2013at15:03 Gilles'SO-stopbeingevil'Gilles'SO-stopbeingevil' 5,72866goldbadges3434silverbadges6060bronzebadges 9 3 AsaBrit,Iwasn'tawarethattherewasanissueregardingitspronunciation,norindeedthatthereismorethanonepronunciationeitherwithintheUKnor'acrossthepond'.ButIwon'tattempttocommentfurtherbecauseIhavenoknowledgeofthepronunciationsymbols. – TrevorD Aug28,2013at15:10 1 @TrevorD,BBC'slearningenglishpagesincludeausefulchartandsupportingvideosthatdiscusseachIPAsymbolindividually – JamesWaldby-jwpat7 Aug28,2013at15:24 1 @TrevorDAlthoughitsmainWikipediapagemakesfortoughreading,thelimitedIPAneededforEnglishisextremelysimpleandeasilylearned.Lookhereforphonemic–phoneticmappingsforEnglishasusedonWikipedia;lookherefornumerousdialectexamplesespeciallyfromtheUK,pluswithsoundclipsnoless;andlookhereforaneasykeyboard-entrymechanismthatworksanywhere. – tchrist ♦ Aug28,2013at15:24 1 Ican'treallyimaginetheseisanyaudibledifferencebetween/ˈɪʃuː/and/ˈɪʃjuː/.ButIwouldhavethoughtthatthestandardBritishpronunciationis/ˈɪʃuː/(ĭsho͞o)whilesome(upperclass?and/orcareful)speakerssay/ˈɪs.juː/(ĭsyo͞o)(althoughthatalwayssoundsrathercontrivedtomyears).Itmightalsobearegionalthing;Icanimagine/ˈɪs.juː/beingmorecommoninWales – user323578 Apr9,2019at13:53 1 @TimFosterl'llagreewithyoursuggestionthattheRPpronunciationis/isyoo/.HoweverIcan'tthinkofaNorthernEnglishaccentwhichdoesthesame.Tomeweallsay/ishoo/. – BoldBen Apr9,2019at22:45  |  Show4morecomments 5Answers 5 Sortedby: Resettodefault Highestscore(default) Datemodified(newestfirst) Datecreated(oldestfirst) 8 Havinglivedallmy65yearsinvariouspartsofBritain(SouthWales,Cambridge,Oxford,LondonandBrighton)I'dsaythatthenormalBritishpronunciationis"ishoo",thoughthemorephonetic"issyoo"isauniversallyacceptedvariant.Ithinkmyownpronunciationstartedas"ishoo",veeredtowards"issyoo"andthenedgedbacktowardsthemajorityversion. CambridgeDictionariesonlinepronunciationguidegivesonly"ishoo"astheBritishpronunciation,butperhapstheyarenotsetupinawaythatallowsalternativeminorityversions. Ithinkthat"issyoo"hasitsmainstrongholdamongpoliticians,andinthebroadcastlegacymediasuchastheBBCandC4.TheBritishsocialmediasiteTheStudentRoomhasathreadthatprettyexplicitlyconfirmsthis(beforedegeneratingintosilliness).Thesmallminorityofcontributorswhousedthemorephoneticversionappealedtotheauthorityofusageamongpoliticians. Also,theestimablevloggerSargonofAkkad,whoinmyopinionhasabeautifuleducatedBritish-Englishaccent,onceprefixedoneofhisYouTubevideoswithanoteaboutthistopic.Hesaidthathehadrecentlynoticedhimselfmovingfrom"ishoo"to"issyoo",andputitdowntolisteningtotoomanypoliticians.Hepromisedtotrytoresisttheaffectationinfuture. Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedJan23,2018at14:43 answeredJan23,2018at14:34 kgbgbkgbgb 8111silverbadge44bronzebadges 5 2 I’mnotsyurewhatyoumeanby"morephonetic".:) – tchrist ♦ Jan23,2018at14:38 1 Simplythatthe"ss"isrenderedas/s/ratherthan/ʃ/,andthepalatalizationoftheconsonantbeforethe"u",(whichwouldbestandardinBritishEnglish)isnotsupressedasitisinthe"lessphonetic"majoritypronunciation;the/j/goes. – kgbgb Jan23,2018at14:53 GiventherulesofBritishEnglish,/ˈɪʃuː/isasurprisingpronunciation,eventhoughitismorecommon.Thespellingandthepronunciationhavetobelearnedseparately.Ifthepronunciationwasuniversally/ˈɪs.juː/,thespellingwouldallowyoutopronouncethewordevenifyouhadneverheardit,ortowriteitwithouteverhavingseenit. – kgbgb Jan23,2018at15:05 1 InarecentpodcastfromtheGuardian"issue"waspronouncedwith"s"not"sh":theguardian.com/news/audio/2019/apr/05/… – RustyCore Apr9,2019at23:36 @RustyCoreThispodcastsoundsprettynaturaltome. – GeekestGeek Sep14,2021at21:58 Addacomment  |  3 J.C.WellsinhisLongmanPronunciationDictionary(3rdedition,2008)has/ˈɪʃu:/astheonlyAmericanpronunciationoftheword,and/ˈɪsju:/,/ˈɪʃju:/and/ˈɪʃu:/forBritishEnglish,withthefollowingdistribution: /ˈɪsju:/:30% /ˈɪʃju:/:21% /ˈɪʃu:/:49% Furtherinformationisprovidedaboutprevalenceaccordingtoage,with40%ofolderspeakersandmorethan90%ofyoungerspeakersusingoneofthe/ʃ/variants,/ˈɪʃju:/or/ˈɪʃu:/.Theconclusionfromthefiguresisthatthe/ˈɪsju:/pronunciationisbeingreplacedinBritishEnglishbytheotherones. /ʃ/isthesoundthatisfoundinshoe,/j/inyou. Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedOct18,2019at13:21 answeredOct18,2019at13:14 grandtoutgrandtout 1,68855silverbadges1515bronzebadges Addacomment  |  1 I'velivedonbothsidesofthepond,andinOldBlightyIdon'tremembereverhearinganythingotherthan"iss-you"--notthatnobodyeverdidsayittheotherway,mind,that'sjusttheonlyplaceI'vehearditsaidthatway.InYankworldI'vealwaysheard(andsaid)"iss-shoe"andnottheotherway. ThisisnottosaythatincertainplacesintheUKyoumighthear"iss-shoe"andintheUS"iss-you". IrememberbeingmadelightlyfunofatCheltenhamGrammarSchoolforpronouncing"tube"as"toob"ratherthan"tee-oob".Itriedtogetthemtoshowmewheretherewasa"y"inthatword,butinvain(youknow,"tyoob").Nobodywantedtoconsidermyposition.EventuallyIdecided"wheninRome"andallthat.ComingbacktotheUSIhadtounlearnanumberofpronunciationissues.After40yearsIstillhaveahardtimepronouncing"headmaster"likeaYank.Mymouthabsolutelywantstosay"headMAHster"withthelong"a"andemphasison"mas"--insteadoftheAmericanshort"a"withemphasison"head". Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredAug28,2013at22:07 CyberherbalistCyberherbalist 7,46833goldbadges2626silverbadges5454bronzebadges 1 1 theunemployedwhosellthemagazine'TheBigIssue'onthestreetsofLondoncanbeheardtocryoutBigIsh-oo – SPA Nov19,2013at12:26 Addacomment  |  1 HavingjustheardthisonBBCradio4I'malittlestumped,asthemainpresenterwouldpronunciateitas/ˈɪs.juː/andsecondone,coveringtheparticulartopic,as/ˈɪʃuː/.Ican'tsayifoneofthemwasn'tBritish,but,additionally,duringthesamenews,itoccurredoncemore,thistimeregardingbreastcancertissue. Youtubegivesmeconflictingmessagesaswell:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1Rn7q2GUgkandhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ1LBhSydlw Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedMay2,2016at20:06 answeredMay2,2016at18:18 eithedeithed 11144bronzebadges 2 Youwrotethesamepronunciationtwice,didyoumeandifferentones?DidthepresentersbothhaveBritishaccents? – Gilles'SO-stopbeingevil' May2,2016at19:34 Ooops-thanksforcorrection:)IthinkbothhadBritishaccents,butasI'mnotnativetoUKImightbemistaken.Other(similarthing)wasalsopronunciationofAliciaasyoutube.com/watch?v=PnyOLzBfT4k-whereonepersonwouldalternatebetweenbothusages. – eithed May2,2016at20:11 Addacomment  |  1 IamoriginallyfromtheNorthEastofEngland(Gateshead)buthavelivedinBrighton,London,Bracknell,Holland,Alnwickandforthelast7yearsintheUS.Isayiss-you.MycolleagueshereintheUSsayish-you.Idon'tknowwhateveryoneelseintheUKsaysbutwouldliketoknow. Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedOct20,2016at20:34 jimm101 8,4223131goldbadges2828silverbadges4646bronzebadges answeredOct20,2016at20:10 BarbKloosterboerBarbKloosterboer 1111bronzebadge Addacomment  |  Highlyactivequestion.Earn10reputation(notcountingtheassociationbonus)inordertoanswerthisquestion.Thereputationrequirementhelpsprotectthisquestionfromspamandnon-answeractivity. Nottheansweryou'relookingfor?Browseotherquestionstaggedpronunciationbritish-englishoraskyourownquestion. FeaturedonMeta PleasewelcomeValuedAssociate#1301-Emerson AnnouncingtheStackOverflowStudentAmbassadorProgram Tagsolutionbyvoting(tagmerge,renameorremove):[terminology]vs.... 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