But Z95.3 here in Vancouver always prounces it Zed 95. But I guess each station choses what sounds better.
ZED not ZEE...
- Thread starter Lithp
- Start date
Since many young children learn their ABC's from Sesame Street, how does Sesame Street pronounce Z? Zee or Zed?
Notes on American English
Gives some examples and mentions this :
Canadian spelling seems to be intermediate between the British and American (US) forms but is generally closer to British practice. There are variations from province to province.
Gives some examples and mentions this :
Canadian spelling seems to be intermediate between the British and American (US) forms but is generally closer to British practice. There are variations from province to province.
missile said:My local Member Of Parliament is Paul Zed.Would the Americans mispronounce his name,too?
Paul Zed. Right.
I think in this case, "Zed" is correctly pronounced "EX-er-ving".....
(An inside joke, that missile may or may not get)
Agree with missile about ZED ZED Top and no "Dogtown and Zed Boys" for this Canuck. However:
it's ant-EE not ant-EYE
sem-EE not sem-EYE
and I loves my "bank machine".
it's ant-EE not ant-EYE
sem-EE not sem-EYE
and I loves my "bank machine".
Nascar_James said:
Nascar, that might be because Merriam-Webster's dictionary is an American dictionary, which naturally gives preference to American spellings and style.
And actually, much of what may be thought of as 'American' spelling was not arrived at through common practice in the U.S. It was not the case that many Americans thought that center is better than centre, or aluminum is better than aluminium, but it was Webster who decided this rather arbitrarily, and decided to include these new spellings in his dictionary. Since his dictionary was influential, Americans followed his lead, and thus American spelling was born. ;-)
Lithp said:
yes I use these spellings and pronunciations. i say car-a-mel, and have been caught saying shed-u-al on occasion. I do not say "slippy"
despite the fact that i have been born and raised on PEI, and it's very rare that I say eh?...Could be because of my parents not being Canadian though....
Nascar_James said:
Depends if they are watching the american or Canadian station...American station, they say ZEE, Canadian, It's Zed. In kindergarten, my children are taught Zed, or the correct pronunciation
The problem with Z is that I have never heard of a Zedbra always a Zebra.. And a lot of the time it's just easier to use american "slang" .
Re: RE: ZED not ZEE...
I've heard it pronounced a couple of ways, one is the Zee way: Zee-Braw
the other which I would assume is the Zed way was: Zeb-raw
krayzy-kutie said:
I've heard it pronounced a couple of ways, one is the Zee way: Zee-Braw
the other which I would assume is the Zed way was: Zeb-raw
Zed is just the name of the letter- the name does not necessarily reflect on the sound it produces (& in this case, it does not at all).
Thing of 'w'. We all say 'double u'. But that is not the sound it makes.
Zebra is spelled with the letter zed that makes the sound 'zee'. I don't think zeb-ra is a proper pronunciation at all.
Thing of 'w'. We all say 'double u'. But that is not the sound it makes.
Zebra is spelled with the letter zed that makes the sound 'zee'. I don't think zeb-ra is a proper pronunciation at all.
I actually saw a report a while ago from England and the reporter kept saying zed-bra instead of sebra, that was the first time I ever heard it pronounced that way.
Maybe it's a british thing then. It was an english family I hung around with a few years back that I heard using the Zeb-ra
Re: zee vs. zed
Interesting to read through here, as language and the details of it fascinate me (I want to return to university and study for a degree in linguistics). I'm from New York State originally, perhaps 70 miles from the Ontario border at the Niagara River, and I now live in Cleveland, Ohio, after living for 13 years in other parts of Ohio (mainly Cincinnati). Where I grew up, "eh" was common, fizzy drinks were called soda, pop, or soda pop depending on one's personal preference, and while my paternal grandmother said "fudgeicle" the rest of us said "fudgesicle' - despite the fact that we all were from the same small town. "Huh?" was at least as common as "What?", while "I'm sorry?" was rarely heard as a cue to repeat oneself. I heard that one more often when I moved to Ohio, though in Cincinnati, it was generally replaced by "Please?" or even "Do what?" - the latter being especially common among people with recent ties to the Kentucky side of the Ohio river. (It made its way into my own speech, sadly, though I at least managed to avoid adopting most of the other oddments of that area's speech in the dozen years I lived there. Or at least, if I did, most of them are gone now. I'm working on ridding myself of "do what?"....)
Here in Cleveland, we tend to sound a lot like the Canadian folks directly across the lake from us, even more so to some extent than where I grew up. Close enough, in fact, that whenever I visit Canada, I find it diffcult not to go the rest of the way and start sounding like I belong there. Just call me a parrot, I guess - though it can come in handy in blending in, and should I move to Toronto as I'd like, I at least won't be identifiable as a newcomer by my accent.... eh? :wink:
That's because the "Lay-Z" is a trademarked spelling of the word "lazy", adopted for commercial use by the company. When was the last time you heard someone accused of being "laZED" instead of lazy?pdxfunguy said:
Interesting to read through here, as language and the details of it fascinate me (I want to return to university and study for a degree in linguistics). I'm from New York State originally, perhaps 70 miles from the Ontario border at the Niagara River, and I now live in Cleveland, Ohio, after living for 13 years in other parts of Ohio (mainly Cincinnati). Where I grew up, "eh" was common, fizzy drinks were called soda, pop, or soda pop depending on one's personal preference, and while my paternal grandmother said "fudgeicle" the rest of us said "fudgesicle' - despite the fact that we all were from the same small town. "Huh?" was at least as common as "What?", while "I'm sorry?" was rarely heard as a cue to repeat oneself. I heard that one more often when I moved to Ohio, though in Cincinnati, it was generally replaced by "Please?" or even "Do what?" - the latter being especially common among people with recent ties to the Kentucky side of the Ohio river. (It made its way into my own speech, sadly, though I at least managed to avoid adopting most of the other oddments of that area's speech in the dozen years I lived there. Or at least, if I did, most of them are gone now. I'm working on ridding myself of "do what?"....)
Here in Cleveland, we tend to sound a lot like the Canadian folks directly across the lake from us, even more so to some extent than where I grew up. Close enough, in fact, that whenever I visit Canada, I find it diffcult not to go the rest of the way and start sounding like I belong there. Just call me a parrot, I guess - though it can come in handy in blending in, and should I move to Toronto as I'd like, I at least won't be identifiable as a newcomer by my accent.... eh? :wink:
Hi Summer! We've met over at Road to Canada, and I followed your link here. This looks like an awesome site, though I haven't had much time to browse yet.
It's funny that you mention how you sound like a Canadian when you visit Canada. I have the same experience; I can't help but hear the lilt that comes out of my mouth whenever I'm up there. When I'm home, I literally have to fight it so I don't sound "fake" or whatever, and many times I've been asked if I'm from Canada after someone hears me talk. It's weird, but I'll just take it as another sign that I belong there!
Anyway, thanks for the link here--I hope to spend more time here!
BTW: I just gave my 2.5 year old son a little stuffed moose, and he immediately named it Zed. Canadaian Z. Go figure!
It's funny that you mention how you sound like a Canadian when you visit Canada. I have the same experience; I can't help but hear the lilt that comes out of my mouth whenever I'm up there. When I'm home, I literally have to fight it so I don't sound "fake" or whatever, and many times I've been asked if I'm from Canada after someone hears me talk. It's weird, but I'll just take it as another sign that I belong there!
Anyway, thanks for the link here--I hope to spend more time here!
BTW: I just gave my 2.5 year old son a little stuffed moose, and he immediately named it Zed. Canadaian Z. Go figure!
Hey, Wannabe, glad to see you here! I just found this place myself a couple of days ago, and then today I figured it would be a good link in my RTC sig. Nice to know I figured right.
That's so funny about your son and his moose! Kids are cute that way... what's it they say about "out of the mouths of babes", eh?
I just found this place myself a couple of days ago, and then today I figured it would be a good link in my RTC sig. Nice to know I figured right.That's so funny about your son and his moose! Kids are cute that way... what's it they say about "out of the mouths of babes", eh?
u kno i asked my class mates this question and half of them think zee is the last letter of the alphabet sad realy