Wednesday, 2 March 2011

Cringeworthy pronunciations

Last month I attended a medical English class taught by a colleague of mine who claims to be a native speaker of English. As I had a piece of paper on me, I jotted down some words which he pronounced in a rather strange way. Here’s a list of some of them along with the pronunciations he used:

anaesthetist ˌænəsˈθetɪst, ˌænes-

anamnesis æˈnæmnəsɪs

bosom ˈbɒzəm

catheter kæˈθiːtə

diagnosis daɪˈæɡnəsɪs

enemas iˈniːməz

glands ɡlɑːnz

haematologist ˌheməˈtɒlədʒɪst

intravenous ˌɪntrəˈvenəs

iodine ˈjəʊdaɪn

otorhynolaryngologist ˌəʊtəʊˌriːnəʊˌlærɪŋˈɡɒlədʒɪst

prognosis ˈprɒɡnəsɪs

scalpel ˈskeɪpl̩

speculum ˈspekələm

spirometer spɪˈrɒmɪtə

syringe ˈsriːndʒ

venereologist ˌvenəˈrɒlədʒɪst

Ok, some of the terms above are not very common in English, but one supposes that a teacher of (medical) English should know how to pronounce them, don’t you think?

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