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PronunciationEither has two different pronunciations in modern English. The pronunciation "ee-ther" /ˈiːðə(ɹ)/ (IPA) is usually encountered in American English, and is the pronunciation of the majority of English speakers. The pronunciation "eye-ther" /ˈaɪðə(ɹ)/ is associated with British English and Canadian English, but it is not universal in either place or in Australian English and other dialects that take their lead from British English.A recurring urban legend says that the eye-ther pronunciation originated with King George I or another of the Hanoverian kings of Great Britain; the king was a German who did not speak English as a native language, and was misled by English spelling. The new royal pronunciation was imitated by his courtiers, and as such became a new form. It is not likely that this is the source of the eye-ther pronunciation - before English spelling was fixed, it tended to be phonetic; as early as the 13th century, there are examples of the first vowels being spelled "ai", which would correspond to eye-ther.An Ira Gershwin song, Let's Call the Whole Thing Off, opens with the words "You say ee-ther and I say eye-ther", and concerns a couple who lament the strain put on their relationship by pronunciation differences (and the different social backgrounds which they imply). In the end, happily, love conquers phonetics.The 'ee-ther' pronunciation forms, with the word 'ether' one of the few minimal pairs demonstrating that the difference between the voiced dental fricative and the unvoiced dental fricative is phonemic in English.
引用第2樓arsenal於2007-03-24 21:37發表的“”:Thanks 櫻花兄 [表情] [表情]明白
