I have heard the word appreciate pronounced by British speakers in both the ways suggested in the thread title: appre-see-ate and appre-she-ate.
Are these two pronunciations generally mixed or are there certain localities and dialects which use them more than others? Is it an upper-class/lower-class thing, is it derived from the pronunciation in French, or what?
Lastly, what other words might one similarly hear distinguished in the same way?
My standard dictionary (the Macquarie) gives both options as acceptable pronunciations. I always use the first option (app-ree-see-ate).
The same goes for *depreciate * and negotiate.
It is appre-she-ate for me. I have never noticed anyone saying it the other way and it sounds wrong to me.
Another vote for the sh sound.
And whatever you do, don’t put an S sound in the middle of negotiate or negotiation. It’s ne-go-she-ate, not ne-go-see-ate! There’s no way a T can sound like an S!
Thank you, commasense and Shagnasty. Are those your experiences from Massachusetts and Maryland, or from having heard British speakers of English as I asked in the OP?
I realize as an American it is nearly always ‘appre-she-ate,’ but I’m curious about our cousins across the water. I have to play a solicitor from Hampstead and I was curious about that particular quirk of dialect. 
I’m not British so maybe it wrong to answer but down here both are used.
The ‘she’ version is most common, the ‘see’ version is the more “couth” or upper crust version…GENERALY (incase I offend anyone).
I’m from South East England (rural Kent originally, now London) and it’s ‘appre-she-ate’ for me. The ‘see’ pronunciation sounds just plain wrong, and actually sounds quite American to my ears, but I have no doubt it’s dialectically correct in some part(s) of the UK.
OB
“she” everywhere I’ve heard in the U.S. However, about 15 or 20 years ago, a trend seemed to start in the TV news where they would use the “s” sound in such words, rather than “sh” which we normally heard. For example “ne-go-see-ate” rather than “ne-go-she-ate.” It always bothered me and sounds false to my ears.
Go to…
http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=appreciate&x=16&y=13
…and you’ll find both pronunciations - ‘sh’ and ‘see’.
But if you can hear the first “a” in appreciate, your ears are better than mine. I realize the syllable is supposed to be deemphasized, but this is ridiculous.
Hell, it’s sounded the way a hillbilly (or President) might say it.
In both recordings there is a clear schwa sound for the first syllable. Did you not hear it, or were you expecting the sound from “cat”?
No, I was looking for it, but I didn’t hear the schwa.
I don’t doubt that you’re right, though, and I &preciate the reply.
Hahahaa!!!
ne-goat-tee-ate
So does species* with the ‘s’ sound—for me, anyhow.
*In the zoological sense, that is. Specie in the numismatic sense is another matter.
however at least 5 online dictionaries offer negociate as an appearent alternative to negotiate - so perhaps english is evolving still
Well, it’s gone too far. Cut it out.
I’ve noticed that too, and always wondered if the reason I noticed it was because I’d recently learned in a phonology class that many pairs of consonant sounds are indistinguishable over a phone. This is why verbal letter names such as “Able” and “Baker” were developed in the early days of radio, and why early phone operators came up with those exaggerated numeric pronunciations like “niyun”, “fiyiv”, and “fower”.
I thought that might extend to radio and TV, where the sound isn’t always great, especially with the latter, but I notice it now with even very good radios. Anyhow, since I’d had that class, I wondered if it was something that had always been going on and I was only noticing it now because it had just been pointed out. Or was it a real change in the way announcers were talking? From your post I guess that it was the latter.
Both pronunciations are used where I come from (near Manchester).
It is appre-SHE-ate. No questions. That’s how the British have always said it, yet some parts of the world (and creeping into Britain) seem to think it is acceptable to change the pronunciation of certain words because they think it sounds more upper class and prounouncing “cia” as “sh” is lazy and what “commoners” do. Another example is Quarter - which is ALWAYS pronounced “Kworter”, yet some media types seem to think it is acceptable to say this as “Korter” which sounds ridiculous and clearly incorrect. We do not say the “God save the Keen”. Same rules. Medicine is another. It is Med-ee-sun. Again, especially in the media, we hear - “Med-sun” as if it is “uncool” to pronounce the middle section.
The way English is being abused is horrendous. Everyone saying “I was like… She was like…” virtually every sentence is just abhorrent. Ever heard of talking in the past tense and using other verbs instead of re-enacting everything?! Also, why is everyone asking questions at the end of every sentence? eg. I was just going for a walk? And it was sunny? And I thought I’d have an ice cream? Get a grip. Speak in an assertive manner, and if you’re not sure what you’re saying, don’t speak at all.
I realize that this thread is a zombie, but still, I’m curious how commasense would pronounce “action”.
Based on that post, the way it is supposed to be pronounced… AK-shun, and not AK-see-un.