# British/Canadian/American pronunciation of "shone" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 22, 2006, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166 "2006-01-22T23:22:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/21 "2006-01-23T13:05:30Z")
Shone? Short O. ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/22 "2006-01-23T15:26:25Z")
From Ontario… Joan had shown Shawn where the light shone. Joan=shown, Shawn=shone ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/23 "2006-01-23T16:09:35Z")
I always notice in the film _Sense & Sensibility_, when Kate Winslet’s Marianne reads the following lines from Cowper’s poem “The Castaway”: “No voice divine the storm allayed, No light propitious shone, When, snatched from all effectual aid, We perished, each alone.” She pronounces “shone” with an extremely short “o”–it almost sounds like “shun.” She does not, however, pronounce “alone” as “alun” to make it rhyme. (I would pronounce more like “shown.”) ---
**Author:** ![MartinL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@MartinL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MartinL)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/24 "2006-01-23T16:14:10Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > I’d pronounce it with a short o, like Shaun, not a long o like oh, and not sliding from one sound to another like ow (how do you describe that linguistically?). I’m originally from Ontario, and unless things have changed a lot since I left, it’s a short o back east too. That would be a [diphthong](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=diphthong) . ---
**Author:** ![MartinL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@MartinL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MartinL)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/25 "2006-01-23T16:16:24Z")
> [@irishgirl](#): > > Yep. > > It shines, it was shining, it shone. > > When I say it it sounds like John, on, con, gone, and like the “on” in long. And whatever pronunciation you choose, everything sounds better than “shined”, which I have heard even from native speakers. \* shudder \* ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/26 "2006-01-23T16:28:11Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > sliding from one sound to another like ow (how do you describe that linguistically?). Diphthong. > [@](#): > > Shone? Short O. I don’t mean to pick on you **Quartz** , because you’re not the only one who has done this, but do you realise how uninformative this kind of an answer might be? For example, to a Midwesterner like me, this exchange could be quite confusing: > [@](#): > > Shown, bone, phone, clone, all rhyme > > John, shone, con, all rhyme > > Sean doesn’t rhyme with any of these > [@](#): > > Sean rhymes with pawn, prawn, lawn and brawn Because to me, John, con, Sean, pawn, prawn, lawn, and brawn all rhyme. I can’t even begin to imagine what pronunciation this one is trying to indicate, except that I’m sure it’s not what it looks like: > [@](#): > > ‘sharn’ is an American variant And this one leaves me entirely flummoxed: > [@](#): > > Are you sure there as a “w” sound in there, or was it more like shahn? I’m prone to saying it shohn myself. There is no “w” sound when I say it, it’s a blunted “oh” sound. I realise that the other pronunciation is correct too. The first way it is pronunced on that page is how I say it. _W_ sound? None of these words has anything close to a _w_ sound in it. Just to be clear, we’re talking about the sound that begins the word _we_, right? Where does that sound occur in any of these words? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/27 "2006-01-23T16:39:16Z")
American here. I’ve always pronounced it to rhyme with “bone” or “cone,” and somehow I’ve gotten to age 37 without ever noticing anyone ever pronouncing it any other way. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/28 "2006-01-23T16:40:10Z")
Some people with a Southern drawl prolong “w” sounds, or even add “w” sounds to words when they say them. It’s the only way I can explain the sound. Shone and shown sound pretty well exactly the same in some regions. That is what I was speaking of. Some regions of Kansas have “dialects” with a more Southern accent, and this area has a largish amount of people with downright Oklahoman drawls. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/29 "2006-01-23T16:46:14Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > _W_ sound? None of these words has anything close to a _w_ sound in it. Just to be clear, we’re talking about the sound that begins the word _we_, right? Where does that sound occur in any of these words? To me shone=shown, and therefore sounds like “ow” words, which don’t actually have a distinct “w” sound in them at all. Like own, it’s not oh-wah-n, but oh-n. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/30 "2006-01-23T16:50:38Z")
That is the difference in how I say things. I say words like shown with a (not heavy, but notable) “w” sound, and there is a contrast between that and shone. I don’t think I’m an anamoly, people around me in when I’m in Central Kansas say things a similar way if they were born in the region. (I reside in southeast Kansas atm.) ---
**Author:** ![Tevildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Tevildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tevildo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/31 "2006-01-23T16:54:49Z")
Coming in from a Generic Northern English perspective: Rhyme: shone, con, Ron, John. Vowel on it’s own is short O, as in “hot”. Rhyme: shown, bone, phone, clone, zone. Vowel is long O, as in “hoe”. Rhyme: Sean, yawn, lawn, torn, horn, corn. Vowel is long A, as in “hall”. None of the three groups rhyme with each other, and none really have a “w” in them - the third group is probably closest to having “aw” rather than “o” as the vowel, though. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/32 "2006-01-23T16:56:52Z")
Listen closely and contrast [shown](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/shown) with (the first) [shone](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/shone) on these pages to see what I mean. There really isn’t a “w” sound in the second word, it’s been blunted. It takes a bit of time to pick out, but it’s there. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/33 "2006-01-23T17:03:20Z")
Anybody else hearing “the life of the wife is ended by the knife” song from **Family Guy?** Just me, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/34 "2006-01-23T17:07:49Z")
> [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#): > > Listen closely and contrast [shown](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/shown) with (the first) [shone](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/shone) on these pages to see what I mean. There really isn’t a “w” sound in the second word, it’s been blunted. It takes a bit of time to pick out, but it’s there. My ear doesn’t detect any difference between the “shown” and the first “shone.” The fact that two pronunciations (which I can distinguish) are given for “shone” suggests to me that the alternatives are acceptable, depending on region. That’s what a good dictionary does, as far as I’m concerned. Neither is “correct” over the other, just differently pronounced. There are thousands of such instances. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/35 "2006-01-23T17:27:22Z")
> [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#): > > Listen closely and contrast [shown](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/shown) with (the first) [shone](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/shone) on these pages to see what I mean. There really isn’t a “w” sound in the second word, it’s been blunted. It takes a bit of time to pick out, but it’s there. I love the online dictionaries with the sounds! Much easier to understand than this short o nonsense. 🙂 I can’t hear a difference between shown and shone, either. Maybe it is a regional thing. I say that because when I first moved away from TN, people asked me if my name was pronounced “Brinda” or “Brenda.” I honestly couldn’t hear a difference–both sounded like “Brinda” which is how Tennesseans pronounce “Brenda”. Then, about a year later, I could hear the difference. It just took that long for my ear to adapt. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/36 "2006-01-23T17:33:26Z")
**Brynda** , that is exactly the point I was making. We have “regional listening habits”, and we automatically process words in the accent we are used to hearing for the most part. When we do hear a difference, the contrast is that much more because it was a big enough difference to actually register. I can’t get **Mr. Clawbane** to pick out the difference in the two words either, but he’s used to hearing Oklahoma drawls, since he was born in this region. I know my little brother and parents would hear the subtle differences in the way those two words are said on the dictionary pages though. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/37 "2006-01-23T17:40:47Z")
> [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#): > > Listen closely and contrast [shown](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/shown) with (the first) [shone](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/shone) on these pages to see what I mean. There really isn’t a “w” sound in the second word, it’s been blunted. It takes a bit of time to pick out, but it’s there. I’ve listened very carefully several times and these sound exactly the same to me, and I’m not entirely unused to listening for differences in pronunciation. I don’t hear a “w” sound, blunted or otherwise. It’s my belief that the sound samples in these two cases are in fact exactly the same. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/38 "2006-01-23T17:42:33Z")
Adding, that to my way of thinking, since my “accent” is pretty nuetral,\* my reasoning is that what I’m hearing could be considered more accurate since my “regional listening habit” has a more neutral basis. [SUB]\*In fact it’s more a lack of accent than an actual accent. [/SUB] ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/39 "2006-01-23T17:50:27Z")
The person does prolong the word and adds a “w” sound to the “shown” word, really. It must be more subtle than I thought, but it’s plain to me. Maybe it’s the speech therapy I went through as a child, that has given me a sharper ear for such things? 😕 I had a slight speech impediment, I couldn’t differentiate between “ch” and “sh” sounds when speaking at first so had some speech therapy as a young child. It wasn’t extensive, but the therapist also worked with me to hear other sounds in words as well in an effort to be thorough I suppose. (Later a church elder worked with me and taught me old fashioned elocution.) I’m wondering if part of the problem was a stuffy head, which can affect hearing even back then. I’m very prone to sinus infections now, and have been for some time. Children who are prone to ear infections are sometimes delayed in speech. Anyway, maybe that’s it. Though I’m still fairly certain my parents and little brother would hear the difference as well. (They are still living in Central Kansas, and have for decades. My little brother has been there his whole life.) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166/40 "2006-01-23T17:56:46Z")
> [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#): > > Adding, that to my way of thinking, since my “accent” is pretty nuetral,\* my reasoning is that what I’m hearing could be considered more accurate since my “regional listening habit” has a more neutral basis. > > [SUB]\*In fact it’s more a lack of accent than an actual accent. [/SUB] It’s natural for every person to believe that his or her own accent is the most “neutral.” Suffice it to say that there is no such thing as a person with a “lack of an accent.” And if it come right down to it, I’d gladly put my West Central Ohio accent up against your Central Kansas accent in a contest for neutrality. I won’t make any definite conclusion on whose ear is “correct” in this case, but there is also the fact that a person’s pronuncation ear can be affected by “knowing” how a word is “supposed to be” pronounced or being clued in to a difference that one believes “should” exist based on difference in spelling. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-canadian-american-pronunciation-of-shone/341166.md?page=3)