# Do you pronounce the first "r" in Turmeric? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 29, 2018, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420 "2018-03-29T16:01:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/21 "2018-03-29T23:45:28Z")
Yes. (Not that I can remember ever saying it out loud before.) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/22 "2018-03-30T01:18:11Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > ETA: > How about kyoomin? Or is it coomin? > > However, the Snickers commercial notwithstanding, it’a ah-mond. And also, sa-muhn. 1. Either is fine. 2. No, it’s not. It’s regional, much like pecan. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/23 "2018-03-30T03:28:48Z")
Pronouncing the l in salmon is regional? I’ll take your word for it on almond. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/24 "2018-03-30T04:18:47Z")
It’s not a toomah…ric! ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/25 "2018-03-30T04:27:49Z")
I didn’t know there were two “r”'s until I saw this thread. Whoops. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/26 "2018-03-30T05:35:43Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > . . . because it’s fricken’ spelled that way. You’re probably not serious with this, but spelling doesn’t dictate the pronunciation of the vast majority of language. Humans grow up pronouncing the bulk of their vocabulary long before they can read, without regard to spelling, (which doesn’t always correspond phonetically in a consistent way). Even after that, for most people most new vocabulary is acquired aurally before it is seen in print. If people depended on spelling to know how to pronounce words, then illiterate people would never be able to talk. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/27 "2018-03-30T07:00:56Z")
I used to say TYU- merick, but switched to TUR-merick a couple of years ago after meeting people who both pronounced the R and used the stuff a lot more than me. I’d never really noticed the R before then, if I’m honest, but it wasn’t something I came across much in the villages I grew up in. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/28 "2018-03-30T08:03:26Z")
I’ve seen it spelled both ways, and didn’t know which was right, let alone its pronunciation. Also, I don’t even know what it is. Some kind of cooking ingredient I think. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/29 "2018-03-30T08:26:03Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > You’re probably not serious with this, but spelling doesn’t dictate the pronunciation of the vast majority of language. Humans grow up pronouncing the bulk of their vocabulary long before they can read, without regard to spelling, (which doesn’t always correspond phonetically in a consistent way). Even after that, for most people most new vocabulary is acquired aurally before it is seen in print. > > If people depended on spelling to know how to pronounce words, then illiterate people would never be able to talk. I have a friend to whom I would like to show this post. He was taught at school, pretty much, that English spelling vis-a-vis pronunciation, function in a highly regular and consistent way. This is nonsense – spelling dictates pronunciation _less_ in English, than it does in many languages – but he totally bought into it, and has continued to do so for more than half a century. The result is, that his way of pronouncing a good many words, is strange; but he’s convinced that his pronunciation is correct, and that of almost everyone else, is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/30 "2018-03-30T13:37:13Z")
I tend to say “TOO-muh-rick” unless I’m being precise, in which case I will pronounce the first “r.” It’s just that “TER-mu-rick” doesn’t roll off my tongue well in spontaneous speech, so I elide over the first “r.” That said, the balance of "r"s in my speech is accounted for, with the missing “r” finding itself into the way “sherbet” (pronounced “sherbert.”) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/31 "2018-03-30T13:39:59Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I’ve seen it spelled both ways, and didn’t know which was right, let alone its pronunciation. Also, I don’t even know what it is. Some kind of cooking ingredient I think. It’s what makes curry powder yellow. It’s a rhizome/root like ginger (but much smaller.) Very yellow/orange. Stains the shit out of everything you get it on (much in the same way beets do.) In America, it’s also used in American ballpark mustard. It is most commonly found in its powdered form (at least in the West). Used commonly in Indian and Middle Eastern cooking (among others.) The fresh rhizome is also used commonly in Southeast Asian curries. Also, there’s been a bit of a health food fad surrounding turmeric going on for the last couple of years here in the US. Like I can find fresh turmeric root at my local groceries, when ten years ago I had to go to the Thai/Vietnamese/Southeast Asian markets to have any hope in finding it. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/32 "2018-03-30T13:41:09Z")
My wife and I don’t but as we thought about it at least three of our parents did. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/33 "2018-03-30T14:28:47Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > I have always pronounced it, because it’s fricken’ spelled that way. But I have noticed that it seems everybody else when they say it( Not that it’s a exactly daily topic of conversion, but TV cooking shows etc.) drops the r and says tumeric. > > Am I that unusual in pronouncing it? No I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/34 "2018-03-30T23:41:46Z")
I pronounce the first r. I don’t care if you pronounce it or not. Just don’t spell the word without it, because that is a misspelling. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/35 "2018-03-31T03:08:38Z")
I can’t remember ever talking about turmeric with anyone who did not bring up the subject themselves, so I say it the way do. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/36 "2018-03-31T04:22:57Z")
There are three syllables? Huh. I always say it toom’rick. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/37 "2018-03-31T06:05:53Z")
I never have, to the point that I forget the R is there. The middle syllable is just an elongated R, though, and gets shorter the faster I say it, turning it into a two syllable word. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/38 "2018-03-31T14:26:37Z")
I never knew the first “r” was there and will go back to my unenlightened state momentarily. Damned spice stains everything. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/39 "2018-03-31T16:14:57Z")
I’m pretty sure I’ve never pronounced either R…or any of the other letters. I don’t think I’ve ever spoken the word. Mentally I think of the first R as silent so call that a no. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420/40 "2018-04-02T13:19:29Z")
These answers seem about evenly split between “Of course! There’s an r there in plain sight, after all!” and “There’s an r? TIL! Who could have guessed?” This feeds my theory that many highly literate Dopers’ primary interaction with language is the sight of the written word (myself included), while others are primarily tuned in to the sound of the spoken word. Back in my college days I had a friend who also liked curry but pronounced “tumor ick,” even though otherwise he spoke rhotic American English and read books. It puzzled me how that was even possible. Still does. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pronounce-the-first-r-in-turmeric/811420.md?page=3)