# Does anyone else pronounce "won" this way? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 1, 2007, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175 "2007-07-01T23:57:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/1 "2007-07-01T23:57:04Z")
Now, mind you, being a New Englander I definitely have a whole lot of funky stuff going on with my vowels that doesn’t seem to jibe with most of the country. But I only realized this one until recently; it seems that most people pronounce the word “won” (i.e. the past tense of win) as homophonous with the word “one”. For me, it rhymes with “lawn”, or is homophonous to an extremely gringo-tastic pronunciation of “Juan”. Anyone else? Or is this totally idiolectic? ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/2 "2007-07-02T00:02:06Z")
For me, “one” and “won” are pronounced in exactly the same way. My linguistic background is mixed, but mostly a U.S. Western (California, Oregon, Washington). ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Pumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@Ms.Pumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Pumpkin)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/3 "2007-07-02T00:19:16Z")
Mainer, here. “Won”=“one”. They both sound like “wun”. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/4 "2007-07-02T00:21:44Z")
Yep, the first sentence of your post pretty much is the answer to your question. It’s heartening that at least some New Englanders are branching out and getting hip to correct vowel pronounciation. Next lesson: “R”'s - Pronouncing them when they are actually in a word, and not when they aren’t. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Pumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@Ms.Pumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Pumpkin)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/5 "2007-07-02T00:26:41Z")
[QUOTE=An Arky] Next lesson: “R”'s - Pronouncing them when they are actually in a word, not when they aren’t.😃 [/QUOTE] What are these "R"s you speak of? 😃 ---
**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:** [July 2, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/6 "2007-07-02T00:44:09Z")
I don’t remember ever hearing anyone pronounce “won” different than “one.” Oh, and I pronounce “lawn” like “law” but with an “n” on the end. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/7 "2007-07-02T00:44:29Z")
As a New Englander myself, my instinct is to say “of course they’re the same!” but how else _would_ a person pronounce them? Those words are on [lists of homonyms](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=homonym+list+one+won) that you get in elementary school, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/8 "2007-07-02T01:16:38Z")
I am wondering about this alternative pronunciation. As a foreigner (Louisiana) living in Massachusetts, I have witnessed some heinous, bizarre, gut-wrenching pronunciations since I have lived here but this is one that I am finding hard to imagine. I am also wondering how someone could not know that they are pronounced the same way by most people given the proliferation of phonographs and movie pictures with sound in this day and age. ---
**Author:** ![Charger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@Charger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charger)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/9 "2007-07-02T02:37:33Z")
[QUOTE=Ms. Pumpkin] What are these "R"s you speak of? [/QUOTE] I first learned of the “r” issue while watching “Who’s the Boss?” as a kid. Tony always called her “Angelar.” My aunt, Linda, also had to ask the priest, prior to her wedding, not to call her “Lindar.” ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Pumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@Ms.Pumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Pumpkin)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/10 "2007-07-02T02:50:06Z")
[QUOTE=Charger] I first learned of the “r” issue while watching “Who’s the Boss?” as a kid. Tony always called her “Angelar.” My aunt, Linda, also had to ask the priest, prior to her wedding, not to call her “Lindar.” [/QUOTE] Ah, yes. I used to work with a woman who had a personalized license plate that read, “Linder”, actually! ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/11 "2007-07-02T03:05:43Z")
I’m a wun one. ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/12 "2007-07-02T04:55:40Z")
So, how in the heck do you pronounce lawn? Lun? Granted, I’m a southerner and tend to throw in syllables all willy-nilly, but won rhymes with one and lawn rhymes with fawn, dawn, pawn…etc. WTF are you yankees doing on the lawn? ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/13 "2007-07-02T05:04:07Z")
A wee bit of my long-lost Buffalo accent comes through when I say “won”. There’s a slight aspiration – I think that’s the name of it – at the start of many words that begin with “w”. It almost sounds like “hwon”, with a very, very light “h”. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/14 "2007-07-02T05:08:59Z")
[QUOTE=Auntbeast] So, how in the heck do you pronounce lawn? Lun? Granted, I’m a southerner and tend to throw in syllables all willy-nilly, but won rhymes with one and lawn rhymes with fawn, dawn, pawn…etc. WTF are you yankees doing on the lawn? [/QUOTE] I’m not sure what he was doing, but I think he won. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/15 "2007-07-02T05:34:34Z")
I had to think about this one. I’m from New Brunswick (Canada). If I think too hard about it, I think I may sometimes say one to rhyme with lawn. Lawn sounds like yawn. One Won Ton all sound about (_aboat_) the same… hmm. Other times it sounds like won… wun. But wtf do I know? I speak with an intrusive R \*and \*have a rhotacism impediment! Such is the horror of _Maritime English_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/16 "2007-07-02T06:19:01Z")
I am from the Dallas, TX area. I pronounce them differently. “One” rhymes with “run,” while “won” rhymes with “lawn.” In other words, the vowel sound in “won” is the same as the “a” in “father” for me. While I’ve known since I was a kid that some people pronounce “won” and “one” the same (as they are listed as homophones in several places, like someone here mentioned) I never knew it was the _prevelant_ pronounciation! It looks like me and the OP are the only ones who say them differently?! -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/17 "2007-07-02T06:41:18Z")
I pronounce it to sound like the word “on,” only with a “w” at the front. I dunno if it’s the same as pronouncing it like “lawn.” I guess it’s close. ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/18 "2007-07-02T13:44:26Z")
Another person checking in who’s never heard anyone pronounce “won” differently than “one.” Ever. Midwestern, born and bred. ---
**Author:** ![Litoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Litoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Litoris)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/19 "2007-07-02T14:18:27Z")
Brought up in the South, with frequent visits to Michigan and Indiana, I pronounce “won” like “wun” and the word “one” is more like “woon.” The “ah” pronunciation of the letter “o” is most definitely a New Englander thing. It’s ok, at least you don’t say “bayg” when you mean “bag” right? Right??? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175/20 "2007-07-02T14:52:00Z")
A buddy of mine pronounces “won” as if it were the “wan” in “why so pale and wan fond lover…” but his “one” is distinctly different and more of a “wun” sound. As for me, “one” and “won” are alike. “Wan” and “Juan” are alike. And I don’t remember hearing “won” rhyme with “lawn” (which for me rhymes with dawn, fawn, pawn, and gone). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-pronounce-won-this-way/410175.md?page=2)