# Eiffel pronunciation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 24, 2026, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732 "2026-03-24T16:15:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/41 "2026-03-25T16:54:57Z")
Are we in an abusive relationship with the English language? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/42 "2026-03-25T16:55:55Z")
In a reciprocal abusive relationship. English sufers too. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/43 "2026-03-25T16:57:46Z")
That’s right, I butcher it when I speak it, or so my son says (who learned English in youtube and/or speaking with native speakers in the internet instead of reading SF&F books, like me), the not-so-little-anymore prick. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/44 "2026-03-25T17:01:16Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > And Borges loved it too (because of the Anglo-Saxon / Norman French layers , something I also like). Indeed – I took one semester of Old English in college, purely because of Borges’ “recommendation.” (I’m totally serious). He did have a British grandmother, so that’s part of his connection. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/45 "2026-03-25T17:28:44Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Many of the “long” vowel letters in English are diphthongs. > > A: /ei/ > E: /i/ > I: /ai/ > O: /ou/ > U: /ju/ Not in Scots English - those are all single vowels for us, which I think makes it easier for us to pronounce continental European languages correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/46 "2026-03-25T17:38:28Z")
> [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](#): > > It might make things clearer to consider the difference between “sighed” and “side” - they are very different in Scotland. To my untrained ear they are homophones. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Here are their pronunciations for “sight”: > > [enPR](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:English_pronunciation): sīt, [IPA](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:International_Phonetic_Alphabet)([key](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:English_pronunciation)): /saɪt/, /səɪt/ > > Note the second one. That reflects a common phonetic variant where the /aɪ/ diphthong is raised and centralized before voiceless consonants (like the /t/ in “sight”). I don’t see əɪ anywhere on that Wiki page. Could you point it out? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/47 "2026-03-25T17:45:07Z")
One place is in the Wiktionary pronunciation guide for “Sight”: > **[sight - Wiktionary, the free dictionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sight)** > [@](#): > > ### Pronunciation > > - [enPR](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:English_pronunciation): sīt, [IPA](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:International_Phonetic_Alphabet)([key](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:English_pronunciation)): /saɪt/, /səɪt/ The second pronunciation is what I and some others use. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/48 "2026-03-25T17:55:14Z")
Indeed when watching series/movies set in Northern England/Scotland I’ve been known to comment to my wife “these people speak correctly!” or words to that effect 😛 ---
**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 25, 2026, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/49 "2026-03-25T18:32:39Z")
It’s right in the entry for “sight.” I guess I didn’t include the full URL, just the relevant detail, but if you go to Wiktionary and search for “sight,” that’s exactly where I pulled it from. Here’s a whole article about it: > **[Canadian raising](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_raising)** > > Canadian raising (also sometimes known as English diphthong raising) is an allophonic rule of phonology in many varieties of North American English that changes the pronunciation of diphthongs with open-vowel starting points. Most commonly, the shift affects /aɪ/ ⓘ or /aʊ/ ⓘ, or both, when they are pronounced before voiceless consonants (therefore, in words like price and clout, respectively, but not in prize and cloud). In North American English, /aɪ/ and /aʊ/ usually begin in an open vowel \[... As I said before, my accent only does the “eye” raising and not the “ow” raising. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/50 "2026-03-25T18:43:43Z")
That doesn’t address my issue. I don’t know what əɪ sounds like or what other words it is used in, and the IPA key doesn’t give me that information. ---
**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 25, 2026, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/51 "2026-03-25T19:19:43Z")
I also explained it in a previous post before for the non-IPA folk. The best way to describe it without audio clips is that I begin the diphthong for “sight” with an “uh” instead of the usual “ah”. So a crude approximation would be “sahyt” vs “suhyt” for /saɪt/ and /səɪt/, with the latter being my pronunciation. And here’s a video for you showing how it manifests itself in words like “eye” for “ice” where I personally raise and centralize the vowel “i” in “ice.” This should be queued up to the relevent time stamp and explains the “ah” vs “uh” difference I’ve been harping on abou. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/3NEsuxYkvIQ/maxresdefault.jpg "What is 'CANADIAN RAISING' in English pronunciation?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NEsuxYkvIQ&t=53) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/52 "2026-03-25T20:07:10Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > > [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](#): > > > > It might make things clearer to consider the difference between “sighed” and “side” - they are very different in Scotland. > > To my untrained ear they are homophones. I’d say they are so different here that it could affect whether or not you are understood. If you said “no, not that one, the one on the other side” but pronounced it like “sighed”, people would understand you but wonder why you had switched to an English accent at the end. But if you said just “John sighed”, while pronouncing it like “side”, no one would understand what you meant, irrespective of what their own accent was. As I say, every so often I hear an American pronouncing side, tight, night, etc exactly like Scottish people do. I find it quite funny as well as intriguing. It’s not like Canadians saying “aboot” - that sound is quite different from the various Scottish forms of “aboot”. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/53 "2026-03-25T21:09:22Z")
> [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](#): > > > [@Pleonast](#): > > > > Many of the “long” vowel letters in English are diphthongs. > > > > A: /ei/ > > E: /i/ > > I: /ai/ > > O: /ou/ > > U: /ju/ > > Not in Scots English - those are all single vowels for us, which I think makes it easier for us to pronounce continental European languages correctly. Do you mean Scots or Scottish English? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/54 "2026-03-25T21:24:07Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Do you mean Scots or Scottish English? Both (or baith in Scots). ---
**Author:** ![Varl\_Hobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/91b2a8/32.png) [@Varl\_Hobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Varl_Hobe)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/55 "2026-03-25T21:42:53Z")
Or the brutal HAY-ZEUS nevermind the accent in over the u… ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/56 "2026-03-25T21:58:34Z")
In the old TV series “Rawhide,” that was pretty much one character’s name. It was listed in the credits as “Hey Soos” although the actor was actually Chinese and . . . some other stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2026, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/57 "2026-03-26T16:22:15Z")
Thanks for the video. I heard the uh-ah distinction but my ear just can’t make it apply to sight. I freely admit to having a bad ear in that way, but I usually hear the differences when emphasized. Not this one, though. Doesn’t explain it for me. To another of my questions, I don’t know why “əɪ” wasn’t listed on the IPA page, but here’s an explanation. > The IPA sound [əɪ] is a diphthong pronounced “uh-ee,” starting with a neutral “uh” sound (/ə/ as in “bUt”) and gliding into a high-front “ee” sound (/ɪ/ as in “mId”). It is commonly used in Irish accents to replace /aɪ/ (e.g., “right” sounding like “royt”) and in Canadian English for raising, often used in words like “hike” or “hide” There’s the “uh” you’ve been pushing. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2026, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/58 "2026-03-26T16:28:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > And I noticed the narrator was pronouncing his name ee-fell rather than eye-full, which is the pronunciation I’ve always heard. I’ve never heard the alternate pronunciation even one time, but my knowledge of French is limited to about half a dozen words. LOL ---
**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 26, 2026, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/59 "2026-03-26T18:00:53Z")
That’s weird because while “hike” would have raising, “hide” shouldn’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 26, 2026, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732/60 "2026-03-26T18:08:25Z")
I grew up speaking Great Lakes accent too, and I do not pronounce those differently at all. I lack the raising. But then when I was young, sometimes hearers thought I had a foreign accent, even though I’d lived in Cleveland my entire life. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eiffel-pronunciation/1028732.md?page=4)