# How do you pronounce "distributed"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 30, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-distributed/537831 "2010-04-30T04:41:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-distributed/537831/1 "2010-04-30T04:41:49Z")
As one might gather from my username, this is a word that I have a special relationship with. I grew up in a “dis-TRIB-yu-ted” household, and went along naively assuming that this was how the word was pronounced. Then I came to my present location of West Texas, where students heavily favor “DIST-rib-yu-ted.” I can sort of see why: I do say “dis-trib-YU-shun,” which has a different syllable accent pattern than “distributed” for me. But “DIS-trib-yu-ted” just sounds so…awkward to me. Is this a regional thing? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-distributed/537831/2 "2010-04-30T12:16:25Z")
Must be a weird regional thing. One of the computing environments my department supports is known as “Distributed” so I hear the word a lot, and I’ve never heard anyone accenting the first syllable. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-distributed/537831/3 "2010-04-30T12:35:43Z")
Do they also say DIS-tri-bute instead of dis-STRIB-ute? ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-distributed/537831/4 "2010-04-30T14:01:16Z")
Weird. I say DIS-tri-bute but dis-TRIB-uted. Apparently, I am a freak. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-distributed/537831/5 "2010-04-30T14:09:46Z")
IIRC, Brits accent the first syllable. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-distributed/537831/6 "2010-04-30T14:42:16Z")
Seems your poll results are pretty conclusive. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-distributed/537831/7 "2010-04-30T15:03:56Z")
I put the accent on the second syllable, but neither form sounds weird to me. ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-distributed/537831/8 "2010-04-30T15:12:13Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > Do they also say DIS-tri-bute instead of dis-STRIB-ute? Oddly, those who accent the first syllable use the latter pronunciation. But they will also say things like: “From our factory, our finished goods will go to our DIS-trib-yu-ters” (I teach an intro to operations management class that requires an oral presentation of a project, so I hear sentences like the one above a lot). ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-distributed/537831/9 "2010-04-30T15:13:29Z")
> [@Surly\_Chick](#): > > Weird. I say DIS-tri-bute but dis-TRIB-uted. > > Apparently, I am a freak. Do you have any linguistic connection to eastern New Mexico or Weest Texas? That’s where I hear it a lot. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-distributed/537831/10 "2010-04-30T15:20:24Z")
I voted for the first option, but thinking about it I think I might say it the other way occasionally. I did grow up in West Texas. ---
**Author:** ![breaking-reality](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a8b319/32.png) [@breaking-reality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breaking-reality)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-distributed/537831/11 "2010-04-30T15:24:10Z")
Mostly the former, occasionally the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-distributed/537831/12 "2010-04-30T15:31:50Z")
> [@statsman1982](#): > > Do you have any linguistic connection to eastern New Mexico or Weest Texas? That’s where I hear it a lot. Nope, I’m from outside Chicago. I’ve spent a fair amount of time living overseas but I don’t know if that had any impact or not. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-distributed/537831/13 "2010-04-30T15:51:50Z")
dis-tri-BYU-ted ---
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-distributed/537831/14 "2010-04-30T19:13:25Z")
Di-strib-yu-ted Let me check that… Yep, that’s it.