# How do you pronounce: Input **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 20, 2010, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-input/540117 "2010-05-20T12:39:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [May 20, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-input/540117/21 "2010-05-20T15:29:07Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Thanks! Of those, for some odd reason, the only one I think I "m"ize is inpatient. > > Dialects are fun! Are you sure? Because impatient and inpatient are different words. If you pronounce them the same, fine, but I wanted to make sure you didn’t accidentally not notice the difference. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-input/540117/22 "2010-05-20T15:41:35Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Thanks. Everyone else feel free to explain if you pronounce any of these differently. Input was just the first word that popped into my head. Probably not inpatient/impatient so much. Come to think of it, I rarely use either of those words, even though I’m often frustrated that I work in a hospital. And I tend not to mispronounce the Inb words. So I guess it’s just imput. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-input/540117/23 "2010-05-20T16:24:58Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Explained in post #10. So no, why would I? I saw your explanation, but it makes no sense to me. It’s like saying the word “nuclear” is difficult to pronounce, so I just say “nucular” instead. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-input/540117/24 "2010-05-20T16:27:00Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I saw your explanation, but it makes no sense to me. It’s like saying the word “nuclear” is difficult to pronounce, so I just say “nucular” instead. And a lot of people do. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-input/540117/25 "2010-05-20T16:30:57Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Anticipatory assimilation can (and commonly does) take place across work boundaries, especially in stock phrases and idioms. “In person” and “in place of” – _spoken at conversational speed_ – are examples. I actually get something like in mplace of. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-input/540117/26 "2010-05-20T16:33:35Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I saw your explanation, but it makes no sense to me. It’s like saying the word “nuclear” is difficult to pronounce, so I just say “nucular” instead. [All humans employ some kind of assimilation in their natural speech](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assimilation_(linguistics)) spoken at conversational speeds. If it’s not “imput” for you, there will be many examples that could be taken from recordings of your speech. Things like “_Jeet jet?_” for “_Did you eat yet?_” (not specifically THAT, necesarily … just common, everyday utterances that “collapse” in that way). ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-input/540117/27 "2010-05-20T16:37:52Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > [All humans employ some kind of assimilation in their natural speech](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assimilation_(linguistics)) spoken at conversational speeds. If it’s not “imput” for you, there will be many examples that could be taken from recordings of your speech. Things like “_Jeet jet?_” for “_Did you eat yet?_” (not specifically THAT, necesarily … just common, everyday utterances that “collapse” in that way). In relaxed, informal speech, I say “kive” for “can I have”. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-input/540117/28 "2010-05-20T16:38:57Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I actually get something like in mplace of. Ditto. Assimilation can also work perseveratively – “in **d** place of” can also occur if the articulators (i.e. parts of the mouth used in speech) “clip off” the nasal sound /n/, then fully close off the oral cavity for a split second before bringing the lips together to pronounce the upcoming /p/. The timing of these events is measured in milliseconds, and there is considerable variance between speakers. Speech is a very complicated, and marvelous, dance. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-input/540117/29 "2010-05-20T16:39:12Z")
You know, it just dawned on me that I probably should have made this a multiple choice poll and included another set of words. I may make another poll in a bit if it’s contentious, but just let me ask this: Do you pronounce think as [thiŋk]? Specifically, do you pronounce it like thing with a k at the end, or thin with a k at the end? Or do you even hear a difference? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-input/540117/30 "2010-05-20T16:43:11Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > [All humans employ some kind of assimilation in their natural speech](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assimilation_(linguistics)) spoken at conversational speeds. If it’s not “imput” for you, there will be many examples that could be taken from recordings of your speech. Things like “_Jeet jet?_” for “_Did you eat yet?_” (not specifically THAT, necesarily … just common, everyday utterances that “collapse” in that way). Very true. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-input/540117/31 "2010-05-20T16:55:35Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > \*\*Do you pronounce think as [thiŋk]? \*\*Specifically, do you pronounce it like thing with a k at the end, or thin with a k at the end? Or do you even hear a difference? Someone will disagree … but in fact, the pronunciation bolded above is as good as invariable among English speakers (providing for some variation in the vowel). The [soft palate has to lower and remain lowered throughout the pronunciation of the /n/](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_palate#Speech). Meanwhile, the back of the tongue is already “reaching back” to position for the pronunciation of “k” … producing /ŋ/ in place of /n/. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-input/540117/32 "2010-05-20T17:02:01Z")
Something similar happens in Japanese when “n” is followed by “p”. For example, they are written “kanpai” (cheers!) and “tenpura” (fried battered food), but they are pronounced “kampai” and “tempura”. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-input/540117/33 "2010-05-20T18:36:26Z")
It should be noted that most “im-” words are etymologically [the same as](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/im-)"in-" words. If I were to really break down the word “impossible”, I’d say that the root morphemes are /in-/ /possum/ and /ibilis/, despite the fact that it’s spelled with an M. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-input/540117/34 "2010-05-20T19:04:58Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Someone will disagree … but in fact, the pronunciation bolded above is as good as invariable among English speakers (providing for some variation in the vowel). Indeed, pronouncing it as “nk” is a good sign of a non-native english speaker. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-input/540117/35 "2010-05-20T23:30:19Z")
I pronounce it with an N. An M just seems bizarre. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2010, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-input/540117/36 "2010-05-21T05:40:50Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Something similar happens in Japanese when “n” is followed by “p”. For example, they are written “kanpai” (cheers!) and “tenpura” (fried battered food), but they are pronounced “kampai” and “tempura”. Funny. I came up with this question while looking around Wikipedia, and I first saw it in Japanese before I looked up an English article on it. Even funnier, the reason I was on Wikipedia in the first place was because I was looking up the proper pronunciation of the word under your name. I stumbled upon the Moraic nasal -n. One of the changes in pronunciation I knew it happened in the English word think (and similar). So I look it up, and find that the nasal [underspecifies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoneme#Neutralization.2C_archiphoneme.2C_underspecification) not just before /k/ but also before /p/. Seeing as this contradicts my own pronunciation of input, I thought I’d make a poll. Unfortunately, I now realize I missed an important part: the words “within the same morpheme.” Looking at the morpheme article, this seems to indicate that prefixes don’t count. I need a word that has an N before a P in something other than a prefix (or suffix, or between two parts of a compound word.) ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-input/540117/37 "2010-05-21T07:13:12Z")
My tongue goes to the ‘n’ position but due to the proximity of the p the resulting sound is somewhere inbetween m and n. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-input/540117.md?page=1)