In-tres-ting rest-ront here.
Pittsburgh.
I have the impression that many people think they pronounce the extra syllables when they actually don’t really. I don’t know that’s true, but it makes me doubt people’s self-reported pronunciation if they don’t say something like “I always thought this and then I moved to this other place and everyone said something different.”
I had to think about it, and I’m still not sure how I’d naturally pronounce “interesting.” In some contexts (“Very interesting!”) it’d have four syllables, but I think if I said “That’s an interesting restaurant” it’d have three. Restaurant, though, has three syllables.
(I grew up, and still live, in central Illinois.)
“in-ter-es-ting res-tront”
New York.
I make that same distinction in pronunciation between interest (money earned on money) and interest (my attention on something). Maybe it’s not logical. I also do it if I’m talking about “offense” and “defense” (in a sports context, it’s OF-ense and DE-fense" for me), but in normal usage it’s of-FENSE and de-FENSE.
“in-tres-ting res-tah-ront”
I guess my dialect has influences from north, central, and southern Indiana.
“in-ter-es-ting res-tah-ront” Midwest, but my pronunciation of each word could change when used in a different context. I think it is the combination of the two long words that make me want to pronounce each syllable distinctly in this phrase. If I was going to say “that’s interesting” I would say in-tres-ting. If I was going to say “What restaurant are we going to?” it would be res-tront. Put the two words together and I change my pronunciation.
INtresting RESTǝront. The schwa is barely there, but there.
Usually #4. I swallow the extra syllable in interesting, but not in restaurant. If I am e-nun-ci-at-ing, then I put the extra syllable back. But it sounds phoney and pompous, just a little bit.
Living in Northern WV, grew up in Southern WV. My accent’s always been closer to the former than the latter.
Well, like I mentioned above, sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.
I spent my first 13 years in southeastern PA, so that’s where I learned to speak. I don’t have that Philly accent anymore, but I sometimes revert to the way many people speak up there. It sounds kind of “lazy” to me. I voted “in-tres-ting res-tah-ront,” which is how I would probably say it most of the time. However, I am an English professor, and when I’m around colleagues or students my pronunciation tends to be more “correct” than when I’m around family. In a professional context I would generally tend to pronounce every syllable of “interesting.”
You can get anything you want
At Interesting Restaurant…
I chose the first option, but now that I think about it, I’m not sure how many syllables I pronounce in “interesting.” I definitely read it as four syllables, though. “Restaurant,” without question, has two syllables.
OK, I’ve stared at this for a few minutes and can’t even figure out what the reduced form of “library” would be. Help me out? It’s not “lie-berry,” is it?
#3. Southeast US, but I grew up in the UK.
Ditto. Except I’m from Cleveland.
I’d say “in-ter-es-ting res-tah-ront” or “in-ter-es-ting res-tront” interchangeably. “Interesting” always has three syllables for me, but restaurant can have two or three depending on context and my mood.
Edit to add, I’m from California.
Option #2 for me. Chicago born and bred.
That’s one. “Lah-bry” is another, and something more like “lie-bree.”
From people whose accent isn’t far off mine, I hear the four-syllable rendition of “interesting” as connoting skepticism, or perceived weirdness. (Eyebrow arch optional.) The three-syllable is face value, actual interest.
So if I meant to say, in fact, that it was an interesting restaurant, I’d use three syllables per word. I’m in Virginia.
#3. Utah.
“FLY in-FEST-ed SHIT-hole”, usually.