I pronounce it the same way EXCEPT the “cc” part is closer to an “x” than a “ks” (there’s a slight difference). So it’s more like ax-ell-eration, but the line between the first two syllables is really blurred and could go either way.
Eh, it doesn’t bother me that much. But one of the “sussessful” guys reflexively starts saying “in terms of” when he’s nervous. Today our out-of-town management including a former undersecretary of defense visited our office and Mr. Sussessful #1 must have said “in terms of” 48 times.
I should mention that my eccentric is pronounced “essentric” for some reason though.
On a similar note, Jo Frost of Supernanny fame pronounces acceptable, aseptable.
“suksessful”, akselerayshun", and “eksentrik”. (The first two have faint k-sounds, which I have tried to indicate by the font size…)
Born in New York City, lived in that general area until age 9, moved around a whole lot thereafter.
s’k-sess-ful (no vowel between the initial “s” and first “c” and a definite space between the k & s sounds, which is different than a “ks” sound)
ak-sel-ler-ay-shun (again, definite space between the k & s)
ee-sen-trik (it seems I pronounce that with no “k” at all and the double c’s become just an “s.”)
west coast - specifically northern CA & WA
suck-sess-ful
axcel-er-a-shun
ex-sen-tric
Never lived north of Chattanooga, lived mostly in Florida.
suck-SESS-full
eck-sell-er-A-shun (actually something between “ack” and “eck”)
eck-SEN-trick
Have lived mostly in Ohio and NYC
Me too. I hear “shed-yool” instead of “sked-jule” very rarely. Other than that, I can’t think of alternate pronounciations around here. Well, except for the city name. Old timers know it’s “CAL-gree”, but visitors and new transplants say “CAL-gair-ee”.
Yeah, but Drumroll Michigan is pretty much the ass end of nowhere. None of those folks have good sense.
Where is Drumroll Michigan compared to Michigan Trumpet Flair? That can make a difference.
Do the “sussesful” people say “expecially”?
I notice this in younger people who are never properly taught to read.
When I was a kid, we were all taught phonics, and by the end of the second grade, everybody knew how to read. Now, it seems that a large percentage of people that graduate high school are not functionally literate. Here, they’re using something called the “whole language” method, which involves flashcards, and not teaching what sounds the letters make. When you tell a child to “sound it out” they can’t do it.
When I learned phonics, we were taught all of the exceptions to the rules and I think the “cc” words were probably drilled in, and therefore we pronounce them properly.
The inability to pronounce certain words seems to start in people who are about 10 years younger than I am, and that’s about when the “whole language method” came in around here (I’m 35).
This may be a regional thing. The educational system in New Orleans leaves a lot to be desired.
How do they teach kids to read in other parts of the English speaking world?
sək 'sess fəl
ak 'sel ər ,a shən
ek 'sen trik
(’=primary stress
,=secondary stress)
Born and raised in South Carolina, lived in North Carolina since 1993.
I usually do not pronounce eccentric with the first ‘c’ hard. I will say es-sen-tric with the first ‘e’ short or more like a short ‘i’. The other two words the first ‘c’ is hard and the second ‘c’ is soft.
Baltimore area.
I have a close friend who is highly educated, yet can’t spell to save his life. It’s truly amazing, the simple words that he butchers. Sure enough, he never studied phonics.
It’s the Michigan Renaissance Trumpet Flair you have to watch out for.
For the love of all that is good and just, do NOT imply that someone has mispronounced something lest we turn this into another descriptive/ prescriptive debate.
It’s not a purely Michigan. Are the two men black? I have heard this from MI black people.
I’m from Northern Virginia and that seems to be the standard pronunciation; I tend to pronounce it with a long first e, but I think that’s exception. The other two examples of cc words, I pronounce more or less like the rest of the responses in the thread, though I have heard the alternate pronounciations.
It does seem to me that there is a particular set of sounds to that area though. I was having a conversation with someone from that area the other day in which she said I was being “vag”. “Huh? Oh, do you mean vague?” “Yeah, I mean vag.” Turns out she also pronounces bagel with a short a as well. Not sure if that was just her or a regional thing though.
And since it may or may not be relevant, as I’m not sure if it’s actually regional or not, but a few x words (which should theoretically have the same pronunciation as the cc words) have a gz sound instead of a ks sound, so for example, example is said “egg-ZAMPL” instead of “ek-SAMPL”. Exit, exist, exile, exalt, and exam are pronounced the same way, but exclude, ta; so maybe it’s when it begins with ex and the next sound is a vowel?
I pronounce all three words with both the “k” and the “s” sounds, but I pronounce “flaccid” with only a soft “c.” I never knew that a “ks” sound was actually legitimate until well into adulthood, when I heard it in an audio-book; this drove me to the dictionary to find that both were acceptible.
I am from [a fairly accent-free portion of] NJ and had lived in Nova Scotia, Southern California, and Georgia without ever hearing the variations mentioned in the OP or the variation of “flaccid” that actually agrees with its spelling. Go figure.