How do you pronounce “southern?”
Whenever I hear anyone pronounce it as “south”-ern instead of “suth”-ern I just about keel over.
Is there any English-speaking dialect where this mispronunciation is considered correct?
Poll coming up.
If anyone other than a non-native speaker pronounced it that way, I’d find it very weird.
Joe
I have never heard it pronounced “SOUTH-ern” by anyone, anywhere.
Where the heck do you hear anybody pronounce it “SOUTH-ern”?
I have heard the occasional foreign-born professor pronounce it that (wrong) way. The same kind of fellows who would pronounce “equals” as if the word All was in it. ‘ee quAlls’. Or the word ‘only’ as if the word ‘one’ was part of it. "one-ly’. It’s kind of endearing, in a way.
I say South-ern. I didn’t realize I was saying it wrong, though I’ve never heard it pronounced otherwise around here (that I’ve noticed).
OP here. I’m in Canada.
This all started for me years ago when one of my colleagues pronounced it SOUTH-ern. I have now heard announcers on the freakin’ radio say it. I continue to hear this once a month or so, I’m guessing.
I thought maybe, just maybe, there’s a dialect somewhere where this is the norm.
ETA: Aha! EmAnJ Is this a Canadian thing? Where are you from originally?
Always like your 3rd poll choice - “Other”
However, I didn’t think that’s what you intended it for.
I’m in Western Canada, born and raised on B.C. and Alberta.
Suth-ren.
“Well, bless your heart …”
“Suth”-ern. I don’t see where it rhymes with “love”, though.
That’s what I thought this thread would be about. Suth-ern vs. suth-ren.
Were they putting you on? Lopsided poll.
Suth doesn’t rhyme with love? The vowel sound in there isn’t the same to you? 
I doubt the traffic and weather girl on the radio is in on the joke.
It depends on whether you live on Houston Street in New York City, or in the City of Houston, TX.
I say “Suthrn” but I heard A LOT of “Sowth-earn” when I lived in Ontario. Very predominant among people I’ve heard in the Ottawa and Ottawa valley, I’ve heard it frequently among people from southeastern Ontario as well. I don’t know why. But that’s the only place I’ve heard it among native English speakers.
And, coincidentally enough, I am in Ottawa and this is where I am hearing it.
It would appear that it is a pronunciation completely isolated to this region of English-speaking persons the world over.
Very interesting.
ETA: And I had absolutely no idea about the suth-ren thing.
I don’t think you can say SOUTH-ern is a western Canadian thing - I don’t say it that way, and I don’t hear it very often (that is to say, I think I’ve heard it pronounced that way rarely; I can’t think of a particular example right now, though).
Ooops. Forgot we had another data point of SOUTH-ern from EmAnJ in Western Canada too.