# Pronounciation of "aunt" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 5, 2015, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593 "2015-10-05T09:21:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mikeisskeptical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@Mikeisskeptical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikeisskeptical)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/21 "2015-10-05T16:45:30Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Some regional accents in the UK, or at least in England, shorten the long “ah” sound in words like “aunt” and “bath” to the vowel sound in “hat” Yeah, where I’m from and throughout most of the north, we pronounce it the way you describe. ---
**Author:** ![Mikeisskeptical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@Mikeisskeptical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikeisskeptical)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/22 "2015-10-05T16:54:12Z")
I remember a Roald Dahl story where an American kid introduces a starving anteater to his aunt. Mishearing him, the anteater pounces and eats the old woman. The moral of the story appears to be that Americans should all speak with upper class British accents to avoid being eaten by exotic animals. (It wasn’t very good as I recall.) ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/23 "2015-10-05T17:39:08Z")
I’m from southeast Wisconsin 1960 and I’ve heard it pronounced “awhnt” and “ant” almost equally both here and everywhere else I’ve been my entire life (b. 1960). Never knew why there was a difference, never cared. Just thought it had to do with preference. Never heard someone correct someone over it. FYI I always said “ant” as in _what has 4 legs and eats ants?_ My 2 uncles. 😃 SLAP! Ow! Runs away. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/24 "2015-10-05T17:46:06Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Yeah, the pronunciation definitely seems to have a racial divide here in Texas too. ditto nyc. (see Men in Black). ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/25 "2015-10-05T17:52:55Z")
Vowels are mushy things, and pronunciations are typically regionalisms to where you formed your speaking preferences. I doubt there’s been any demographic shift, just different speakers. > [@Claverhouse](#): > > If speaking to someone who doesn’t know one’s family, how do you differentiate between your female relative and your pet ant in conversation ? > As in: “_I took Ant Mildred for a walk this morning_.” or “_The cost of feeding my Ants is going through the roof._” Contextually, just like any other homonym. How difficult is it to know when you’re talking about insects and when you’re talking about related people? ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/26 "2015-10-05T17:56:50Z")
I’m from northern New England, and I have “[aw]nts”. My midwestern wife has “ants”. When we were first dating, she mentioned to one of her cousins that I have “[aw]nts” instead of “ants” and she replied “wow. Those are the expensive ones”. On the other side of the coin, when my wife told our (New England) niece that she (my wife) has “ants”, our niece replied “you mean like the things that crawl around on the ground?”. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/27 "2015-10-05T17:59:46Z")
My anecdotal experience is in line with some of the above. Mostly you year "ont’ from Blacks and ‘ant’ from Whites, but in some rural Southern places it sounds more like “ain’t.” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/28 "2015-10-05T18:04:07Z")
Of course it’s “ant”. Otherwise the joke doesn’t work. Q. How do you make antifreeze? A. Steal her flannel nightie. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/29 "2015-10-05T18:04:22Z")
Grew up in the north and I say aunt. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/30 "2015-10-05T19:46:42Z")
For the purpose of this post, I will use ay to denote the so-called tense a, a alone for the lax vowel in and and ah for the vowel in father. I’m from Philadelphia and have always pronounced with the insect and my father’s sister as aynt. I had, an aynt Anne (they don’t rhyme). Then I met my daughter’s college roommate who was from North Central Massachusetts (not far from the Quabbin reservoir). Her name was Aynne and she also had an ahnt Aynne. Make of that what you will, but I don’t think you get clear answer. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/31 "2015-10-05T22:03:14Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > Anecdotally, I’ve always heard the long-a pronunciation (‘ahnt’) more from African Americans, and the short-a (‘ant’) from whites. My black side of the family says ‘ahnt’ and the white side says ‘ant’ so your anecdote is confirmed by a data point of 1. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/32 "2015-10-05T22:07:34Z")
Ain’t never pronounced it any way but aint. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/33 "2015-10-05T22:42:19Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > Grew up in the north and I say aunt. Wins the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/34 "2015-10-06T08:34:15Z")
I grew up & live in the northeastern US and I have never been able to hear it pronounced any other way than exactly the same as the insect (aunt = ant) without it sounding ridiculously formal and pretentious. I just watched an _ **American Dad!** _ rerun with Francine’s sister Gwen, and Haley keeps calling her ‘_ah-nt_ Gwen’ much to her mother’s annoyance. At one point she says,\* “I can’t believe _ah-nt_ Gwen would do this”_, and Francine sarcastically replies,_ “Oooh _caaah-nt_ you?!!” \* My sentiment exactly. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/35 "2015-10-06T08:40:34Z")
Here’s the thing. As I recall, during one of my jaunts, lots of spellings were simplified/changed during the total revision of weird-ass archaic Anglo-Saxon spellings, which occurred way back in 2026. Many words were revised, as in Earth became Urth, thought became thot etc, I remember that aunt was revised to ant. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/36 "2015-10-06T09:06:06Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > Many words were revised, as in Earth became Urth, thought became thot . . . You mean “thawt”, I think. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/37 "2015-10-06T15:47:36Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > You mean “thawt”, I think. Depends on dialect area and whether you are part of the “caught/cot” merger. My region keeps these two sounds distinct. Many other regions (speaking from a US point of view) merge both into that “ah” sound. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/38 "2015-10-06T16:09:56Z")
As a child, I proniunced it like the insect. As I grew older, I began pronouncing it wiith the British pronunciation of “ahhnt.” These days, when I watch _Pollyanna_, I always cringe a little whenever the characters talk about “Ant Polly.” ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/39 "2015-10-06T16:12:36Z")
Aunt rhymes with “haunt.” Why on earth else would they spell it the way they do? LOL! I have an Aunt named Nancy, and I do sometimes catch myself saying “Ant” with that, just because it’s so much easier with the following vowel. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/40 "2015-10-06T16:19:07Z")
Good thing your uncle wasn’t U Thant, because I don’t think his name was pronounced that way. (Unless he was.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593.md?page=3)