# Pronunciation poll: 'En-ve-lope' or 'Ahn-ve-lope'? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 31, 2006, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907 "2006-05-31T17:53:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [May 31, 2006, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/1 "2006-05-31T17:53:36Z")
I’ve always been a bit puzzled by the number of people I encounter pronouncing it the latter. (Either is acceptable, according to M-W, so it’s not a matter of right or wrong.) Given my location (Southeastern US), I’d expect more of the former pronunciation. I know it’s not unusual, but not prevalent, in the local rural areas to hear it pronounced ‘EN-vellup,’ but among suburbanites, the latter prevails. So, is there some geographical distribution to this? How do you pronounce it pronounced most often where you are? ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/2 "2006-05-31T17:55:56Z")
**En** -velope. Location is outside Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/3 "2006-05-31T18:00:33Z")
Ahn-ve-lope. I’m near Detroit, Michigan. I’m in the minority here I think. My mother is brittish so perhaps this affected it. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/4 "2006-05-31T18:00:45Z")
After careful consideration, I think that my pronunciation changes, depending on the article used. It’s _an_ **en** velope, but _the_ **ahn** velope. Oh, and born and raised in New Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/5 "2006-05-31T18:05:07Z")
I use both, I think. You put a letter in an envelope, and sometimes push the ahn-velope. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/6 "2006-05-31T18:09:04Z")
I usually use “ehn-velope”, but I try to give equal time to “ahn-velope”. I use both and I, too, am just outside Detroit, Michigan. I don’t do the dual pronunciation of “aunt”, however. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/7 "2006-05-31T18:10:26Z")
England: en-velope both ways. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/8 "2006-05-31T18:14:07Z")
En. Outside Boston here. Trying to think what the wife says, and I’m pretty sure it’s “en” too. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/9 "2006-05-31T18:24:49Z")
En-velope. Toronto. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/10 "2006-05-31T18:29:55Z")
BTW, emphasis in my accent is EN-vuh-LOPE. Oh, and how do y’all pronounce the verb “envelop”? Me: en-VEH-lup. ---
**Author:** ![Aholibah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Aholibah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aholibah)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/11 "2006-05-31T18:44:55Z")
[QUOTE=Draelin] After careful consideration, I think that my pronunciation changes, depending on the article used. It’s _an_ **en** velope, but _the_ **ahn** velope. [/QUOTE] Ditto – raised just outside Philly. And pronounce the verb the same way **jjimm** does. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/12 "2006-05-31T18:55:56Z")
‘en-ve-’'lope, usually with the “e” in the second syllable almost elided. Regarding **jjimm** ’s aside, “envelop” comes out as en-'ve-lup. I grew up in Louisiana, then moved to Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/13 "2006-05-31T19:01:15Z")
En-velope for me. I was born in Detroit but we moved to Seattle when I was three. I know plenty of people around here who say it the other way. I have a question for those of you who say ahn-velope: do you still pronounce it that way when you mean “to surround?” An example would be “The smoke was just about to envelope the building when the firefighters rushed in to save the victims.” Of course, we rarely use that version of the word in real life. I guess that’s why it would seem strange to me if I heard it pronounced ahn-velope. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/14 "2006-05-31T19:06:54Z")
**En** -velope for me. Raised in New England, currently in FL ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/15 "2006-05-31T19:16:33Z")
[QUOTE=Tikki] I have a question for those of you who say ahn-velope: do you still pronounce it that way when you mean “to surround?” An example would be “The smoke was just about to envelope the building when the firefighters rushed in to save the victims.” [/QUOTE] The word you’re looking for is actually “envelop”, which **jjimm** and I mentioned above. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/16 "2006-05-31T19:17:32Z")
[QUOTE=Tikki] En-velope for me. I was born in Detroit but we moved to Seattle when I was three. I know plenty of people around here who say it the other way. I have a question for those of you who say ahn-velope: do you still pronounce it that way when you mean “to surround?” An example would be “The smoke was just about to envelope the building when the firefighters rushed in to save the victims.” Of course, we rarely use that version of the word in real life. I guess that’s why it would seem strange to me if I heard it pronounced ahn-velope. [/QUOTE] That would be “envelop”, with no final e, and the stress on the middle syllable. But the first syllable would still be pronounced “en”. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/17 "2006-05-31T20:17:51Z")
En vel ope. For you Ahners, how do you pronounce: “Smoke enveloped the burning building”? ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/18 "2006-05-31T20:26:42Z")
Thanks, **carniverousplant.** That is what I meant to say. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/19 "2006-05-31T20:28:41Z")
Another en-velope here. ---
**Author:** ![jakeline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@jakeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jakeline)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907/20 "2006-05-31T20:45:37Z")
Southern California native here, and I say “AHN-velope” and “en-VEL-op.” Just in case it’s related, I do also say “ahnt” instead of “ant” when referring to my father’s sister. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-poll-en-ve-lope-or-ahn-ve-lope/358907.md?page=2)