Eh, I go both ways depending on the circumstances.
Well, here’s something interesting: though I don’t pronounce the “L” in folk or yolk, I do (sort of) pronounce it in the name “Polk.” Hmmmmm.
I’ve been told by my (Southern) boyfriend that this is a Californian thing. I never noticed it 'til he pointed out, but around here, most everyone pronounces the “L.” We’ve even got a street in San Francisco just to rub it in: Polk Street. If you pronounce it “Poke Street,” we know you’re from out of town.
(Or, as it turns out, Michigan. Or New England. Or…)
Oddly Mirriam-Webster disagrees on yolk but not on folk. I say oddly because because to me yolk and yoke are definitely homophones, but I put the ‘l’ into folk. Similarly I pronounce the ‘l’ in walk and talk, and sometimes the ‘t’ in often, especially if it’s at the end of a sentence.
I grew up in The Regional Municipality of Haldimand-Norfolk. In the latter word, we always pronounced all the letters. When I worked at a radio station in a town there, they had a jingle package that was done by some Americans, who rendered one series of the jingles unusable, as they sang about being in “Haldimand-Norfuck.” It was hilarious to listen to, but they never made it onto the air. So it must be a regional thing.
I’ve lived in St. Louis, Hicksville, Georgia, and southern California, and I honestly did not know that anyone at any time pronounced the Ls in those words. What is the world coming to?
Different strolks for different folks.
[q]Different strolks for different folks.[/q]
Ooh, interesting point. For you L-pronouncing folks, does the saying not make sense?
Argh, that’s the second time tonight I’ve messed up formatting that way. Sorry. Should’ve previewed.
How about walk vs wok?
No problem. “Walk” more or less rhymes with “pork” (very, very easy on the “r” sound), “wok” rhymes with “sock”. (Mind you, if you rhyme “sock” with “pork”, going v.v.e. on the “r”, we’re not much further along.)
Fascinating, in the UK with ‘standard’ English we always pronounce the t in often
- folk and yolk are foeke and yoeke - there is a hint of a ‘y’ where the ‘l’ is
I guess the variable US pronunciation is to do with Folk being derived from Volk as in Volkswagen
The one that really grates on me is ‘route’ pronounced as ‘rowt’ (as in Ouch)
- rout (rowt) is to gouge out
A wireless gouging tool makes one jolt
Given more time to think about it, despite how they pronounced “Norfolk” where I grew up, I say “foke” and “yoke”. Although, the dance is not a “poke-a” and the stereo speakers made by Polk are not pronounced “poke.”
Oops, I think I’ve just made it worse…
The dictionary says that both ways are correct. It has both without and with the “L”
[yohk, yohlk]
I pronounce it with the “L” just like the word “folk.”
I’m trying to pronounce ‘yolk’ and ‘folk’ and ‘walk’ and ‘talk’ without the ‘L’. It’s not easy, and it sounds funny.
But then, it drives me batty whenever I hear Mike Wolfe say his name on American Pickers.
Korean publication - “101 ways to walk your dog”.
I’ve always pronounced the “l” in folk, yolk, talk, and walk.
(Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas)
How many of the ells in Lincoln do you pronounce? How many of the ells in Lincoln did Lincoln pronounce?
There’s a linguistic term, “rhotic”, to describe the way the letter “r” is pronounced (or not) in certain words, or pronounced even when it’s not there. Is there a similar term for describing the pronunciation (or silence) of the ell in all the examples of this thread?
I would guess “lambic” by analogy (rhotic:rho::lambic:lambda), but if you google “lambic” it’s mostly about Belgian beers. Yummy, but not topical.
Interesting wikipedia page on the evolution of the pronunciation of “l” in English.
Says the guy from Wisconsin. :rolleyes: