I’m watching an episode of Secrets of the Royal Kitchens on my local OTA PBS channel (WTTW, Chicago) now and there was a bit where what I think urinals were mentioned. It was in the context of a stinky royal kitchen at the beginning of Queen Victoria’s reign. Anyway, the I was long and stressed, said something like your’EYE’nals.
Is this typical?
The Brits I’ve known have said it that way. yer EYE nals.
Actually, I should probably say more like “you-RYE-nuhl.”
If you look at the Wiktionary pronunciation of it, that is the pronunciation given for RP English.
In case there are any Brits reading this who can’t figure out what the question is… We Yanks pronounce it YOO-ri-nal
Australians say both, but I think ‘You’re in Al’s bathroom’ is more common that ‘Ewe Rhine all’.
In BrE:
You can stress either the first syllable or the second; both are common.
As for pronunciation, the first syllable is always “eur-”, as in “Europe”; never “you-” as in “youth”.
The second syllable, if stressed, has the same vowel-sound as “price”. But, if unstressed, it has the same vowel-sound as “kit”.
Thanks, all. I’ve been over the pond a few times but apparently never encountered the word urinal. Urinal, funny word no matter how it’s said.
I should have included my local accent which is how your have it. You’re’i-nal. A case could be made for either two or three syllables.
I’m British: have only ever heard it pronounced over here, as “yer-EYE-nal”. I remember hearing from an uncle, an apocryphal tale from long ago; about an ill-educated and rather pompous local councillor who didn’t (in British terms) know how to pronounce the word, and was speechifying about how proud he was of his town’s newly installed “YOO-ri-nals”; and was looking forward to complementing them, by putting in some “arsenals” – meaning in his confusion, full public toilets catering for “greater bodily needs” as well as “lesser” ditto.
Would that be pronounced ar-SEE-nal ? 
UK person here, those are identical for me.
As for the word in question. I say it both ways, not sure why or when.
Thank you! I was head scratching that one.
Not for me - yeur and yoo sound distinctly different.
I pronounce it more like YOO-ri-nal except a case could also be made for two syllables depending on how fast the second is pronounced. If extremely elided it’s almost pronounced like two different words “YER nil”, yet there is always a little pause between the two so it’s not quite “YERnil”, sort of like how people in three syllable towns like Louisville sort of say something in between “LOOville” and “LOOuhville”. (Heh. “Loo”.)
Yes and those particular spellings would be pronounced differently for me as well but I pronounce “Europe” as you-rupp.
I’m British, and I think this is pretty damn close. Easy on that “h”, and you’re there.
j
Yeah, that “h” isn’t supposed to be pronounced there, but rather trying to represent a schwa sound with the “uh” without using IPA (though I do give the IPA from Wiktionary’s transcription.)
Does this pronunciation guide apply to the planet YourANus as well?
Isn’t it the Dubya-sea?
Obviously there are wide regional differences within Great Britain and they are all equally valid, yadda, yadda, yadda, but in [what the Oxford English Dictionary regards as] standard British English “youth” has the same vowel sound as “goose”, while “Europe” has the same vowel sound as “cure”. And, according to the same authority, the first syllable in “urinal” goes with “Europe”, “cure” rather than with “youth”, “goose”.
Sure, but dictionaries are not a good place to find out how the british people you meet should actually speak. They are descriptive, not proscriptive. At some point the definitions, spellings and pronunciations in dictionaries can change according to the real-life usage.
I don’t accept that there is such a thing as a “standard” British English accent that is commonplace in real life.