• MajorTom@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    So, this is both fascinating and remarkably simple once you learn some basics about how spoken language evolves.

    Let’s start here: say “woman” out loud. Now, say it again, and this time pay attention to your tongue. When you said “woman,” did you pronounce the “o” sound at the front of your mouth, higher in your mouth, and the “a” at the back, lower in your mouth?

    Now try this. Say “women,” again paying close attention to where the vowel sounds come from in your mouth. First pronounce “women” as it is written- kind of like “woah men.” Do you feel how much more work that requires that pronouncing “woman” does? Now, pronounce “women” as you naturally do. Assuming you are in North America, this probably sounds a bit like “wimmin.”

    Probably, this “wimmin” pronunciation feels easier and more natural. This is largely because those vowel sounds originate in roughly the same area. When a word has multiple vowel sounds and they move from front to back or top to bottom, there’s a good chance we will naturally shift towards an easier pronunciation.

    • cordlesslamp@lemmy.today
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      1 year ago

      And then there’s Thai language, each word pronounce like the sounds originate from 12 different places in your mouth while being choked to death. Then do a big snort after every 3rd words.

    • Vlyn@lemmy.zip
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      1 year ago

      Yes? English is only my second language, but the way I hear it:

      Woman: Whoman

      Women: Wimin or Wimen

      The latter is much shorter.

        • CoggyMcFee@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          The i-pronunciation is commonplace enough that some feminists who want to avoid the word “men” spell “women” as “wimmin”, i.e. the phonetic spelling.

          • themusicman@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            Interesting. I associate the “wimmin” spelling with Terry Pratchett’s writing, where it’s used in the speech of lower/middle-class men, implying casual/uninformed objectification.

    • SatanicNotMessianic@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Are the two obviously differentiated like that?

      In most of the American English accents I’m familiar with, they’re pronounced “WI men” and “WŌ man.”

      If I try to sound out using an I in both, the only way they sound different to me is if I move the accent to the final syllable, to mane it stand out. Something like “wi MEN” vs “wi MAN.”

      If so, I’d love to hear where you’re from.

      • Denvil@lemmy.one
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        1 year ago

        From Ohio, and they aren’t differntiated at all I just pronounce them the same (although I was mistaken about which part of the word the meme was referencing, I still pronounce both with an o/u sound at the beginning)

    • hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      And from there we get to gender neutral term homan, referring to to all you hoes.

      Edit: apparently some sources incorrectly write the word as “human”

  • CIWS-30@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Also correct if he’s thinking about cute dogs / cats / other animals that have more than 1 female in the group.