| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
| A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996. |
| Page 221 |
past tense or past participle form is not always strictly preserved, though. We say a learned (lûr’n d) professor but a beloved (b-l v’d or b-lvd’) spouse. There is some justification for retaining the pronunciation (d) since it does signal a subtle shift in meaning. | 1 |
either | |
The usual pronunciation in American English is ( ’th
 r), with a long e sound. According to the Dictionary of American Regional English, the pronunciation ( ’th
r), with a long i, is used mostly by well-educated speakers in urban areas of the Northeast, and is often considered affected by others. Almost the opposite is true in British English, however, where (’th
r) is more common. Both pronunciations have been recognized by English dictionaries since the 18th century. The same variation occurs in neither. | 2 |
envelope | |
A lot of people dislike the pronunciation ( n’v-l p´´) because, they argue, it is pseudo-French and superfluous since there exists a perfectly acceptable Anglicized pronunciation. As a recent ballot shows, however, the (n’-) pronunciation is used by 30 percent of the Usage Panel and is recognized as an acceptable variant by about 20 percent of those panelists who normally use the ( n’-) pronunciation. | 3 |
environment | |
| A careful pronunciation of this word is (n-v’rn-mnt), which closely reflects the spelling. In practice, this word is more often pronounced (n-v’rn-mnt) or (n-v’r-mnt) or (n-vr’mnt). All of these pronunciations are acceptable. | 4 |
epoch | |
| In American English the usual pronunciation is (p’k) and less often (’pk´´). In British English (’pk´´) is usual. | 5 |
err | |
| The pronunciation (ûr) is the older, traditional one, but in recent years the pronunciation (r) has gained currency, perhaps as a result of association with errant and error. In a recent ballot, 56 percent of the Usage Panel preferred (ûr), 34 percent preferred (r), and 10 percent accepted both pronunciations. | 6 |
escalator | |
The pronunciation (s’ky-l ´´tr), which is generally not considered acceptable, is an example of intrusion, a phonological process that involves the addition or insertion of an extra sound. The usual pronunciation is (s’k-l´´tr). | 7 |
| More at intrusion. | 8 |
escape | |
| The pronunciation (k-skp’) is considered nonstandard and is probably a result of confusion with words beginning with the prefix ex-. | 9 |
espresso / expresso | |
| The Italian word is espresso, pronounced (-sprs’) or (-sprs’) in English. It is short for caffè espresso, or “coffee that has been pressed out.” Expresso, pronounced (k-sprs’), first occurred no doubt | 10 |
| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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