AE Pronounciation of 'Data'

Pronounciation of 'data' seems to come in two flavors:

- as in eight, date, skate ['deda'] (no idea about this)

- as in daddy, add, at ['dada']

Is it that the later is more common somewhere? (towards the west/southwest perhaps). In software engineering you hear both of them - heard one Microsoft engineer say it the first way today - other than that I tend to hear the second form more often.

Any comments on this?

btw - I've seen one thing recently on message boards like this - a check box available to the thread issuer which says "question resolved" - that would be something for this - otherwise fantastic - message board.

Day-da = BrE

Dad-a = AmE

Thanks Grammar Geek, that's even more interesting - both variants being used by the same speaker! I suppose speakers on the east coast would prefer the "eight"-vovelish one more is that right? I typically associate the other one more with the south west? What does CalifJim have to say about it? Or anyone else for that matter ..

Wow, found long discussion about it here .. and highly entertaining too .. (not to mention educative to me)

  http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=40&threadid=46560

( ... "procounce them depending on how aristocratic you feel" )

Still would be good to hear some more opions on it here ..

Also saw that answers.com/data gave all three alternatives - including version without a tapped 't'

I do know that if someone I'm conversing with uses "dad-uh" first, I'll probably pick that up and use it in that conversation.

Do you think it could be like "ant, ahnt"? Now that I live in a region where your uncle's wife is an "ahnt" I am using both forms depending on whom I talking with and what they use.

And let's all sing: poe-tay-toe, poe-tah-toe, toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe...