fair-haired

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Pter

#513379 Wed, 14 May 08 03:26 AM

I stumbled upon the word fair-haired in my dictionary and was surprised by the pronunication given.

British: just join the pronunciation of the two words together

American: 'fer-'herd

It sounds weird to me. Just want to get a confirmation if Americans really pronounce the word as 'fer-'herd.

Thanks.

Pter

Joined on Wed, Nov 28 2007

Hong Kong

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Pronunciation

Grammar Geek

#513389 Wed, 14 May 08 04:05 AM

I would say "fair-haired" as "fair haired."

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Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006

Pennsylvania, USA

Veteran Member (14,710)

Barbara, who answers in American English.

Pter

#514022 Thu, 15 May 08 02:20 PM

Thanks, GG. Then I guess this word is probably too old fashioned and has dropped out of use.

Pter

Grammar Geek

#514041 Thu, 15 May 08 03:14 PM

No, its a current idiom that means "the person who has gained the favor of those higher up."

If you're talking about people at work and you refer to someone as "the fair-haired one" it means that upper management likes this person.

Grammar Geek

Idioms

Pter

#514048 Thu, 15 May 08 03:42 PM

Well then, it's strange that all the dictionaries give the same weird pronunciation.

Pter

Pronunciation

Grammar Geek

#514084 Thu, 15 May 08 05:03 PM

Yes, that is strange.

Click on the little red speaker symbol. The man says it like I do.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fair-haired

AH! I see. In the dictionary pronunciation guide, "er" is the same sound as "air." I was reading your "herd" the way I'd say "a herd of cattle" but in the pronuncation guide, the "er" in herd is the same sound as air, so it's haired. (In dictionary-pronunciation guide terms, "herd" as in "herd of cattle" is "h upside-down-e rd"

Fair: fer

Fur: f updside-down-e r

Grammar Geek

Pronunciation

Pter

#514475 Fri, 16 May 08 04:33 PM

Thanks, GG. Now this is absolutely confusing to me. I always had problem with reading the pronunciation keys for American English. British pronunciations have long been standardized on IPA. Why can't American English dictionaries use IPA??? The symbols in Merriam-Webster is different from that of American Heritage. And who knows how many different sets of symbols are used by different American English dictionaries? The worst thing is that my Cambridge Pronouncing Dictionary uses a mix of IPA with a bit of these non-standard American symbols for showing American pronunciations!

I think the pronunciation keys in Merriam-Webster are just plain WRONG! It says

\ \ as a in abut
\ \ as u in abut
\ \ as e in kitten
\ r \ as ur/er in further

\ e \ as e in bet
\ \ as ea in easy
\ \ as y in easy

(Barbara, where in the pronunciation symbols page says "er" is the same sound as "air"? There is no entry for \ er \ on that page!!!)

I mean this page --> http://www.merriam-webster.com/pronsymbols.html

Am I mis-reading the symbols? Or Americans really say the vowel in bet exactly the same as that in hair??? They are obviously different in the voice recordings in Merriam-Webster.

In British English, they are two different vowels.

? ? ? ? ? It is driving me nuts!