preposition OF

Share on Facebook

EyeSeeYou

#301710 Fri, 08 Dec 06 12:10 AM

Does 'of' have only one way of pronouncing it, with a 'v' sound at the end? Or are there any other ways depending on the words that come after it?

EyeSeeYou

Joined on Tue, Dec 21 2004

Full Member (184)

Prepositions

Kooyeen

#301718 Fri, 08 Dec 06 12:58 AM

Hi ICU,
I think it's usually pronounced uh-v, any other pronunciation would be strange, IMO. I'm not sure, but maybe I once heard something like off, that is, with an f instead of a v. Maybe I heard it in some audio file, searching some archive for pronunciation samples. If ever I heard it, I guess it was some kind of British accent or even a foreign accent.

Smile [:)]

Kooyeen

Joined on Thu, Dec 22 2005

Italy

Senior Member (3,838)

If you don't have a sense of humor already, it's about time you buy one.

Accents, Pronunciation, British accent, Prepositions

Alienvoord

#301788 Fri, 08 Dec 06 06:42 AM

It is always pronounced with a "v" sound.

Alienvoord

Joined on Tue, Jul 25 2006

Toronto

Full Member (315)

I'm a Canadian English speaker

Prepositions

Marvin A.

#301792 Fri, 08 Dec 06 06:50 AM

Certain dialects in the Upper Midwest with a German substratum will sometimes devoice final consonants, therefore 'of' would sound something like [ @f ] rather than [ @v ]

Marvin A.

Joined on Fri, Dec 8 2006

Regular Member (638)

Consonants, Dialects, Prepositions

CalifJim

#302410 Sun, 10 Dec 06 08:03 AM

of always has the 'v' sound at the end except in (typically faster) informal conversation, where the 'v' is sometimes dropped when the following word begins with a consonant, 'of' then being identical in sound to the word 'a'.

Help! Help! An alligator's got a hold of me! (a hold a me)
A friend of my sister's got a pony for Christmas. (a friend a my sister's)
That's the end of the story. (the end a the story)
A lot of the children already knew how to read. (a lot a the children)
He was the star of the show. (the star a the show)
Today's the start of football season. (start a football season)
She played the queen of spades. (queen a spades)

This form of of is sometimes written o' (but with the same pronunciation as the 'a's above) and has become a fixed part of a few words such as o'clock, jack-o'-lantern, will-o'-the-wisp, and man-o'-war.

This comment applies to American English.

CJ