How do you pronounce "L.A." as in Los Angeles?

HI,

 In Amer. English, when you say "L.A", for Los Angeles, do you pronounce it as "el--ay"  or do you

pronounce it as "el--lay."

 

Likewise, when you say "will it be okay" do you say "will - it" or do you say "will - lit"

 

Hi,
welcome to englishforums.

It's eh-lay, not el-lay. So "will it" is not the same as "will lit". In "will lit" it will take you more time to pronounce the L, because it is held (at the end of "will") and then released (when you start to say "lit").

Grammar Geek

Kooyeen, if I'm going to LA, I don't go to eh-lay.

Hi,
you are making a distinction between eh-lay and ell-ay, which is actually important, even though in American English sometimes it's not a big distinction (I think in some cases the actual pronunciation is somewhere in between). Well, I usually take that distinction into account, and in this case I would say it's eh-lay. Unless it's something regional or something I don't have a clue about yet, LOL.
Hmm. Now you got me thinking. It's your fault!   I am thinking that I probably change the way I say such things depending on how fast I try to say them. Look at these: the first is the carfully pronounced one, the other is what comes out in normal (pretty fast) connected speech.

I sell aprons
I seh lay pruns

So I realized that I only say ell-ay if I try to pronounce it carefully and slowly, keeping the the letters in L.A. separate.
What do you think?

Hmm, damn, looks like it's one of those things that is likely to confuse me if I think too much about it.

I realized that I would probably say ell-ay, and sell aprons, keeping the L pretty dark but... I should avoid thinking about it, otherwise I mess everything up. Anyway, being aware of what I do is important, so do you think L's always remain the same when linked with other words? Examples:

pain inside = pay nin side (exactly the same)
gate opens = not the same as gay toe pens (because of aspiration)
tipe again = not the same as tie pug enn (because of aspiration)
feel inside = not the same as fee lin side (because... I've just learned about it? LOL) <-- ok?

But I'm also wondering about suffixes... like -ing for the present participle (or gerund). Merriam-Webster say feeling is fee-ling, and not feel-ing, and I think they are right. So I think that adding something to a word will make L's become part of the following syllable, but joining words together won't.
feel / fee-ling
cool / coo-lish
sell / seh-ling

What do you think? Thanks again.

CalifJim

The only comment I have is:  gaydOEpinz.

Hmm, see? I didn't even realize I'd actually tap that T, LOL.
Ok, I'd better forget about it. Or try to post only when my mind seems to work.