MrPernickety  +  767018 Fri, 05 Jun 09 10:24 PM Hi, Amy   Am I to understand that you pronounce "knot" the same way as you do "not" ? (at least on the record you did, or so it seemed to me) Thanks ! MrPernickety Joined on Sat, Oct 25 2008 Regular Member 731 Amendment XXX to the US Constitution: No man shall be held accountable for any promise he makes while drunk unless it was a bet.

	Yankee  +  767067 Fri, 05 Jun 09 11:14 PM Hi Alex Yes, I pronounce the words "knot" and "not" exactly the same way. It's the word "naught" that I pronounce differently. Yankee Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006 Connecticut, USA Veteran Member 6,494 Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain

	Kooyeen  +  767079 Fri, 05 Jun 09 11:21 PM Haha, now Amy is having fun with audio clips, huh? Well, at least now we can give and get more accurate replies, as far as spoken English is concerned. And from that clip, I guess you just don't have the cot-cought merger. So I bet you pronounce cot and cought differently too. Here's a map (but don't think there is really a clear-cut distinction: it seems some speakers are not consistent). Kooyeen Joined on Thu, Dec 22 2005 Italy Senior Member 4,969 Parental Advisory / Explicit Posts Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Languages

	Yankee  +  767219 Sat, 06 Jun 09 02:12 AM Right you are, Kooyeen.  My cots and caughts have not merged, but it's not too unusual to hear people say "caught" the same way they say "cot" here in Connecticut. Even though your map shows Connecticut as being "not merged", I'd say that in southeastern Connecticut the pronunciation is a bit mixed. I imagine my own pronunciation of words such as "naught" and "caught" reflects my Mid-Atlantic linguistic roots.  Yankee Pronunciation, Speaking, Countries, United States

	tmn111  +  828037 Mon, 20 Jul 09 11:45 PM Hi Yankee, I'm not a native English speaker and I just cannot distinguish any difference in pronunciation between "knot" and "naught". :( tmn111 Joined on Tue, Mar 3 2009 Full Member 145 Pronunciation, Speaking, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Languages, Students, ESL

	Yankee  +  828268 Tue, 21 Jul 09 03:43 AM Hi TMN111 The way some people pronounce "knot" and "naught", there is no difference. Listen to the two recorded pronunciations of "nought" here and tell me whether you can hear the difference between the two: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nought The first one is the way I pronounce naught/nought, and the second one sounds like the way I pronounce "knot" and "not". Yankee Difference Between, Students, ESL

	moduffycobb  +  850089 Thu, 06 Aug 09 05:32 PM To Martin:    In my ESL class, people have difficulties with all sorts of things. "F" becomes "p", "i" becomes "a", etc. "Not" may easily become "nat" for people, especially if they are used to their own regional dialects, not English. My students listen to me, see my mouth, and still are unable to prounounce things sometimes. It takes time and practice to get it right.       The point is that we're all here to learn together.   Practice, practice, practice. :)   Maureen. moduffycobb Joined on Fri, Nov 7 2008 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada New Member 08 Dialects, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Languages, Students, ESL

	abdo24king  +  969894 Thu, 12 Nov 09 10:14 PM really it's important thanks a lot abdo24king Joined on Mon, Nov 9 2009 New Member 12 Students, ESL