Hi everybody,
Are the words “hostile” and “hostel” homophones for you?
I’ve looked “hostile” up and it turns out that it can be pronounced in two different ways, one of which coincides with how “hostel” is pronounced.
So, long story short, do you pronounce “hostile” and “hostel” the same or not?
Looking forward to your replies.
They don’t sound the same to me.
This is how I pronounce them…[YSaerTTEW443543]
TOEIC listening, photographs: An auto junkyard[YSaerTTEW443543]
Thank you, Bev and Torsten!
@Tosrten
I would pronounce them, but I don’t have a mic :)))
I know it’s a lame excuse, and I promise I’ll buy one soon.
Hostile or hostel?
Hi, Luschen
Thanks for your input!
Yes, that’s how I half-expected you to pronounce them. Because the other day I heard (on the radio) the talk show host pronounce “hostile” like you just did and it made me curious, so I decided to ask.
:)))
By the way, I always figured Bev (aka Beeesneees) for a Welsh person. Could be I’m off base here. Hehe.
Dw i’n Cymraes.
Hehe,
I had to look it up (it means “Welshwoman” for those not in the know).
=)
Well it bears out the assumption made in my previous post.
Sorry Tort, you got there before I could complete and post my recording.
So Luschen, hostile and hostel are homophones in American English? That’s quite interesting because then a hostile takeover sounds like a hostel takeover ;-)[YSaerTTEW443543]
TOEIC listening, photographs: Workers talking[YSaerTTEW443543]
Yeah, I saw your recording right after I completed writing my post.
I see you’ve revealed your nationality in plain English in the recording, so I didn’t have to look “Cymraes” up.
Hehe.
Yet another difference between AmE and BrE!
Hi Luschen,
In Scotland where they are supposed to speak the purest English and it’s no surprise that they want to break away from the United Kingdom, they would most certainly make a distinction between ‘hostile’ and ‘hostel’,
McAlan
In reviewing my recording, I suppose I will admit that there is such a thing as American English, and even an American accent, but I think there is still quite a variety among US speakers.
Hello Torsten, I’m not sure if there is such a thing as “American English”, especially when it comes to pronunciation. There’s definitely not an “American accent”, because people in different parts of the US have quite different accents. I’m sure the same thing is true of England, or India, or any other place where there is a large number of English speakers. In some parts of the US they do say hostile, on the East Coast, like people in New York or Boston people would say hostile. And some people here in the South would also say hostile, although I am not sure they would know what a hostel is because hostels are not as popular here as they are in Europe and I think that a lot of people if they have never gone to Europe or left the US, they might not be familiar with what a hostel is. So I can imagine somebody from my neck of the woods saying something like this: “I don’t want to be hostile here, but uh, I ain’t never heard of none ‘hostel’. What is that? Is that some kind of a cheap hotel?”
Funny you should mention that!
I’m very big on the Savage Nation talk show with Michael Savage. And today while I was listening to an an-chore segment of the show, I heard Michael pronounce this word this way: “hos - tile” (i.e. like Bev and Alan do). I know that Michael grew up in New York (in Queens if I remember correctly), so this bears out your rule.
This alone goes to show that accents vary across the States a lot.
I think Michael Savage alone shows the wide variety of just about everything in America - please don’t judge us all by his statements - I think he’s a nut.
Don’t worry, I listen to many radio talk show hosts. I’m trying to get a well-rounded impression of America, from as many people as possible.
Off the top of my head, I can name Mark Levin, Rusty Humphry, Dave Ramsey and Neal Boortz.
Hehe.
But yes, he’s quite sharp-tongued and sometimes even out-and-out rude to some of his callers.
Dave Ramsey actually lives here in Nashville. Once in awhile I drive past his building (“Financial Peace Plaza” - ha) and try to figure out which Mercedes Benz in the parking lot is his. I don’t agree with everything he says, but he is interesting to listen to and his callers represent a fairly broad spectrum of the “average American”.
Hi T.J. it’s very interesting that you say that the term hostel might not be as popular in the US as it is in Europe. I’ve googled around a bit and found this company called ‘USA Hostels Inc.’ but they only have a few hostels in California. So, there is some business opportunity for us here – we could open a few hostels in Tennessee and Arkansas and send some Europeans there for them to learn English. How does that sound?[YSaerTTEW443543]
TOEIC listening, photographs: A family eating dinner[YSaerTTEW443543]
There actually are quite a few hostels in the U.S., but they cater mainly to European tourists and students, so many Americans are not really familiar with them. I have actually met the man who runs the Music City Hostel here in Nashville. He said his clientele is almost exclusively foreign, but he is doing quite well, even in this poor economy.