Why often has two ways of pronunciation?

English as a Second Language What do you want to talk about?
1

Dear teachers,

I am wondering ,when i search for the word ( often ) in dictionaries i find that it has two ways of Pronunciation: ˈȯ-fən, ÷ˈȯf-tən . Can you tell me why and which one is used more ,please ?

Thanks a lot.

2

Hi Najlaa,

I think the reason for this is that English is spoken is so many different countries by so many different people. For example, Americans pronounce the word “advertisement” differently than British or Australian people.[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC short conversations: Two friends meet after a long time and decide to have dinner with their respective spouses[YSaerTTEW443543]

3

Hi Mr.Torsten,

Thank you for your helpful reply . Can you tell me which one American and which is British or Australian , please ?

Thanks a lot ,

4

Hi, this is the British/Australian version: əd’vɜːtɪsmənt
This is the American pronunciation: (ăd’vər-tī’zĭng)[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC short conversations: A convention participant gets directions from the organizer[YSaerTTEW443543]

5

Thanks for your great efforts Mr.Torsten .

6

You’re welcome, Najlaa.[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC short conversations: A business executive asks his PA to change his schedule[YSaerTTEW443543]

7

The Oxford English Dictionary only gave “offen” as the pronunciation of “often” until quite recently (I think the 1970s): it was considered something of a faux pas to pronounce the “t”. (Cf. “soften”.)

But the pronunciation “of-ten” is now increasingly heard in the UK; presumably people are influenced by the spelling.

The pronunciation “orphan” can also be heard in British films from the 1930s and 1940s; though few people use it now.

Best wishes,

MrP

8

Hi MrPedantic,

As an ESL learner,which one can i use nowadays in communication with native speakers of English language ? /ˈȯ-fən / or /ˈȯf-tən /?

Thanks a lot.

9

Hi Najlaa

I have heard the word ‘often’ pronounced both with and without the ‘T’ sound all my life. My experience is that pronouncing it without the ‘T’ sound is the more commonly used pronunciation.
.

10

Not quite. We Americans say [ʼæd vr taiz mənt].

“Advertising” is a different word, and the stress in that word is also placed on the first syllable, not on the second to last, as you have it written.

11

I agree. It’s usually pronounced without the T. To many people the version with the T sounds “less educated”.

12

I’ve always pronounced that word with the main stress on the third syllable (taiz). That may be more of an East Coast tendency I suppose.
.

13

Hi Yankee, Jamie (k),

I also hear it without /T/ in TV ,movies , news etc but it confuses me when i search in dictionaries .

Thanks for your replies and amazing discussion.

Bwst regards,

14

Of course, I have heard the word all my life, and I even worked five advertising agencies, and this thread was the first time I have ever heard of an American stressing that word on the third syllable. So I looked it up in a couple of American dictionaries, and not one of them shows the word being stressed on the first syllable, but always on the third. However, I know that if I set foot in one of the agencies where I used to work, everybody, including the people transferred from New York, will be stressing it on the first syllable.

So all the American dictionaries show it being stressed on the third syllable, and yet I, with all the traveling I’ve done, and with all the national media I’ve heard and still hear, have only ever heard it stressed on the first syllable by Americans.

What am I to make of this? I don’t know. I guess the same thing I make of the TOEFL recordings, which are supposed to be in neutral General American, but are actually in snooty Ivy League-ish, NPR-ish speech. I place dictionaries in the same category, because they occasionally list pronunciations that I find surrealistic.

15

Hi Jamie

I’d describe my pronunciation of that word this way:

The main stress is on the third syllable. However the secondary stress on the first syllable sometimes (but not always) comes close to being about the same.
.

16

Hello Najlaa,

I would agree with Amy and Jamie, and choose the pronunciation without the T. (The people who sound the T generally won’t notice if you don’t; but the people who don’t may notice if you do.)

Best wishes,

MrP

17

And why should that matter?

18

ESLers are often interested in having this sort of information. That’s why they ask questions about such things, Molly.
.

19

And why would “people who sound the T generally” not "notice if you don’t “but the people who don’t may notice if you do”?

20

Because the pronunciation with the T is mildly stigmatized, similarly to the way pronouncing “picture” as “pitcher” is stigmatized, only not as much.