'Weekend' pronunciation? :)

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He_ofshadowsandtouch@reddit

Never noticed any brit saying weekend in a different way to everyone else

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Majestic-Winner170@reddit

Americans say Apple Sauce with the stress on Apple

Is brits say it with the stress on Sauce

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anOddPhish@reddit

I don't think I've ever heard it pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable

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Agonist-activist@reddit

What have you started? The whole UK saying this out loud trying to work out whether it's we kend Or week end. I think I say the former with a slight pause after we.

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Bitter_Shandy@reddit

I think this may be due to the "pen-pin merger". A lot of north Americans pronounce those two words the same. The E vowel before an N or M becomes an I vowel. So weekend becomes "weekind"

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MJLDat@reddit

How do Americans say it? I’ve never noticed a difference.

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pheasant_fun@reddit (OP)

I'm Canadian. We don't put the emphasis on the 2nd syllable.

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nathanherts@reddit

Have you heard how Canadian's pronounce about?

Aboot.

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pheasant_fun@reddit (OP)

Haha. Stereotype. Some do, but a lot (like me) say 'about'. Boot, boat and bout are three distinct pronunciations for a lot of us.

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nathanherts@reddit

I love it, because it tells me a person ia Candian and not American so I brief a sigh of relief.

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nemmalur@reddit

It’s more like “a boat” and not aboot like a comedy Scots accent. Unfortunately a lot of Americans can’t hear that and so the “aboot” myth is so pervasive even some Canadians repeat it.

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Lowermains@reddit

Aboot is not a comedy Scottish accent😡. Scots is a recognised language.

Usually I can differentiate between a Canadian and US accent.

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nemmalur@reddit

Okay, but the only time I’ve genuinely heard aboot in Canada it’s been either someone putting on a Scots accent or, much more rarely, someone who came over from Scotland years ago.

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nathanherts@reddit

I've watched quite a lot of Canadian content and from what I've seen lots definitely do pronounce it aboot, though I'd guess if you're Canadian you have a better understanding on it than me.

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It’s not specifically Canadian, and I suppose there might be speakers for whom it genuinely is aboot, but the usual sound of it is presented here, along with an explanation of why it sounds the way it does to Americans:

https://www.yorku.ca/twainweb/troberts/raising.html

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pheasant_fun@reddit (OP)

Hahaha

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nathanherts@reddit

Lot a love for Canadian's.

You have very similar humour to us Brit's, and you gave the world Schitt's Creek and Kim's Convenience. :)

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pheasant_fun@reddit (OP)

Haha. I'll take WILTY, Taskmaster, Cats, Mock the Week, etc....over Canadian TV any day.

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nathanherts@reddit

Do you not have similar shows?

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pheasant_fun@reddit (OP)

No. We get a lot of USA programming.

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Tough-Cheetah5679@reddit

I hope you've watched 8 out of 10 cats does countdown too?

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pheasant_fun@reddit (OP)

Yep!!!

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ChiSandTwitch1@reddit

Thats your Scottish roots right there. Nova Scotia baby!!

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pheasant_fun@reddit (OP)

"What are you doing this week-end?" More like equal weight for each syllable.

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AtensEye@reddit

This is how I would say it too, I'm just north of London for ref.

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thesaharadesert@reddit

I do if we’re talking about Abel Tesfaye

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MJLDat@reddit

Sorry for the assumption!

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pheasant_fun@reddit (OP)

Haha. No worries.

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BigUnderstanding3751@reddit

I say it both ways. Sometimes WEEKend, sometimes weekEND. No idea why.

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A_Wyvern_Draws_Near@reddit

Originally from the east coast of the US, have lived in West Midlands for quite some time now. I do and have always put the emphasis on the first syllable.

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Less_Duty7681@reddit

Emphasis has always been on the 2nd syllable for me (Scottish).

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wscottwatson@reddit

One of the biggest linguistic variations between English and US English is word stress. I remember my mother being annoyed how people from the USA stressed ROBIN Hood whereas the norm is to stress his "surname", Robin HOOD.

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emsot@reddit

And there isn't even a consistent direction for the stress to move. "Adult" and "address" both have different stress in US and UK English, but in opposite directions.

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SnowLeopard349@reddit

Just weekend like the whole word same i don’t put a major emphasis on either syllable

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Aivellac@reddit

Same, I don't feel like I would stress any of it. It's the weekend, it should be stress-free.

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Alert_Mine7067@reddit

From Belfast, wee-kend

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Sea-Command3437@reddit

Brit here. I think if it’s a noun by itself I stress the 2nd syllable, but if it’s attributive (‘What do you think the weekend weather will be like?’) I stress the 1st.

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Eyupmeduck1989@reddit

Wee-kend, emphasis on the first syllable. I can’t even imagine how it’d have the emphasis on the second syllable?

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Fanny_Flapps@reddit

I can't even imagine having such a lack of imagination

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SUMMATMAN@reddit

W - Kennnnnnnnddddddd. Mondy

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Boulderfist_CH@reddit

From Hull - I say we-kend

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OnPointTip1@reddit

If you're from Hull, you say 'Ronnie Pickering'

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ZealousidealLab4500@reddit

Who?

RONNIE PICKERING!!!!!!

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OnPointTip1@reddit

You said who you are. Johnny Pickering

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ZealousidealLab4500@reddit

Let's have a bare knuckle fight, then!

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SUMMATMAN@reddit

AM RONNIE FUCKIN PICKERIN

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ReinforcedTube@reddit

I don't know who that is

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SilverellaUK@reddit

Same here, even emphasis.

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Personal-Standard422@reddit

I think most or all Brits put the stress on the KEND. I (English) do.

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JohnLennonsNotDead@reddit

Wakanda

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nemmalur@reddit

Emphasis on “end” in phrases like “at the weekend”, “holiday weekend”, but not stressed as much in compounds such as “weekend warrior” or (dating myself considerably here) “London Weekend Television”.

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Maleficent-Leek2943@reddit

I’m from London but have lived in the US (Midwest) for 15+ years, and I am now sitting here trying to figure out how I say “weekend” and if I ever used to say it differently to how I do now.

Repeating the word to myself over and over again is not helping.

WEEkend?

weekEND?

wee-kend?

I don’t even know anymore.

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neilm1000@reddit

I think you should pronounce 'weekend' in the style of Steven Toast. I've been known to.

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pheasant_fun@reddit (OP)

Toast of London. Wasn't familiar with that show. A new one to watch. Thanks! :)

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neilm1000@reddit

You'll see what I mean about how he says things!

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Fit-Bedroom-7645@reddit

Wok-huund

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_Cridders_@reddit

Geordies (Newcastle) say things with a pause in them, like "Week-kend"

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Gh0styD0g@reddit

West Yorkshire - We kend

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TheLordMed@reddit

Suffolk - wee-kend. No emphasis on either syllable

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Rubytitania@reddit

West Mids. I think I probably use both pretty much interchangeably? Either way sounds fine to me.

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openlightYQ@reddit

London; I say week-end, both parts as monotonously as each other. Colleagues say WEEK-end more often than not though so I may be the only one that does that.

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ZombieGash@reddit

WEEK— end

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No-Onion8029@reddit

When Craig Ferguson would say it on his CBS show, I always momentarily thought there was a "wee Ken."

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Low-Summer-304@reddit

East Lancs, WEEK-end

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User-1967@reddit

I’m midlands and I say it like this

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SirMcFish@reddit

Same, and my Geordie Mrs says it the same. I've never heard anyone say it different in real life or on the telly.

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Puzzledandhangry@reddit

I knew there was something dodgy about East Lancs…..😉

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Low-Summer-304@reddit

My friend there are MANY dodgy things 😂

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Puzzledandhangry@reddit

Well now I want to visit lol

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Low-Summer-304@reddit

Definitely wouldn’t recommend!

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bitterlemon80@reddit

Same, south east (but with a mother from Bolton!)

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Disastrous-Ad9001@reddit

Essex London borders, neutral accent: we-KEND. Although I sometimes say it the other way.

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kt1982mt@reddit

Week-END (Scottish, Glaswegian accent)

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Beautiful_Hour_4744@reddit

London - usually WEE-kend but I think wee-KEND slips out occasionally

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Oh-reality-come-back@reddit

London here as well: I say we-ken, usually dropping the d.

I only found this out now after muttering the word weekend over and over again after reading this piece at title

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metal_maxine@reddit

I'm glad I'm not the only one sitting here repeating "weekend" like a nutter.

Live in E Kent, whether the D turns up or not depends on how fast I am talking (very) and if there is some grown up who will get shirty if I don't ennunciate clearly (I am 40). Mostly, it does.

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editorialgirl@reddit

I think it depends on the sentence. I say "it's a bank holiday weekEND" but I'd ask "what are you doing at the WEEKend?"

Related: I've noticed Br. Eng. leans towards emphasis on the second syllable of phrases where N. Am. Eng. puts it on the first. I laughed out loud the first time I heard someone say they really wanted to try "FISH 'n' chips" 😂

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virusdancer@reddit

There are all sorts of North American accents as well - there's a big variety in whether in Canada, the US, etc et al.

I grew up in the Mid-Atlantic Region of the US before returning to the UK, and for the life of me, I can't get myself to pronounce it Week-End...it's always Wee-Kend. Sitting here trying all sorts of different sentences and can't get myself to do it, lol. Ah, I can manage it as long as the weekend isn't the last word in a sentence. Week-End just doesn't work for me as the last word in the sentence. It's how the phonetics of ending a sentence work for me.

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pheasant_fun@reddit (OP)

Yeh, despite the regional differences I've never heard it pronounced wee-KEND in NA or on NA media, but that way definitely flows easier for me too. Trying to say it the common NA way is difficult now lol

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julia-peculiar@reddit

SE England / c. 30 miles NW of London... Thinking about this, and trying the word out in a few sentences... I realise I do both: emphasis sometimes on 1st syllable, sometimes on 2nd.

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Oh-reality-come-back@reddit

Doing the same here. I’m in south London haha

Just noticed that I usually drop the d sound or just really soften it up, so you’d have to really be familiar with the accent to hear it, “wee-ken”. Sounds almost like “Wiccan”.

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