One of the most striking examples of the inconsistencies of English pronunciation is with the many different ways
of saying: "ough":
- Bough and Plough are pronounced "OW" (as in "NOW").
- Cough and Trough are pronounced "OFF" (as in "OFF").
- Dough and Though are pronounced "O" (as in "NO").
- Fought and Thought are pronounced "OR" (as in "FORT").
- Rough and Tough are pronounced "UF" (as in "CUFF").
- Hiccough is pronounced "UP" (as in "HICCUP").
- Through is pronounced "OO" (as in "TOO").
- Thorough is pronounced sort of like "AH" (somewhere between "ERA" and "HORROR").
By the way, the above pronuciations are influenced somewhat by my Australian, but I've tried to make them as close
as possible to neutral "English", as opposed to American, British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, or any of
the other regional variations of the English language.
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