Raining ukuleles

ichadwick

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They say it never rains, but it pours. And pour it does, ukulele-wise. I have Dave G's tenor banjo ukulele sitting in Customs going through the bureaucratic once-over with the glacial speed only a government worker can apply to something that one is anxious to receive. And today I got an email my Ohana zebrawood* ukulele is at the distributor's, to be shipped out Monday. So by the end of next week I will have not one, but TWO new instruments. I'm all aflutter.

*Just to throw a spanner into the works, I was telling a friend about the incipient Ohana, and he asked me what "zee-bra" wood looked like. Zee-bra? I asked. You mean "zeh-bra." No, he insisted, it was "zee-bra." But would you ever call a girl "Dee-bra" instead of "Deh-bra" I asked him. He admitted he would not, but refused to accept the sameness in pronunciation for zebra despite the substitution of only one initial letter. I argued that with one consonant, the vowel before is long but with two it shortens. Holy, holly; Mary, marry; Joliet, jolly; pater, patter; cater, chatter and so on. Zebra has two consonants, therefore it is a short e: zeh-bra. Zero, zebra. The logic is inescapable. QED and all that.

Unmoved, he was, and insisted on saying "zee-bra" even though it grated on my ears, like someone saying nu-cu-lar instead of nuclear, or li-berry instead of library, Feb-u-erry instead of February.

He spends prone to call the last letter of the alphabet "zee" rather than "zed." So perhaps that's his problem with "zeh-bra." But what do YOU call it?​
 
I thought it was zeebra wood 'cause it has stripes like a zebra.
 
According to dictionary.com...it's zee-bruh. Oh, and I'm jealous by the way.:p
 
The logic is inescapable.

Well there's your problem. You're trying to apply logic to the English language.

That's really hard to do. Like ploughing through tough dough when you have a cough.

JJ
 
I pronounce it the same way as I pronounce the name of that stripy horse type animal. Which I have never heard pronounced any other way than with the long e. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that there is a different pronunciation for the wood because, yes english is a ridiculous language. Anyway I always thought they were homophones.
 
As I understand it, in America, we typically say "zee-bra." When I lived in England though, I heard it pronounced "zeh-bra." Just another example of how language is a living, fluid thing. I remember the first time I said something about my "pants" while living in England. :eek:
 
I'm South African myself, so I say it the proper way -> zeh-brah

Long e's are are bees and trees :p


But.. on the topic of new ukes.. I'm also planning on getting myself an ohana zebrawood soprano (to replace the kala mango soprano that I'm selling). As well as a mahogany tenor Fluke (might be adding geared tuners that face backward :D)
 
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I thought it was zeebra wood 'cause it has stripes like a zebra.
Which, in English is zeh-bra wood because it has stripes like a "zebra." The two-consonants-short-vowel rule applies in two-syllable words. Calling it zee-bra is just like calling a pattern a pay-tern, or calling a bowling ball a booling ball; calling a website a "weeb site" or calling William Weel-eam. It's cute in a backwater sort of way, I suppose. But it is inaccurate.

Please folks, don't depend on dictionary.com. It's useful, to be sure, but NOT an authority. It's merely a gleaner, and it tends to support a few American dialectical pronunciations rather than British/English pronunciations. For our American readers, it would be like having a dictionary of New Jersey pronunciations being touted as the official American pronunciations for every region in the USA.

You want authority, then ONLY the print versions of dictionaries are acceptable. Period. Oxford (the best), Random House, Collins, Chambers, Merriam Webster (but NOT simply "Webster's" because it connotes an out-of-date product with no authority as far as lexicographers go) are good. The gleaner sites like dictionary.com and the rest are simply conveyors of found data and are riddled with errata and out-of-date material - very much like the popular quotation sites that repeat inaccurate attributions and bad quotes.

And for those who suggest English has no logic: you are wrong. It has considerable logic and a lot of rules. Yes, it has many inconsistencies and exceptions, but they are not as wild nor as random as you may think. Read The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson to understand the source of many of these. Very entertaining and still informative and educational without being pedantic.

It has a lot to do with the invention of the printing press, the timing of some vowel shifts and the changing influence of London spelling on the print trade and the effect of some popular writers like Shakespeare and Chaucer. Bryson explains it quite well. PM me and I will go on at length about the beauty and strength of English and offer other suggestions for your reading pleasure (Saffire, Lederer, Partridge, Amis and any of a number of writers on our beautiful, expressive language).

Meanwhile, the Ohana should arrive Tuesday. And possibly the banjo uke at the same time!​
 
We were taught that the "two-consonant-short-vowel" rule applied when the two consonants were the same letter....a double "t", double "p", etc.

But that was an American school, and many, many years ago. I have no idea whether it is right or wrong, but I just can't bring myself to see it any other way than "zee-bra".

How do the English pronounce the name of the striped African equine?
 
Zee - bra:

bra.jpg



Zebra:

zebra-0003.jpg



Zebra Wood:

SK25Z_body-front.jpg
 
As I understand it, in America, we typically say "zee-bra." When I lived in England though, I heard it pronounced "zeh-bra." Just another example of how language is a living, fluid thing. I remember the first time I said something about my "pants" while living in England. :eek:

I've been to England and I'm pretty sure I remember that they wear pants there too. Some people wear skirts. For that matter I've been to a bunch of different countries and it seems like everywhere I go pants are the preferred method of covering the skin on your legs....

By the way, I sure could use some ukulele rain. We've been getting a lot of rain here in D.C. lately but just the regular old water kind.
 

Which, in English is zeh-bra wood because it has stripes like a "zebra." The two-consonants-short-vowel rule applies in two-syllable words. Calling it zee-bra is just like calling a pattern a pay-tern, or calling a bowling ball a booling ball; calling a website a "weeb site" or calling William Weel-eam. It's cute in a backwater sort of way, I suppose. But it is inaccurate.


Actually, for our British readers, according to Merriam-Webster's American Collegiate Dictionary, bound and tangible with actual pages:

Pronunciation:
\ˈzē-brə, Canada & British also ˈze-\

I copied this from their weeb site but after looking it up to be sure.

*sticking my tongue out and making raspberries*
 
I thought Brits would pronounce it "ZED-bra"
 
I've been to England and I'm pretty sure I remember that they wear pants there too. Some people wear skirts. For that matter I've been to a bunch of different countries and it seems like everywhere I go pants are the preferred method of covering the skin on your legs...

In the U.K. the word pants is used to refer to underwear ;)
 
He spends prone to call the last letter of the alphabet "zee" rather than "zed." So perhaps that's his problem with "zeh-bra." But what do YOU call it?[/INDENT]

I'd call him an American. At least those people around me in Los Angeles say zee-bra and zero (I didn't even hear someone say zed until I was in my 30's).

I am waiting for one of those zebrawood ukes too! Very exciting!!

–Lori
 
Well, wouldn't you know it - they both arrived the same day! I barely had time to deal with customers who kept interrupting me as I tried to get to know each instrument...

I was a little surprised that the Ohana wasn't nearly as pretty as many I've seen online. Nice enough, but less yellow, so not as contrasty as the others. I was also a bit surprised to find I could actually play the soprano scale without my fingers bunching into knots. When I first tried it, I got all cramped.

Reviews soon on my website!
 
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