A or An Ukulele

pakhan

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Hey folks,

Can I ask, is it a Ukulele or an Ukulele?

Warmest regards,
Terence
 
That depends on if you pronounce it you-kulele or oo-kulele. I'm not an expert on this at all, but I think in hawaii it is "an oo-kulele", and on the mainland it is more often "a you-kulele". I think both are acceptable. Just to mix it up a bit more I think you could also spell ukulele like this: ukElele.
 
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Yup.

If you pronounce it as if it began with the consonant "y" then it would be "a ukulele". If you pronounce it the Hawaiian way (beginning with the "oo" sound) then it would be "an 'ukulele". The apostrophe in 'ukulele is part of the Hawaiian spelling.
 
That depends on if you pronounce it you-kulele or oo-kulele. I'm not an expert on this at all but I think in hawaii it is an oo-kulele and on the mainland it more often a you-kulele. I think both are acceptable. Just to mix it up a bit more I think you could also spell ukulele like this: ukElele.

I've discovered that you have to be careful where on the mainland you say you-kulele instead of oo-kulele. If I say you-kulele in front of my Hawaiian ukulele instructors or almost anyone in either of their classes, I'll get a reaction varying from a gentle reminder that the instrument is an oo-kulele to strange looks. By and large, though, the responses to the question at the start of this thread are correct that both pronunciations are considered acceptable by pronunciation authorities like dictionaries. For what it's worth, the apostrophe in 'ukulele is called an 'okina in Hawaiian, and, technically, it differs from an English apostrophe in that the round heavy part is at the bottom, like the quotation marks at the beginning of a quote, and not at the top, as is the case with apostrophes. The use over time of typefaces that do not distinguish between the shapes of beginning and end quotation marks has sort of mooted this distinction. Here's more about this for anyone who's interested.

The issue of whether and when to pronounce a word the way the people whose language the word comes from would pronounce it is an interesting one and sort of complicated. Here in politically correct San Francisco, we have a street, Arguello. That word is a Spanish word that's pronounced Ar-gwey-o in Spanish, but everyone in SF pronounces the street name Ar-gwell-o. Go figure.
 
If I can remember my grammar from school, if the subject started with a vowel (a e i o u, or the sixth vowel, y) then it was an, everything else was a.
School was a long time ago so grammar may have changed!
H
 
The issue of whether and when to pronounce a word the way the people whose language the word comes from would pronounce it is an interesting one and sort of complicated. Here in politically correct San Francisco, we have a street, Arguello. That word is a Spanish word that's pronounced Ar-gwey-o in Spanish, but everyone in SF pronounces the street name Ar-gwell-o. Go figure.


This kind of thing comes up a lot with French surnames. Throughout Canada, even in English speaking areas, French surnames typically retain their original pronunciation.

I've gotten myself into trouble a couple of times when speaking to Americans and pronouncing their French (I mean Freedom) surnames as the French would. For instance, the name Desjardins. Here in Canada, I would say: Day-jar-din, without closing down on the 'n' sound at the end of the word. However, i have heard this pronounced in the states as: Dez-djar-dins.
 
I have worked a lot with non-native English speakers. American (and other colonial) pronunciation bewilders them. We pronounce "tortilla" the correct Spanish way, since we learned it from Mexicans. We pronounce "flotilla" to rhyme with "gorilla" since the word came via England.
 
For instance, the name Desjardins. Here in Canada, I would say: Day-jar-din, without closing down on the 'n' sound at the end of the word. However, i have heard this pronounced in the states as: Dez-djar-dins.
[rant]
that's most probably because Americans tend to be pretty careless about other than their own language - just look at their horrible spelling of English words. In that respect, French and Americans are pretty similar btw.....
[/rant]

Fortunately we don't have the original problem in German - the instrument is naturally pronounced the original hawaiian way :)
 
HMS has the right answer to the OP's question. It wasn't how to pronounce Ukulele...............
 
An uke. If use the abbreviated name, as such, there is only one way. Never a uke.

But, with the full name, I can see what some have written about it going both ways depending on pronunciation. Isn't it because ukulele in Hawaiian begins with a consonant? The u is a consonant, no? I don't know
 
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[rant]
that's most probably because Americans tend to be pretty careless about other than their own language - just look at their horrible spelling of English words. In that respect, French and Americans are pretty similar btw.....
[/rant]

Fortunately we don't have the original problem in German - the instrument is naturally pronounced the original hawaiian way :)

The changes from the original English spellings were intentional. There was a colonial revolution y'know. Language is a reflection of politics. Languages and pronunciations seem to take on their own life and evolve based on local usage. It is a fascinating subject. I kind of like the fact that there are different accents for different regions. It is much more interesting.

–Lori
 
An uke. If use the abbreviated name, as such, there is only one way. Never a uke.

But, with the full name, I can see what some have written about it going both ways depending on pronunciation. Isn't it because ukulele in Hawaiian begins with a consonant? The u is a consonant, no? I don't know


I would definitely write "a uke" since when I speak uke aloud I say "you-ke".



HMS has the right answer to the OP's question. It wasn't how to pronounce Ukulele...............

I'm with you...except, the way one pronounces ukulele will govern whether its "a" or "an".
 
When I am speaking to the "Uninitiated" (LOL) or non uke players, I say a you-koo-lay-lee.
When I am speaking to knowledgeables, I tend to say an ook-u-lay-lay.
But they are both actually spelled the same, go figure.
Most Americans do suck at speaking and spelling English, I think it's atrocious!
 
If I can remember my grammar from school, if the subject started with a vowel (a e i o u, or the sixth vowel, y) then it was an, everything else was a.
School was a long time ago so grammar may have changed!
H

It is actually a pronunciation rule and is not as cut and dry as your school rule suggests. As has been noted here before if the vowel is pronounced as a vowel we use "an" but if pronounced as a consonant, we use "a". Examples:

"I am a university lecturer. I made an upside-down cake. There is a universe in my teacup. It is an extremely complex issue. I am a European" - get the idea?
 
HMS has the right answer to the OP's question. It wasn't how to pronounce Ukulele...............

With all respect, the use of "a" or "an" depends on how you pronounce "ukulele." HMS was right that the two different common pronunciations of the word ukulele result in different answers to the question of whether to use "a" or "an," but if someone asked whether to use "a" or "an" before the word "university, a discussion would necessarily ensue about whether "university" is pronounced as if it begins with a "y" (you-niveristy) or a "u" (oo-niversity). There's no controversy about how to pronounce "university," but if there was, whether to use "a" or "an" would depend on which is the favored pronunciation of the word to which "a" or "an" is being attached.
 
It is actually a pronunciation rule and is not as cut and dry as your school rule suggests. As has been noted here before if the vowel is pronounced as a vowel we use "an" but if pronounced as a consonant, we use "a". Examples:

"I am a university lecturer. I made an upside-down cake. There is a universe in my teacup. It is an extremely complex issue. I am a European" - get the idea?


That's pretty keen, those examples. What you write, and Mds, too, are spot on.
 
There are languages where the vowels only have one sound. English is not one of those languages. A true vowel sound uses only an open mouth with no other part of the mouth. Making the sound of long U as in use - usurper - usual cannot be made without constricting the back of the mouth and using the tongue almost as a glottal stop. Those words are pronounced with the single letter sound called a schwa. An uke is incorrect.. Are there exceptions to show that a hard and fast rule does not exist ? Absolutely. uke is not one of them.
 
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There are languages where the vowels only have one sound. English is not one of those languages. A true vowel sound uses only an open mouth with no other part of the mouth. Making the sound of long U as in use - usurper - usual cannot be made without constricting the back of the mouth and using the tongue almost as a glottal stop. Those words are pronounced with the single letter sound called a schwa. An uke is incorrect.. Are there exceptions to show that a hard and fast rule does not exist ? Absolutely. uke is not one of them.

Unless you pronounce the word "uke" by making the sound "ook" instead of "yuke." In the case of "ook," you would use "an" instead of "a." Because the first letter in the Hawaiian word 'ukulele is not the letter "u" but an 'okina, the derivative word, uke, arguably should also be deemed to start with an 'okina rather than a "u" (i.e., 'uke), in which case it ought to be pronounced "ook" and ought to be preceded by "an" instead of "a."
 
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