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From: "Carol C. Kankelborg" <csc80@eng.amdahl.com>
Subject: Re: what is the correct pronounciation of "router"
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Cc: mhorneck@ella.phil.uni-freiburg.de
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References: <4ms7hn$oj9@n.ruf.uni-freiburg.de> <4mv9it$26p@lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk> <glen.831742124@heurikon.com>
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Date: Mon, 13 May 1996 21:05:41 GMT
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Glen Ecklund wrote:
> 
> fjmd1@cl.cam.ac.uk (Francis Davey) writes:
> 
> >In article <4ms7hn$oj9@n.ruf.uni-freiburg.de>,
> > <mhorneck@ella.phil.uni-freiburg.de> wrote:
> >>In Internet-business one often is contacted with a device called "router". Listening to people
> >>doesn't help. How do I pronounce this item?
> >>
> >>I looked it up in a dictionary and found route: with "oo" as in hook or (in the army) with
> >>"ow" as in towel. Ok, this didn't help. So what's the correct form, and - even more important
> >>- why is it the correct form?
> >>(Do I sound stupid choosing the wrong one? As saing "ess cee ess i" to SCSI :-))
> >>
> 
> >It depends which dialect of English you speak. In RP "router" has the former
> >pronunciation (ie "oo" as in hook -- I am not up to IPAing in ASCII though I
> >know it can be done). A lot of American English speakers I have heard seem
> >to use the latter (which sounds horribly barbarous to me -- such is linguistic
> >prejudice).
> 
> Sounds quite strange to me.  I pronounce hook with the vowel of foot, and
> I can't imagine pronouncing "router" that way.
> In the US, "route" and "router" are pronounced both with the vowel of
> [hoot, shoot, moot], and with the diphthong of [how, now, brown, cow].
> The former is more common in most uses, but the latter is more common in
> computer uses.  I have heard it suggested that this is to help distinguish
> "route" from "root", both of which are common computer terms.
> 
> In my midwestern US dialect,
>     route    [cow]
>     root     [foot]    The root of a tree.
>     root     [shoot]   To root for a team.
> 
> This distinction puts me in the minority in the US.  In most other ways,
> my dialect is mainstream.
> 

For "normal" usage, I pronounce "route" (noun) like "shoot".  I just checked my
pocket OED which does not list a verb form.  I can't seem to think of a good
sentence using "route" (verb) or "router" (one who routes) without referring to
something computer-related.  Here's one attempt: "The detour signs routed me
around the washed-out bridge."   I think I would pronounce "routed" to rhyme
with "hooted".  

For the network device, "router", I have always heard it pronounced to rhyme
with "shouter".  Also, I generally hear "route" (verb) pronounced to rhyme with
"shout".  (To route a wire, to route a chip)

I find it interesting that I seem to have added an "occupational" dialect,
if you will, to my "regional" one.

Is "to route" a relatively new verb?  Was the internet "router" first
developed in a part of the U.S. where "route" (noun) rhymes with "shout"?

-- 
Carol C. Kankelborg
Amdahl Corp.   csc80@eng.amdahl.com

The above opinions are uniquely mine.
