Do you pronounce aunt ant or aunt?

But, seriously, the word “aunt” has two correct pronunciations: ANT (like the insect) and AHNT. Both pronunciations are given, in that order, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.) and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.).

Why do Americans say Aunt like ant?

Aunt is another one that’s pronounced differently depending on where you’re from: If you say it “ahnt” you’re probably from Britain or one of just a couple parts of the U.S. (notably the Boston area). In fact, the “ant” pronunciation is the older one, but it shifted to “ahnt” in England after the colonies were settled.

What states say ant instead of Aunt?

“Ant” is used in Northern England, Scotland, Western Canada and most American dialects, including General American. Many Irish people also employs the pronunciation but this is to be found mainly in Western and Northern Ireland.

What’s the difference between aunt and Auntie?

An aunt is a woman who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Aunts who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. Known alternate terms include auntie or aunty. The male counterpart of an aunt is an uncle, and the reciprocal relationship is that of a nephew or niece.

What do Southerners call northerners?

In the Southern United States, Yankee is a derisive term which refers to all Northerners, and during the American Civil War was applied by Confederates to soldiers of the Union army in general. …

What is the correct way to pronounce aunt?

, Native speaker of American English. Ant is the more common pronunciation of aunt in the U.S. According to Dialect Survey Results it is pronounced this way by 75.15\% of the population. It is pronounced as ahnt/awnt in parts of the northeast and the south.

Is “aunt” a Scottish word?

“Aunt” is identical to “ant” here in Scotland – same as it is in General American and some Canadian accents, and most of the accents in Northern England. awnt/ahnt, would be quite distinctly RP (received pronunciation), from England – especially the South East of England, it also exists in Estuary English.

What is the correct pronunciation of antant?

Ant was the preferred pronunciation in Great Britain when the English were first settling New England according to Auntie anxiety. In my experience it is pronounced, in the US, as ‘awnt’ more often that ‘aant’. [In the UK, it is generally either ‘ahnt’ or ‘ant’ depending on your local dialect.]

What is the difference between taunt and Ant pronunciation?

On one side was the English pronunciation like taunt and on the other side was the ant pronunciation and she wasn’t sure why there was that difference. She uses the taunt pronunciation and she feels most black people that she knows says aunt this way. The word tante when pronounced correctly is like taun.