Gene
Are these two words' last syllables the same? Hey guys! could you please tell me if the last syllables of these two words 'middle' and 'window' are pronounced the same? Thank you in advance.
May 23, 2018 1:51 AM
Answers · 15
2
You've only had answers from American English speakers so far, and they were (not surprisingly) baffled by your suggestion that 'dle' and 'dow' could be confused. However, from a British perspective, your question isn't as strange as it sounds. In fact, in the region where I live, native speakers DO say the ends of these words in exactly the same way. In many accents of London and the southeast of England, people pronounce the final 'dle' sound as 'ow' : so 'middle' sounds like 'middow' (rhyming with 'widow'), 'bottle' sounds like 'bottow', and so on. This not a standard pronunciation, however, and I wouldn't recommend that you copy it. Do as the other members have explained, and make sure that you pronounce the consonant 'l' at the end of words like 'middle' and 'bottle': 'Window' ends in an open vowel sound 'o', as if the 'w' weren't there : WIN - DOE 'Middle' ends in a consonant sound 'l', with the second syllable pronounced as a weak schwa sound: MID - DUL I hope that helps.
May 23, 2018
1
When you say middle you end the word with the tip of your tongue touching the roof of your mouth. When you say window your tongue curls a little like you're blowing out air. It doesn't touch the roof of your mouth at all.
May 23, 2018
Gene, as the others said, neither word, nor the last part of either word, sounds the same. Both '-dle and '-dow make different sounds, as you can hear by listening to the pronunciation of the words on the English Wiktionary site (links below). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/widow https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/middle
May 23, 2018
I"m not sure I understand your question. Both words are two syllables, but aren't pronounced or spelled the same.
May 23, 2018
No they're not.
May 23, 2018
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