How to pronounce Cunard??

[Jim_P]

The captains on the ships I've been on always say it like "Que-nard" (with a quick "que" and longer "nard"), if its good enough for the captains, its good enough for me. 

Edited March 1 by Jim_P

[RalphWiggum]

I have noticed that when you call customer service and are put on hold, there are usually adverts with a British female announcer, or if you watch some of the Cunard QV preview videos, esp. the ones with the same female narrator, she pronounces it as queue-nard.  Which always sticks out to me since that’s not how I hear it pronounced when on board (short que / long nard). 

Edited March 2 by RalphWiggum

[FMAXROBs1-]

5 hours ago, Jim_P said:

The captains on the ships I've been on always say it like "Que-nard" (with a quick "que" and longer "nard"), if its good enough for the captains, its good enough for me. 

If the ship captains said ' kyew-NARD ' , good enough for me too. But ' KEW-nard ', with stress on 1st syllable as in US radio ads, sounds Appalachian and, is just harder to say. Easiest of all is ' k'-NARD ', as I always heard it. 

 

[WantedOnVoyage]

Sounds like it would be less puzzling had they stuck to the original name of the company:

 

The British & North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. Ltd.

 

Even colonials (like Cunard himself) could pronounce that "properly."

[NE John]

My brother-in-law from New Jersey pronounces it Ca’Nerd ???

[TouchstoneFeste]

18 hours ago, FMAXROBs1- said:

Only Britons who assume that some harder pronunciation makes a word sound more posh. 

 

The insertion of a slight "y" at the beginning of the "oo" sound in many words is simply a characteristic of the Received Pronunciation (and others) in British English. Think of the word "Duke". In America (and some other non-RP accents) this is normally "Dook"; in RP there's a tiny little "y" in there: "Dyook". It may sound overly posh to some, but it's just the way they pronounce it. I think we can safely choose whichever pronunciation we prefer - "Coonard" or "Cyoonard". And personally I place the stress equally on both syllables, perhaps a slightly stronger stress on the second syllable.

[Windsurfboy]

Queue - nard

Cue - nard

[alibabacruisers]

Prior to our first cruise on Cunard, there was a video of Commodore Bernard Warner and he said Cue-nard, so that is how I have been saying it since.  I have heard both Cue-nard and Koo-nard though.

Edited March 3 by alibabacruisers

[Jim_P]

Just to muddy the waters a bit I was just watching a youtube video of the QM2's titanic anniversary ceremony and Captain Hashmi pronounces it like "k'nard" - about 2:10 in this video https://youtu.be/3ARC8hwav14

 

[FMAXROBs1-]

Barring those who fancy they are putting on the style, native English-speakers prefer the shortest route.

 

Examples of preferring the shorter way:

 

Do you say 'WENNS-dy', 'WED-nez-day' or even 'WED-'nz-day' as a few do?

Do you way 'SEV-ral' or 'SEV-er-'l' as a few do?

 

Syllables with vowel-sounds like

 

'eh-ee' ie 'a',

'ee', ie, 'e',

'ah-ee' ie, 'i',

'oh-oo' ie, 'o', and

'yew' ie, 'u' are harder to say than

 

'ah',

'eh'

'ih',

short 'aw' as in 'cot', or

long 'uhh' or barely any 'uh' like the schwah-sound in the 1st 'a' in 'parade'. 

 

In different, unstressed English syllables, the schwah can replace a lot more than one vowel. That means depending on the unstressed vowel, the schwah can replace a 'a', an 'e', an 'i', an 'o', or a 'u'--just not more than one per unstressed syllable. 

 

In the US, some speakers accent 1st syllables in words like 'idea', 'hotel' and many others, with quite rustic effect. That is how 'CUE-nard' strikes me. As to words not stressed on the 1st syllable, I doubt un-posh Britons wanting to sound posh, ever imagined how hickish 'jag-GYEW-ahr' ie, 'jaguar' sounds. The disease spread to 'gyew-WAHT-erh-ma-la' [Guatemala] 'bye-LING-gyew-'l [bilingual] and other gems. Same applies to to 'KYEW-nard'. It's just harder to say. 

 

Yet, one contributor who would surely know says Cunard ship captains say it as 'cue-NARD'. The 'yew'-pronunciation is the hardest for a 'u' and doubly so in a stressed syllable. Cunard ship captains apparently go easy on themselves putting the 'yew' sound in 'Cunard's' 1st syllable and leaving stress for its last syllable. 

[Jim_P]

Captain Chris Wells pronouncing it "Que-nard" - 4:20 in this video: https://youtu.be/uVk13Q4OxBc  

Commodore Rynd, also "Que-nard"  - 0:20 in this one: https://youtu.be/1DVWBocvuKw

Captain Wells, also "Que-nard" - 2:53 in this one: https://youtu.be/z_i2tgNopQQ

Commodore Warner, also "Que-nard" - 0:18: https://youtu.be/XPzzGac1T3g

 

So in conclusion, I have way too much time on my hands today.

 

 

 

Edited March 3 by Jim_P

[FMAXROBs1-]

No need to check. Some people say such things, which was never disputed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Victoria2]

Schwa [no H by the way]. The lazy vowel.

 

FMAXROBs1-,that will be  a new word for many. As a teacher of phonics for many years, it never encroached on my lesson plans as it would have truly messed up little minds and spelling. The English language is a night mare anyway should  all its rules be strictly followed.

 

Spoken lazy vowels are very common but as an unposh Brit who has no intention of sounding posh, my use of schwas  is limited and I do tend to pronounce many syllables where others might use a schwa. 

 

Cue-naaard. Up to personal interpretation. I go with the past captains but at the end of the day, pronunciation is in the  ''I say tomarto. you say tomayto'' / ''I say varse, you say vayse'' bracket. Talking of which, don't get me started on Worcester. 😄

Edited March 4 by Victoria2

[maggielou362]

3 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

...Talking of which, don't get me started on Worcester. 😄

Sorry Victoria, the temptation and curiosity is too great😉😁!

We call the iconic Lea and Perrins sauce "Woostersheer" (short oo, as in book) in Australia, but on our delightful recent QM2 voyage a Brit at the adjoining table called it "Wooster" sauce (same short oo), no "sheer" on the end. I would never say "Wersester", but are we wrong in Australia pronouncing "Woostersheer" with the "sheer" on the end? The sauce is called Worcestershire sauce, not Worcester sauce, so I am now confused.

Edited March 4 by maggielou362
typo

[Victoria2]

maggielou362, don't be confused as we say Wus ter shur or Wus ter Sauce depending on what comes out of our mouths at the time. Lea and Perrins will do too. 😀

 

You'd be amazed at the number of local UK names which are pronounced incorrectly by  non local, native English speakers.  All the fun of the fair.

 

The pronunciation of  the city of Worcester however, is a continual source of merriment to us and our American friends.

 

Edit

Try Belvoir Castle! 😄

Edited March 4 by Victoria2

[maggielou362]

I was going to say 'Belvwah" but I cheated and checked with my husband, who lived in England for a while.

So now I think it's pronounced Beaver Castle and it's in Lestersheer 😜

Or maybe it's in Lestershur?

Am I correct?  

Edited March 4 by maggielou362
add

[NE John]

1 hour ago, Victoria2 said:

The pronunciation of  the city of Worcester

That’ll be called “Wooster” Mass or sometimes “Whester”. 
Then put a strong New England accent on top of that!

Edited March 4 by NE John

[exlondoner]

Try Happisburgh, Norfolk, where the cliffs fall into the sea.

[maggielou362]

Uh oh, what have I started? I think I'd better go to bed.

Edited March 4 by maggielou362
add

[Victoria2]

7 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Try Happisburgh, Norfolk, where the cliffs fall into the sea.

Nothappiburruh?😅

 

Or is it said through a haze of bewilderment. 🙂

[Windsurfboy]

Try Fowey in Cornwall 

[exlondoner]

10 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

Try Fowey in Cornwall 

That is interesting, because it had never struck me that its pronunciation was actually illogical, but I suppose it is.

[exlondoner]

5 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

Nothappiburruh?😅

 

Or is it said through a haze of bewilderment. 🙂

I think it is Haysbruh, but obviously said with a Norfolk accent.

[maggielou362]

7 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Try Happisburgh, Norfolk, where the cliffs fall into the sea.

Nope, not even going to try.

[OzKiwiJJ]

How about Mousehole in Cornwall? I believe it's pronounced Mowsel or something like that.