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pronunciation - Why is "threshold" pronounced "thresh-hold"?


Answer



If people are pronouncing it that way, it might be one example of the spread of literal pronunciation in the last few decades. This is a trend where, contrary to traditional practice, people are pronouncing certain words as if every syllable needs its proper exposure.


One example is accent which until very recently would be pronounced acc'nt - that is, with the second syllable unstressed, a nothing-syllable, the way we (still) pronounce decent. But nowadays it's more commonly heard as a spondee, which is the technical name for a word with two equally stressed syllables. So it comes out almost as if it's two separate words, ax and ent.


More examples:


Philharmonic. Radio announcers traditionally suppressed the "h" in what is an unstressed syllable: philermonic. But now, as often as not, it's restored: phil-harmonic, as if it's two words.


Tortoise: traditionally tortus, increasingly tortoyse. Because, presumably, it accords with the way it's spelt. So, like accent, it's turning into a word with two equally stressed syllables, a spondee.


Maidstone. The traditional pronunciation, Maidst'n, still holds sway (I think), but increasingly Maid-stone is being heard.


So it might be that thresh-hold is a symptom of the same thing. The word's spelling is derived from two words joined together, but the second "h" is missing, probably because that reflected the standard pronunciation of former times: thresh'ld. But if you restore it in the spoken word, you're actually pronouncing a letter that isn't there.


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