• Apepollo11@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    It took me a little time to get this, then it reminded me of something I never really got from the film That Thing You Do.

    Does “1” actually sound like “wun” to American ears? As in with a “u” vowel, not an “o” vowel?

    • ripcord@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      What does it sound like to your ears?

      I’m not aware of any English-speaking country where it’s pronounced different (maybe certain heavy accents, particularly non-native speakers, pronounce it differently). But it’s the same in both British and American English. A soft u sound.

      And it’s a homonym with won, which is pronounced the same.

      Soft o and soft u are not terribly far apart so I guess that’s part of it.

      And of course like so many English words (since it’s a mutt language) it doesn’t follow many established rules.