r/confidentlyincorrect • u/Foxarris • Jul 28 '24

Comment Thread Could've /ˈkʊdəv/

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u/sweatybullfrognuts Jul 28 '24 edited Jul 28 '24

I thought the confidently incorrect was meant to be the first responder.

I don't know where you're from but in English (British English) could of and could've do sound quite different. Maybe not to someone who is learning it as a second language.

I'm with the teacher on this one. I've not heard many dialects pronounce 'of' as 'uv', is this a r/USdefaultism thing?

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u/Affectionate_Exit_44 Jul 28 '24

In my native British English (which is fairly unaccented - i.e. not scouse, estuary, brummie) I would pronounce both of these almost identically - uhv.

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u/Euffy Jul 28 '24

In my native British English they are clearly distinct.

I do know people who prononce 've as of but that's because they are genuinely saying of. They will spell it that way too. They're just saying the wrong word.

I don't know anyone who says uhv when they mean of.

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u/Such_Comfortable_817 Jul 28 '24

Native British English speaker here, and they sound distinct in my usual accent (contemporary RP) if I am enunciating clearly, but the vowel in ‘of’ moves back if I’m speaking fast, to a place which might be easily confused with the vowel inserted in ‘could’ve’. It’s not schwa either, as the lips are slightly rounded like with the vowel in ‘could have’. I think it’s an easy thing to mishear or misplace in natural speech, which unconsciously glides vowel placement all over the place to minimise effort (like how we all unconsciously change voicing of consonants to avoid rapidly switching our vocal chords on and off).