VOOZH about

URL: https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/civilization.759191/

⇱ Civilization | WordReference Forums

Menu
Install the app
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.

Civilization

shannenms

Senior Member
Persian
I looked up my dictionary and saw that Civilisation is pronounced with the three short I's, but I heard in CNN it was pronounced with the third I as diphthong ai.
Is it a dialect, or just I heard wrong?
Hmm... I'm fairly sure the three short i's is standard, but perhaps the speaker just pronounced it incorrectly. After all, the third i in civilized is pronounced as a diphthong. Perhaps that confusion could explain the different pronunciation.
I certainly pronounce 'civilisation' with the third 'i' as a dipthong 'ai'.

I assume there's a regional-AmE/BrE difference here.

Loob
Yes, I pronounce it "cih-vih-lie-zay-shun." (AE, California)
Well, forget my last post! I guess there are two accepted pronunciations then.
In the introduction to Star Trek: The Next Generation, Patrick Stewart (a British actor) pronounces the third i in civilization as a diphthong.

I like Star Trek 👁 Stick Out Tongue :p
I'd agree with those who say there are two different ways of saying it.

Peronally, I'd never use a dipthong on the third "i," and I grew up in California.
Actually, I've heard it three ways:

Sih-vih-lih-zay-shun
Sih-vih-lie-zay-shun
Sih-vih-luh-zay-shun

A it seems when I learn English I will get stuck by these variants in pronunciation.
Thanks after all.
A it seems when I learn English I will get stuck by these variants in pronunciation.
Thanks after all.

In the case of "civilization"/"civilisation," there is the further complication of a difference between British and American usage.

The ending "-isation," "-ization" in British English tends to be pronounced beginning with the diphthong /aI/ while in American English "-ization" (I can't say if any American words end in "-isation") tends to be pronounced beginning with the simple vowel /I/ or with a schwa.

There are other cases where /aI/ instead of /I/ or a schwa appears more often in BE than in AE: Certain Latin-derived words ending in "-ile," for example, "mobile" (in the sense of "capable of being moved, capable of moving") and "missile."
In NZ, civilisation is pronounced in either of two ways:

[CIV-IL-EYES-AY-SHIN]
or
[CIV-IL-IZ-AY-SHUN]

The choice of one pronunciation over the other is probably dependent on speed of speech, the other sounds around the word in the sentence, and personal custom.
Back
Top Bottom