FA+
Shop
Pronunciation of "sandwich"
13 years ago
General
This is actually one of my favorite accent study topics over the years. The complicated pronunciation of "sandwich".
Sandwiches have made an impression on English-speaking society as a common informal finger food. And because of its usually informal nature, the word's pronunciation can vary significantly, even among the "educated" classes.
First, let's examine the historical Sandwich. It's a port city in Kent, its name meaning "sand port", and was one of the historical Cinque Ports of England. It was also historically associated with a noble title, the Earl of Sandwich. One such holder of the title, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, is most associated with the "sandwich" as a food. The actual food itself is believed to be older, and was not invented by John Montagu. But he popularized a form of the food among the aristocracy in the 18th century, and the food became referred to as "sandwich" in his honor. Even in this context it was associated with a casual activity of the aristocracy - playing card games. The sandwich was a popular food for card games because the bread prevented players' fingers from getting messy.
Now, onto the way it's pronounced. In English Received Pronunciation (that's the polished speech in the United Kingdom), there are two primary pronunciations, referring to both the port city and to the food. The more common is /ˈsænwᵻdʒ/ ("SAN widge"). Less common is /ˈsænwᵻtʃ/ ("SAN witch"). But both pronunciations are acceptable RP.
In North America, it gets even more complicated. First of all, the /-dʒ/ pronunciation ending does exist, but it's less common than /-tʃ/ (this is the opposite of the case in RP). But even more variable is the pronunciation of the first part of the word. Pronunciations up to and including /ˈsændwᵻtʃ/ ("SAND witch") are known to exist, but in most of the continent this is a relatively rare articulation, whether people are consciously aware of it or not. The most common pronunciation is /ˈsænwᵻtʃ/ ("SAN witch"), but even this is far from completely dominant. Not counting /-dʒ/ ending pronunciations, there are at least six known everyday pronunciations of "sandwich":
* /ˈsænwᵻtʃ/ ("SAN witch")
* /ˈsændwᵻtʃ/ ("SAND witch")
* /ˈsæmwᵻtʃ/ ("SAM witch")
* /ˈsæmᵻtʃ/ ("SAM itch")
* /ˈsæ̃w̃ᵻ̃tʃ/ ("SA witch", but all the vowels are nasalized)
* /ˈsæʊntʃ/ ("SOUNCH", one syllable)
But it becomes even more complicated with diglossic social speech registers. Many everyday speakers of English may actually have two primary dialects or accents of speech. One is the familiar dialect, used in all casual situations. Another is a former dialect, used in decidedly more formal situations. Diglossia ("two languages") is commonly found among African Americans (African American Vernacular English vs. accented General American English), Scottish people (broad Scots vs. Standard Scottish English), people from various parts of England-Wales (whose regional accents vary between each other more than RP does with American, Australian, etc.), and among bilingual people who speak a completely different language in familiar company.
I myself am relatively diglossic, as my natural speech tends to hop coasts between my casual and formal registers.
In my casual register, my accent is a heterogeneous mix of my parents' different accents and things I picked up growing up out on the atoll. The accent is characterized with short leaps from syllable to syllable, and the most commonly spoken words tend to lose their weak vowels. "Deodorant" becomes "d'yod'rant", "chicken" becomes "ch'k'n" (almost no vowels), "sugary" becomes "sug'ry", "interest" becomes "int'rest", "orange" becomes "or'nge", etc. And "sandwich", is "sounch".
My formal register comes from all the times I tried to polish my speech to enunciate my words. But at the same time, I don't want to sound too pretentious (at least more than I already sound by accident just from being autistic), so I try not to make articulations that sound too stilted. The resulting accent is something I've been told resembles Western New England, but never having lived there I'm not familiar enough with those regional accents. "Sandwich" is a nasalized "SA witch".
These congealed registers came with maturity, as my formal register became clearer, and my casual register settled into its roots. When I was much younger and they hadn't congealed yet, I tended to say "SAM w'ch" in imitation of people around me. But as it became a regular word in my everyday language, it naturally assumed its register pronunciations.
But in virtually all situations, "sounch" prevails. Why? Because it's an informal food. When I'm talking about sandwiches, or want to make a sandwich, or am ordering a sandwich from Subway, etc., I order a "sounch", and not one person IRL has ever misunderstood me or commented on how I say it, because it's an accepted pronunciation variation. The places where I'm most likely to speak of a "SA witch" with two syllables, are formal situations where I am least likely to eat one. And I never say "SAND witch" - it feels too stilted, even in formal speech. And in writing, while people spell "sandwich" for clarity, sometimes I enjoy mentioning the "sounch" I'm eating - it's a bit of accental color on my part.
Now, I have heard a few people playfully saying "sandvich", but that's because they're Team Fortress 2 fans.
And with so many pronunciations of the word existing in English, it's unsurprising that the word is loaned in so many different ways into other languages besides English. In Latin American Spanish, there is sánguche and sánduche, both of which are from English sandwich. Sánguche is more common in some countries, and sánduche more common in others. And the Marshallese form? (The Marshall Islands being where I grew up.) It's jāānwūj.
Sandwiches have made an impression on English-speaking society as a common informal finger food. And because of its usually informal nature, the word's pronunciation can vary significantly, even among the "educated" classes.
First, let's examine the historical Sandwich. It's a port city in Kent, its name meaning "sand port", and was one of the historical Cinque Ports of England. It was also historically associated with a noble title, the Earl of Sandwich. One such holder of the title, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, is most associated with the "sandwich" as a food. The actual food itself is believed to be older, and was not invented by John Montagu. But he popularized a form of the food among the aristocracy in the 18th century, and the food became referred to as "sandwich" in his honor. Even in this context it was associated with a casual activity of the aristocracy - playing card games. The sandwich was a popular food for card games because the bread prevented players' fingers from getting messy.
Now, onto the way it's pronounced. In English Received Pronunciation (that's the polished speech in the United Kingdom), there are two primary pronunciations, referring to both the port city and to the food. The more common is /ˈsænwᵻdʒ/ ("SAN widge"). Less common is /ˈsænwᵻtʃ/ ("SAN witch"). But both pronunciations are acceptable RP.
In North America, it gets even more complicated. First of all, the /-dʒ/ pronunciation ending does exist, but it's less common than /-tʃ/ (this is the opposite of the case in RP). But even more variable is the pronunciation of the first part of the word. Pronunciations up to and including /ˈsændwᵻtʃ/ ("SAND witch") are known to exist, but in most of the continent this is a relatively rare articulation, whether people are consciously aware of it or not. The most common pronunciation is /ˈsænwᵻtʃ/ ("SAN witch"), but even this is far from completely dominant. Not counting /-dʒ/ ending pronunciations, there are at least six known everyday pronunciations of "sandwich":
* /ˈsænwᵻtʃ/ ("SAN witch")
* /ˈsændwᵻtʃ/ ("SAND witch")
* /ˈsæmwᵻtʃ/ ("SAM witch")
* /ˈsæmᵻtʃ/ ("SAM itch")
* /ˈsæ̃w̃ᵻ̃tʃ/ ("SA witch", but all the vowels are nasalized)
* /ˈsæʊntʃ/ ("SOUNCH", one syllable)
But it becomes even more complicated with diglossic social speech registers. Many everyday speakers of English may actually have two primary dialects or accents of speech. One is the familiar dialect, used in all casual situations. Another is a former dialect, used in decidedly more formal situations. Diglossia ("two languages") is commonly found among African Americans (African American Vernacular English vs. accented General American English), Scottish people (broad Scots vs. Standard Scottish English), people from various parts of England-Wales (whose regional accents vary between each other more than RP does with American, Australian, etc.), and among bilingual people who speak a completely different language in familiar company.
I myself am relatively diglossic, as my natural speech tends to hop coasts between my casual and formal registers.
In my casual register, my accent is a heterogeneous mix of my parents' different accents and things I picked up growing up out on the atoll. The accent is characterized with short leaps from syllable to syllable, and the most commonly spoken words tend to lose their weak vowels. "Deodorant" becomes "d'yod'rant", "chicken" becomes "ch'k'n" (almost no vowels), "sugary" becomes "sug'ry", "interest" becomes "int'rest", "orange" becomes "or'nge", etc. And "sandwich", is "sounch".
My formal register comes from all the times I tried to polish my speech to enunciate my words. But at the same time, I don't want to sound too pretentious (at least more than I already sound by accident just from being autistic), so I try not to make articulations that sound too stilted. The resulting accent is something I've been told resembles Western New England, but never having lived there I'm not familiar enough with those regional accents. "Sandwich" is a nasalized "SA witch".
These congealed registers came with maturity, as my formal register became clearer, and my casual register settled into its roots. When I was much younger and they hadn't congealed yet, I tended to say "SAM w'ch" in imitation of people around me. But as it became a regular word in my everyday language, it naturally assumed its register pronunciations.
But in virtually all situations, "sounch" prevails. Why? Because it's an informal food. When I'm talking about sandwiches, or want to make a sandwich, or am ordering a sandwich from Subway, etc., I order a "sounch", and not one person IRL has ever misunderstood me or commented on how I say it, because it's an accepted pronunciation variation. The places where I'm most likely to speak of a "SA witch" with two syllables, are formal situations where I am least likely to eat one. And I never say "SAND witch" - it feels too stilted, even in formal speech. And in writing, while people spell "sandwich" for clarity, sometimes I enjoy mentioning the "sounch" I'm eating - it's a bit of accental color on my part.
Now, I have heard a few people playfully saying "sandvich", but that's because they're Team Fortress 2 fans.
And with so many pronunciations of the word existing in English, it's unsurprising that the word is loaned in so many different ways into other languages besides English. In Latin American Spanish, there is sánguche and sánduche, both of which are from English sandwich. Sánguche is more common in some countries, and sánduche more common in others. And the Marshallese form? (The Marshall Islands being where I grew up.) It's jāānwūj.
I think this habit was started because I would often spell sandwich as sandwitch as a kid and I found out easier to just spell it sammich and not get made fun of.