When it comes to pronunciation, there’s always something to argue about. And we’ve all done it –whether standing in line at Starbucks arguing about espresso or throwing down about whether or not to enunciate the ‘r’ in the second month of the year.

　　单词的读音中总有让人争执不休的地方。我们也都为读音而争吵过——无论是在星巴克排队的时候争论espresso(黑咖啡)的读音还是是否要忽略February(二月)这个单词里的“r”。

　　So here’s more grist for the argument mill.

　　下面是更多值得争论的单词。

　　1. timbre音色，音品

　　If you’re a musical person, this one has come up. ‘Tom’, ‘tam’, or ‘tim’? Many make the mistake of pronouncing it ‘timber’, as in fallen wood. However, the choice between ‘tom’ and ‘tam’ is one you should feel free to keep discussing…

　　如果你懂点音乐，这个词会出现在你生活中。是tom，还是tam，还是tim?许多人把这个词错误地读成木材timber。但是，你还是可以畅快地讨论到底是tom还是tam……

　　2. harbinger预兆

　　We’ve all heard someone go for ‘bing’ instead of ‘binj’, haven’t we? The correct pronunciation of this word is ‘HAR-bin-juhr’.

　　我们都听到有些人把bing读成[bɪŋ] 而不是[bɪndʒ]。正确地读音应该是[′hɑ:bɪndʒə(r) ]

　　3. chasm峡谷;分歧

　　Although the hard ‘k’ is the accepted pronunciation for this word, the pronunciation beginning with a ‘ch’ as in church is heard often enough.

　　尽管正确ch字母组合在这个单词中的正确读音应该和字母k一致，但是很多人把该单词中的ch读作church(教堂)中的ch。

　　4. quixotic堂吉诃德式的，不切实际的

　　Spanish literature enthusiasts know that this adjective refers to the hero of the classic Spanish novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. And Spanish speakers know that ‘qui’ is pronounced as ‘key’ and ‘x’ with the sound in Scottish ‘loch’. However, the adjective describing the Don has been anglicized to ‘kwik-SOT-ik’. Most English speakers use the anglicized pronunciation for the adjective, and something more Spanish-sounding for the novel.

　　喜爱西班牙文学的人都知道这个形容词与塞万提斯的《堂吉诃德》一书中的主角有关。说西班牙语的人都知道qui的读音应该同key一样，而x的读音和苏格兰语中loch的读音一样。但是，形容唐吉坷德的这个形容词已经在被英国化了。大多数说英语的人都用已经英国化的读法来读这个形容词，而在提及小说时说的则是更像西班牙语单词的读音。

　　5. plantain一种蕉类

　　Some foodies may be alarmed to learn that a widely accepted pronunciation of this word ends with ‘tin’ rather than ‘tayn’, as in ‘rain’. Argue away!

　　这个单词的读音以tin而不是rain中的tayn这个音节结尾，有些吃货可能会对这个读音感到惊讶，那就和其他人争论一番吧!

　　6. homage敬意

　　‘Hom’ or ‘om’? As long as you say it ending with an ‘ij’ and not ‘aazh’, then it’s really a matter of preference.

　　第一个音节读作hom还是om呢?如果你认为结尾的读音是ij而不是aazh，这就都算是个人偏好吧。

　　7. eschew回避

　　There are a few ways that people pronounce this word – the only consistency seeming to be an emphasis on the second syllable. The main issue is typically how to pronounce the second syllable: like ‘shoe’, ‘chew’, or ‘skew’? OxfordDictionaries.com lists ‘chew’ as the appropriate pronunciation, although there is evidence that many feel otherwise.

　　这个单词的读音都很多种，但是唯一一种悦耳的读法是重读第二个音节。最关键的问题是第二个音节该如何发音：像shoe，chew，还是skew?尽管有很多人不同意chew才是最恰当的读音，但是牛津词典网站认为这样才是正确的。

　　8. detritus碎石，瓦砾

　　The accepted pronunciation of detritus highlights the second syllable as ‘try’. However, another pronunciation – likely influenced by the pronunciation of detriment – is sometimes heard in which the first syllable is stressed: ‘DET-trit-uhss’.

　　正确的读音应该是重读第二音节，读作try。但是，有些人会重读第一个音节，这可能是受到了detriment(损害)这个单词的影响。

　　9. comparable可比较的

　　Is ‘compare’ in comparable? Not as most English speakers pronounce it. The stress instead falls on the first syllable: KOMP-(uh-)ruh-buhl.Comparable

　　这个单词里是否含有compare这个单词的读音呢?大多数说英语的人不会这样读。重音落在第一个音节上：[ˈkɒmpərəbl]

（编辑：何莹莹）