Nothing (and
this doesn't count), right?
Oxford says no, anyway. And they're
the authorities, right?
Maybe not.
Try this out (say it out loud if you need to): what sound does the letter
R make? Based on everything you know about consonants and vowels, wouldn't you call "rrrr" a vowel? After all, it acts just like a vowel. Doubt me? Compare the relative positioning your mouth assumes for R against A, E, I, O, or U. Bearing this in mind, as well as the subtle dialectical shifting of the "
schwa" (especially that of my 3-year-old, which, in this case, more closely resembles the "soft" I; and what,
really, defines the "perfect" (referring again to the Oxford from above) pronunciation of any vowel, vowels being, after all, the first phonemes to change in any living language?), I have now found a word,
in English, that rhymes with
ORANGE, at least if we presume that in order to rhyme with orange, the final consonant,
as well as the previous
two vowel sounds, must echo precisely that of the next word,
then ...
(drum roll)
... the word SYRINGE rhymes with ORANGE.
Not convinced because they stress different syllables, but a valiant effort, and you could possibly get away with it in a poem or song.
ReplyDeleteHow do you stress orange? (Syringe is pretty rigid here.) ORange ('u), oRANGE (u'), or ORANGE (''). I've heard--seriously--all three.
ReplyDelete(By the way, I knew this would be the hangup, and that's why I put syringe first in the pairing--subliminal suggestion.)
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/orange (check out the pronunciations -- my daughter must be British!)
ReplyDeleteI pronounce it just like the British audio. O-ringe
ReplyDelete