The word "primer"

[ChristusG]

I didn't read all the other replies, but I always thought it was with a long i. That is, until I went to a homeschool convention and talked to the Math U See people....they pronounced it with a short i.

[silliness7]

I forgot to ask if you would mind explaining why you voted the way you did. I always thought it was a long /i/ because the way I understand the phonics rule it would need to have 2 Ms in order for it to be a short /i/. If you voted short /i/ would you mind explaining why it's short and not long? I'm wondering if there's some phonics rule that I'm missing. Thanks!

 

This word used to confuse the snot out of me. But since being a homeschooler I've heard it only pronounced with the short i.

Due to phonics I wanted to pronounce it with a long i...like the paint.

 

I'm surprised to see that long i is beating out the short i. Did you google the pronunciation? Off to google and then read the replies.

 

ETA: This is how Merriam Webster pronounces it.

Edited March 11, 2011 by silliness7

[silliness7]

I'm American, and I learned to pronounce the word as a child from American teachers. Therefore, I say it with a short i, even though I have considered it an exception to the rules of phonics ever since I learned it. I have such respect for the people who taught me to pronounce it that I have always cringed when I heard it pronounced with a long i--- as one would to hear someone pronounce vineyard with a long i. It felt as if the person I was hearing had read the word without experiencing its meaning or having it introduced by a professional.

 

Vineyard...another phonetic misfit. I wonder if there is a list of these bad boys somewhere. It'll throw my spelling/reading challenged boy into a tailspin for a month. And after that, he'll be so proud to have mastered them. :D

[Mrs Mungo]

Just ftr, I didn't mention paint or explosives because the OP specifically mentioned school books. ;)

[gardening momma]

Did you google the pronunciation? Off to google and then read the replies.

 

ETA: This is how Merriam Webster pronounces it.

I don't care. I think I'd like to be an honorary Brit/Aussie. :D

[Ellie]

When you're talking about a book, it's a short i.

 

When you're talking about the stuff you put on a wall before you paint or wallpaper, it's a long i.

 

I don't know why it is so, but there it is.

[nd293]

I always thought it was a long /i/ because the way I understand the phonics rule it would need to have 2 Ms in order for it to be a short /i/. If you voted short /i/ would you mind explaining why it's short and not long?

 

:iagree:Definitely.

[wapiti]

I don't care. I think I'd like to be an honorary Brit/Aussie. :D

:lol::iagree:

[ereks mom]

I say "primmer" when I'm talking about a book, and "prymer" when I'm talking about paint. :D

[classicHSmom]

I now say it with a short /i/. I switched from saying it with a long /i/ when I had a preschool aged child and heard and experienced hs mom say "primmer." I realized then and there that I had a LOT to learn about homeschooling since I didn't even know how to pronounce the type of book that I would be using to teach my child to read! :001_unsure:

[Ellyndria]

Count me as another person who has never heard it pronouced with a short i.

[Aggie]

Well that depends.

 

if you are talking about paint it is a long /i/

 

if you are talking about a book it is a short /i/

 

One of my university professors, a reading specialist, absolutely insisted this is correct.

[HLDoll]

Short i if used as a reader. Long i if used as a base coat of paint.:D

:iagree:

[Meriwether]

I forgot to ask if you would mind explaining why you voted the way you did. I always thought it was a long /i/ because the way I understand the phonics rule it would need to have 2 Ms in order for it to be a short /i/. If you voted short /i/ would you mind explaining why it's short and not long? I'm wondering if there's some phonics rule that I'm missing. Thanks!

 

I always said primer with a long i until I heard Mom use a short i. She actually used primers growing up, so I went with her pronunciation.

[rootsnwings]

Are you sure that's not a short a?;)

 

:lol: Yes, that middle syllable! :tongue_smilie:

[DB in NJ]

I forgot to ask if you would mind explaining why you voted the way you did. I always thought it was a long /i/ because the way I understand the phonics rule it would need to have 2 Ms in order for it to be a short /i/. If you voted short /i/ would you mind explaining why it's short and not long? I'm wondering if there's some phonics rule that I'm missing. Thanks!

 

the "correct" way is with a short /i/ -- http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/primer when you're talking about a kids' book.

 

but I can't do it. I say it with a long /i/. always have; always will. :tongue_smilie:

 

Now, the stuff you put on walls before the paint? long /i/. and the stuff I put on my face after moisturizer but before foundation? long /i/.

[Jilly]

Count me as another person who has never heard it pronouced with a short i.

 

I have never heard it pronounced with a short i either.

[HelenNotOfTroy]

If long /i/ is wrong, I don't want to be right.

[Nestof3]

I always used a long I -- like the stuff you put on your wall before you paint.

 

Then I heard everyone else using a short i, so I changed. It still feels wrong, though.

[sleepymommy]

I've never heard it with a short i either.:confused:

[Sparkle]

Yes, long i for paint, short i for book. I'll confess that I always pronounced it with a long i until a couple of years ago.

[hsbaby]

Long I. I have never heard it pronounced with a short I.....ever. I am from CA and living in TN. Maybe they say it with a short I somewhere in between:)

[Joy at Home]

Short i if used as a reader. Long i if used as a base coat of paint.:D

 

:iagree:

[FloridaLisa]

Short i for the book; long i for an underlayment of paint. ;)

 

Lisa

[secular_mom]

I thought it was a long i sound, but the guy on the Math*U*See video pronounces it with a short i. I'm still not sure.

[kkiller]

I have NEVER heard it with a short i.

 

:iagree:Neither have I.

[Matryoshka]

I have NEVER heard it with a short i.

 

Me neither. Always pronounce it with long /i/. What part of the US is pronouncing it with short /i/ ?? :tongue_smilie:

 

(Okay, I see Webster's claim the book is pronounced that way "in the US", but in Britain they pronounced it the other way. I'm with the Brits. :D I also spell travelling with two l's because it looks better - so there. Sticking to one set of rules is so boring when there's another equally valid set of rules across the pond. I just pick the one I like better. :D )

Edited March 12, 2011 by matroyshka

[kathkath]

short i for book

long i for paint

 

primer and pre-primer are both said that way

[Violet Crown]

Short i. The spelling doesn't necessitate a long i, any more than there must be a long i in give, lineament, bilirubin, or lived.

 

Which reminds me, would someone please start a poll informing people that the i in "short-lived" is long? I heard a newscaster pronounce it correctly last week and nearly keeled over in a faint.

[LizzyBee]

Short i. The spelling doesn't necessitate a long i, any more than there must be a long i in give, lineament, bilirubin, or lived.

 

Which reminds me, would someone please start a poll informing people that the i in "short-lived" is long? I heard a newscaster pronounce it correctly last week and nearly keeled over in a faint.

 

I have never heard short-lived pronounced with a long i!

 

ETA: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/short-lived According to MW, short i is the preferred pronunciation.

Edited March 12, 2011 by LizzyBee

[Dawn in OH]

Short i. The spelling doesn't necessitate a long i, any more than there must be a long i in give, lineament, bilirubin, or lived.

 

 

 

Live and give are short i despite the presence of the letter e because we do not have words in the English language that end with v.

 

Bilirubin is the short i sound because it's from the latin, bilis. Using basic phonic rules and knowledge of syllabification one would assume the second i to be long if they were unfamiliar with the word.

 

Lineament utilizes the short i sound because the syllable break up is:

lin-e-a-ment. The e does not cause the i to be long because they are in 2 different syllables. The e is actually pronounced as a long e, because it is its own syllable. The e can not function as both a silent e and having a sound. (Is that making sense?)

 

I previously thought that primer should be pronounced with a long i, but upon further research I think I understand why it's not. However, I will say that I have never heard anyone say it with a short i sound, although that does appear to be correct.

 

On a personal note I would like to add that if Meriam Webster believes the correct pronunciation of primer to be with a short i sound, it should not list chimer, climber, dimer, mimer, rhymer, timer and trimer as words that rhyme with primer!

[nono]

Other.

 

I don't use that term for a book. I'm not Mary Poppins. I'm fairly certain I've never said it in my life, and despite being a homeschooler, feel no reason to start. :tongue_smilie:

 

I do however, aspire to be Bob Vila, so the primer with the long I sound does come out of my mouth from time to time.

[Miss Cornelia Snook]

I'm in the short-i book, long-i paint camp. I first heard primer pronounced as primmer in a history class in high school, I believe (yea, verily, public school!).

[Sugarfoot]

LOL, I've never heard it pronounced with a long i, but I grew up surrounded by school teachers and university "education" professors.

[Spy Car]

LOL, I've never heard it pronounced with a long i, but I grew up surrounded by school teachers and university "education" professors.

 

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Bill

[Lovedtodeath]

I have NEVER heard it with a short i.

:iagree:

[Homemama2]

I've always thought it was long I. Didn't hear it short until using MUS.

 

:iagree: MUS rep. at a convention told me it was primer (short i). But until I saw the definitions you guys posted, I always thought she just pronounced it goofy, lol!:D

[Laura Corin]

It felt as if the person I was hearing had read the word without experiencing its meaning or having it introduced by a professional.

 

for us poor benighted Brits, for whom a long 'i' is actually correct.

 

Laura

[Violet Crown]

Live and give are short i despite the presence of the letter e because we do not have words in the English language that end with v.

But how would the absence of other words cause a vowel change in words we do have? Besides, shiv and vav spring immediately to mind.

 

I will give you lineament, etc. :) My point was that the spelling itself doesn't tell you automatically how a vowel is pronounced. You're right that the words I gave have sound reasons for the short vowel; and so, no doubt, does primer (the book).

 

I previously thought that primer should be pronounced with a long i, but upon further research I think I understand why it's not. However, I will say that I have never heard anyone say it with a short i sound, although that does appear to be correct.

I've always said it with a short i, but that's just how I was taught.

 

It's interesting to note that the OED gives an instance of its use in 1475 in which it's spelled premere; this suggests to me that the vowel was already short by then, and also that, even though the origin is the Latin primarium (the canonical hour), there was influence from French premiere, which may account for the vowel shortening.

[Dawn in OH]

But how would the absence of other words cause a vowel change in words we do have? Besides, shiv and vav spring immediately to mind.

 

 

Shiv comes from the Romani word chiv. It is also slang. Words borrowed from foreign languages are troublesome.

 

What is vav? The only definition I'm finding for it is either an acronym or the sixth letter of semitic alphabets, again, not really an English word.

[mcconnellboys]

Are you kidding me? People pronounce this word with a long i sound? Is this a joke? I have NEVER heard such a thing!

 

Did folks miss the definition? House paint base is primer with a long i sound. A book is short i......

 

I don't mean to be snarky at all - I'm just floored that so many checked the long i box!

[Laura Corin]

Are you kidding me? People pronounce this word with a long i sound? Is this a joke? I have NEVER heard such a thing!

 

Did folks miss the definition? House paint base is primer with a long i sound. A book is short i......

 

I don't mean to be snarky at all - I'm just floored that so many checked the long i box!

 

All you needed to say was, 'Goodness, I didn't know so many people pronounced it with a long 'i''

 

It's correct with a long or short 'i' in Britain and this, from the poll, also seems to be common in the US.

 

Laura

[Tap]

According to Webster, primer with a short i is a small prayer or text- book, while primer with a long i is a material used for priming.

 

 

:iagree: I use both and thus didn't vote.

[Laura in CA]

It's correct with a long or short 'i' in Britain and this, from the poll, also seems to be common in the US.

 

:iagree:

 

It's pointless to look to the spelling of a word for an indication of its pronunciation -- this is English, after all :001_smile:

 

Just look at how the British pronounce "privacy," "progress," "lever," etc. -- the opposite of how Americans do.

 

I had NEVER heard primer with a short i until recently ... from homeschoolers using, well, primers :D

 

~Laura

 

ETA: dynasty ... cervical ... director ... cretin ... status ... p(a)edophile ... shone ... evolution ... patron ... urinal ... liposuction ... dimension ...

Edited March 19, 2011 by Laura in CA

[Lightly Salted]

Short i if used as a reader. Long i if used as a base coat of paint.:D

 

that way! :D

[Old Dominion Heather]

Yep! When people say long i, it makes me wonder what color the final coat will evenually be.

[bettyandbob]

I've only heard the the book pronounced with a short "i". The long "i" form has always been paint to me.

[SnowWhite]

for us poor benighted Brits, for whom a long 'i' is actually correct.

 

Laura

 

Certainly, and I would never characterize Brits as poor or benighted. I was absolutely only addressing American pronunciation. My posts tend to be short due to toddler interference. As the previous poster pointed out, Brits also pronounce correctly privacy with a short i, progress as a noun with a long o, and lever with a long e. In the US, most users say privacy with a long i, progress with ah unless it is a verb, and lever with a short e. It's just the nature of dialect!

[Laura in CA]

Just thought of something ... As a PP pointed out, both the paint and the book are foundational or initial -- as is "primary" school. So would y'all pronounce primary-school primer as "primary-school primmer"?

 

To me that seems inconsistent (not that English is always logical, haha). I just have never heard "primmer" except from homeschoolers. (I never watched "Little House," either; just read the books.) I've lived in New York, New Jersey, and California, and overseas. Of course the word "primer" (= book) doesn't usually come up in casual conversation with non-hs'ers :)

 

(If it's pronounced "primmary-school primmer," then I'm really confused! :confused:

[QueenCat]

I have NEVER heard it with a short i.

 

 

Same here.... I've lived in various parts of the U.S. and never heard prime, primed, primer, etc with anything other than a long "i" sound.