I pro-test on behalf of a fine round fellow

The little, cute, chubby letter 'o' has at least three ways it likes to be addressed.

There is the short 'o' sound, as in 'hot', the long 'o' sound as in 'omen', and, just because our chubby friend is an individual, the short 'i' sound as in 'women'. (He's a funny fellow, our 'o'.)

Thus, when we come across words like 'process' and 'project', little 'o' challenges us to make a decision. How will we pronounce the 'o'?

We may immediately discard the possibility that 'o' will have an 'i' sound (as in 'women'). That just won't do, of course.

So we are presented with a choice. Will we pronounce it as Australians do, with a long 'o' (as in 'protest' and 'program'), or as Americans do, with a short?

In the last year or two, ABC Radio National announcers and presenters apparently have decided that the Australian pronunciation is to be eschewed, so most of the time you will hear the American pronunciation, and your ears will bleed a little.

My only question is this. Why?

No. I have another question. Will SCOSE (ABC's Standing Committee on Spoken English) ever do anything about it?

Tagged: scose, abc, australia, australian, english, language, radio, grammar, spelling, pronunciation, journalism, radio+national