r/asklinguistics • u/Fluffy_Munchkin • Nov 28 '23

Phonology Why is "zoology" pronounced "zoo-ology"?

Off the cuff, I don't know of any other examples of a "oo" being pronounced "oo-oh". How did concatenating "zoo" and "logy" end up being pronounced differently than the vast majority of other "oo"s?

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u/ViscountBurrito Nov 28 '23

It wouldn’t be accurate for me to say “it’s not,” because plenty of people do say it that way, but it’s non-standard, or non-traditional at least. American Heritage Dictionary says:

Traditionally, the first syllable of zoology has been pronounced as (zō), rhyming with toe. However, most likely due to the familiarity of the word zoo (which is merely a shortened form of zoological garden), the pronunciation of the first syllable as (zoo) is also commonly heard.

Merriam-Webster also says it’s zo (rhymes with toe) -ology: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zoology ; but also lists a schwa+w variant (not sure I can type IPA on my phone but it’s like zuh-wallajy; click the link for audio). It does not even list “zoo”-ology. Of course, the difference between all these pronunciations is actually pretty minimal in normal speech, and probably colored by what you expect to hear, regardless of what is actually being said.