4. Pronunciation of 'u'

4. Pronunciation of 'u'

The u in words like mule, mute, mutual, cube, butane, Houston is pronounced identically on both sides of the Atlantic, i.e. with an imaginary y inserted before it: myool, myoot, myoo-tyoo-al, etc. In the US, however, such words are exceptions; the usual pronunciation is without the y sound. Thus, new, nude, tune, student, duke, Tuesday' are pronounced noo, nood, toon, stoodent, dook, toosday. In England, these words are all pronounced with the y sound, and this is generally the case. Exceptions exist, of course, such as assume, suit, lute, which are usually pronounced assoom, soot, loot. It may be noted, however, that English stage actors are still trained to say assyoom, syoot, lyoot.