Do you say "both" or "bolth"?

Question

Do you say "both" or "bolth"?

Answer 1

The "bolth" pronunciation comes about because syllable-terminal "l" is articulated in the mouth very close to where "th" is articulated. In North American English it's common for young children, who often have trouble pronouncing or omitting word-terminal "l", to say "bolth", though it also persists into adult speech for some dialects.



I don't know why this happens in North American English but not in other dialects. Certain long vowels that were unaffected by the Great Vowel Shift, namely /o/ and /u/, are markedly more diphthongized in UK Received Pronunciation than they are in most American dialects. In the case of long o as in "both" this probably alters how the following "th" sound influences it. In general, the American long o is somewhat closer to the nearly pure "o" as found in some Continental languages.

Answer 2

Canada - "both"

ps. I noticed that in some parts of Australia it is pronounced like "boith"

Answer 3

I am from Santa Fe, New Mexico born and raised. I say "bolth" and realized it because in New Mexico we also say "sawl" instead of "saw" but only in the instance of "I sawl it the other day". We still say "saw" for the tool. Some people in my family say it and some don't. None of my family is from New England save for my two great-great grand parents whom I never met.

Answer 4

Both

Answer 5

I say and spell "both" as bolth and live in california. My family does not say it. I just started to when I was a kid. I understand it's not proper english, but I think it sounds better. That is really the only factor. An example where I use proper english is salmon. I think it sounds better not to pronounce the l.

Answer 6

I'm a native Texan. I've never heard anyone use "bolth" in my life. Must be some weird regional thing, but apparently not in my region.

Answer 7

Both.

Never heard of that. o.O

I have heard "You welcome" rather then "You are welcome" or "You're welcome."

That makes me wince. Mostly you hear it through fastfood or any service where they repeat that often that I think it just drops off somewhere. lol

U.S. Michigan. They also say "both."

Answer 8

I think that the way we say some words is the way we hear them, my son says 'omost' for almost and no matter how many times I correct him he still says 'omost'!

Answer 9

I say both. I'm from California...and so are my parents. My parents say it the same way i do. My mother is from European descent and my father is from Hispanic descent. I hope this helps :)

Answer 10

i used to say bolth, but i have modified that since living in GA. I was originally from Massachusetts, where I picked up the habit.



My mom says "bolth", my dad says "both", we all spell it "both". My brother and sister have never said "bolth".



I think its a new england thing. .



I hope I helped.

Answer 11

I say "bolth" and my fiance never noticed until just now when I asked how to spell it in a text message. She thought I was having a stroke lol. We are both New Englanders but she was born in New York, not New Hampshire and spoke english and spanish growing up, hope this adds to the discussion.

Answer 12

Urban Dictionary says correct usage in some English speaking regions. Also discussion on l addition at WWW.SCCS.SWARTHMORE.EDU

but this is a membership only site the little I could access implied German root ( discussion on L usage by speakers with German sounding last names also Scandinavians in this country tend to add letter and sounds to English to give them a 'homeland sound/spelling) ( forgive me for the guesses but the e-mail seemed blunt and uninformative)

Answer 13

I'm German, so I say "beide", so do my parents. In English class in school I learned "both". Never heard people saying bolth before, weird.

Answer 14

I SAY BOTH I NEVER HERD ANYONE SAY IT THE OTHER WAY BEFORE MAYBE A REDNECK WOULD SAY IT LIKE THAT OR SOME ONE FROM A DIFFRENT COUNTRY BUT BESIDES REDNECKS I DONT THINK ANY ONE IN THE US WOULD SAY IT BOLTH

Answer 15

bolth, and spell it the same :)

Answer 16

"both"



However, my entire family leaves out "to be" in certain sentences. For example, "my car needs washed" instead of the proper "my car needs to be washed." I heard that is a Pennsylvania dialect, where my mom is from.