My discomfiture, nay, even failure is in the department of pronunciation. All my life I grew up pronouncing those two months roughly as "Janvery" (or "Jan-worry") and "Febrery," respectively. I do not recall if that is the correct 'English' way to say the name of those two months or it is simply closer to the colloquial Indian way to refer to them ("Jun-worry" and "Fur-worry"). In fact, most Indians I have heard, those who spent their formative years in India, continue to pronounce those months as they have been wont to and as I state above.
But to my dismay, such enunciation proved inaccurate and phonetically incorrect in the US of A. After much endeavor and straining-hard-to-discern, I think I gather that the names of these months are pronounced in the following fashion: "Jane-ew-erry" and "Feb-ew-erry."
Now, I am ready to grant the pronunciation of January, as it is close, even faithful, to the spelling. But, "Feb-ew-erry" for something spelled as F-e-b-r-u-a-r-y?? Is that a silent-R-thing? Well I never...
I did find some discussion of this here, tho', which explains the cause of my torment....
Q: What is the correct way to pronounce February?
A: The generally preferred way of pronouncing February is with the first ‘r’ sounded. The alternative pronunciation, which some people object to, drops this first r.This dropping of the ‘r’ sound is an example of a normal process that can happen when speakers are faced with the repetition of the same sound in a word. Since it’s difficult to articulate both sounds, especially when you’re trying to say the word fast, some speakers will simply drop one of the two sounds. It’s also possible that the alternative pronunciation of February has been influenced by the pronunciation of January, which has a ‘yoo’ sound in its second syllable.
While we are on the topic of months, here is an old witticism(all puns intended here) from the Reader's Digest:
Can February March?
No, but April May!
Ciao!
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