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Why in the hell is "Colonel" pronounced "Kernel"

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https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/wh3wk/eli5_why_colonel_is_pronounced_like_kurnl/

A bit of etymology might be helpful here. Via Etymology Online.
Here's a timeline so you can see exactly how the word changes over time:
Back in the days of ancient Rome, the word 'columna' was used to refer to a pillar. Many years later, Rome fell, but the Latin language gave rise to many of what we call the Romance languages. As part of this, 'columna' morphs into one part of the term 'compagna colonella' (Italian) to refer to a column of soldiers. The leader of that column is called the 'colonnella'. When the French adopt the word, it becomes 'coronel', and later 'coronell'. When translated into English, the Italian form of the word is preserved (hence colonel), but the French pronunciation is used.
And that's why we write colonel, but say coronel. There was even a time when both forms of the word were being used simultaneously, during the 16 and 1700s, but ultimately the 'l' form of the word won out.
Simpler version: Words change over time. The word colonel is hundreds and hundreds of years old, and has changed a lot. Once upon a time, it was actually pronounced with an 'l', but as time went on, the word changed even more, kind of like a game of telephone. You know; one person mishears something, another might change it just because they can, even though they heard perfectly well the first time, and by the time it gets to the end of the line, the word you started with, and the word you wind up with are completely different and might not even make sense.
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The French pronunciation got popularized during the period of French influence on the English language, but the spelling never changed, more or less.
 
My linguistics professor said it is because we have a harder time with words that have two 'R's or two 'L's, and that it is common when learning to speak to swap out an R for an L or vice versa. It's a mispronunciation that stuck simply because it is easier to say. It's been close to ten years since I took that class, so I could be all wrong.
 
It's not as annoying as how English people pronounce 'sixth'.

Drives me fucking insane.
 
Because British English

What I don't understand is why Worcester is pronounced Wuuster, or Gloucester is pronounced Glosster (although Gloucester isn't as bad/weird as Worcester).
 
One curious thing I noticed in native English speakers, at least in America, is that several people don't complete their words. For example, the plural version of words ending in "s"; several people don't pronounce the "s".
 
injurai said:
which is what exactly?

Sicksth? Exactly as it's spelled.

You're probably ignoring the digraphs and see it as "Sicks-te-heh"
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No, they have another way of pronouncing it, which is more like 'sichhhh', except really exaggerated. Tbf I think it's only posh and/or southern people that do this.
 
GSG Flash said:
Because British English

What I don't understand is why Worcester is pronounced Wuuster, or Gloucester is pronounced Glosster (although Gloucester isn't as bad/weird as Worcester).
Click to expand...

Arbitrary spelling and mispronunciations over hundreds of years of language development.

English can be so absurd sometimes when you look at it from a bird's perspective.
 
Silphonica said:
Sound closer to the actual spelling than kernel.
edit: im more interested in people saying lefttenant? who, who says that, ive literally never heard it said like that.
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Not all pronunciations are consistent with the spelling. "kernel" is the factually correct way to pronounce the word.
 
It's common to hear British people pronounce sixth so it sounds like sickth. Easier to pronounce, but still strange to the English-speaking American ear.
English is stupid.
 
The One and Done™;189054473 said:
So essentially, it's the result of a mispronounciation and now it is human canon? Wow.
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The French were sensible enough to dismiss it and change it back to L. The R form is only attested in from 1540 to early 17th century. So less than a hundred years. And the L form is concurrently attested so it never did L - R - L, but more like L all the time, save for a brief period when a bunch of peons said R before being promptly corrected. Apparently that was enough for the Brits to get the pronunciation wrong and keep it to this day.
http://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/colonel
 
I like British English, it has a lot more character than boring American English. But when I hear "drawring" instead of "drawing" even I start to scratch my head. It's not exclusive to that specific word, but the one I've come across most often when I lived in England a few years ago, or when I'm watching TV (aka "the telly").
 
GSG Flash said:
Because British English

What I don't understand is why Worcester is pronounced Wuuster, or Gloucester is pronounced Glosster (although Gloucester isn't as bad/weird as Worcester).
Click to expand...

The first e is part of Worce and modifies the c to sound like an s. It's common for vowels sounds to change hence the o become a u. Then the r is the only thing that is actually dropped through colloquial use.
 
The One and Done™;189056297 said:
I love how my UK mates pronounce Aluminum as AL-UH-MIN-E-UM instead of UH-LOO-MIN-UM.
Click to expand...

Well, it's spelled "Aluminium", so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

EDIT: Oh wait, you can actually spell them both ways. The more you know!
 
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