The Chaos (Of Pronunciation) G.N. Trenité 

sounds like benedict cumberbatch acting sherlock...

As a non english native having learned english by myself while reading (yeah, really) I find this text both amazing and despairing. Amazing because it makes me discover so many ways I pronounced things wrong! Despairing because it makes me discover so many ways I pronounced things wrong...

So far this is the best rendition I have found, with a clear RP (Received Pronunciation) accent. It is nice to have the complete version too.

You just blow off my mind with this poem. I from Argentina and i think i fell in love with the English pronunciation. Thank you very much !

This was posted ten years ago, and it genuinely makes me sad how underrated this video is. I can see the huge amount of work which was put into this one. Much appreciated ! Even more so because my native language is german and i need google like every 10 seconds in order to translate this one specific term in the first place xD

Applause! Nicely, nicely.

@bystanderableThanks ;-) Well, yes, it's a *variant* on RP rather than pure RP - if such a thing even exists any more - true RP essentially died in the 1950s and nowadays arguably only exists in some very exalted circles! RP is and always has been an artificial construct, hence part of the fun of hearing various recordings of this text highlighting some very subtle differences!

Exactly the thing I've been struggling with since I started learning English. I've got written English pretty much down, but speaking still is a problem because of the strange pronunciation..

Dearest creature in creation Studying English pronunciation, I will teach you in my verse Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse. I will keep you, Susy, busy, Make your head with heat grow dizzy; Tear in eye, your dress you'll tear; Queer, fair seer, hear my prayer. Pray, console your loving poet, Make my coat look new, dear, sew it! Just compare heart, hear and heard, Dies and diet, lord and word. Sword and sward, retain and Britain (Mind the latter how it's written). Made has not the sound of bade, Say-said, pay-paid, laid but plaid. Now I surely will not plague you With such words as vague and ague, But be careful how you speak, Say: gush, bush, steak, streak, break, bleak , Previous, precious, fuchsia, via Recipe, pipe, studding-sail, choir; Woven, oven, how and low, Script, receipt, shoe, poem, toe. Say, expecting fraud and trickery: Daughter, laughter and Terpsichore, Branch, ranch, measles, topsails, aisles, Missiles, similes, reviles. Wholly, holly, signal, signing, Same, examining, but mining, Scholar, vicar, and cigar, Solar, mica, war and far. From "desire": desirable-admirable from "admire", Lumber, plumber, bier, but brier, Topsham, brougham, renown, but known, Knowledge, done, lone, gone, none, tone, One, anemone, Balmoral, Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel. Gertrude, German, wind and wind, Beau, kind, kindred, queue, mankind, Tortoise, turquoise, chamois-leather, Reading, Reading, heathen, heather. This phonetic labyrinth Gives moss, gross, brook, brooch, ninth, plinth. Have you ever yet endeavoured To pronounce revered and severed, Demon, lemon, ghoul, foul, soul, Peter, petrol and patrol? Billet does not end like ballet; Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet. Blood and flood are not like food, Nor is mould like should and would. Banquet is not nearly parquet, Which exactly rhymes with khaki. Discount, viscount, load and broad, Toward, to forward, to reward, Ricocheted and crocheting, croquet? Right! Your pronunciation's OK. Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve, Friend and fiend, alive and live. Is your r correct in higher? Keats asserts it rhymes Thalia. Hugh, but hug, and hood, but hoot, Buoyant, minute, but minute. Say abscission with precision, Now: position and transition; Would it tally with my rhyme If I mentioned paradigm? Twopence, threepence, tease are easy, But cease, crease, grease and greasy? Cornice, nice, valise, revise, Rabies, but lullabies. Of such puzzling words as nauseous, Rhyming well with cautious, tortious, You'll envelop lists, I hope, In a linen envelope. Would you like some more? You'll have it! Affidavit, David, davit. To abjure, to perjure. Sheik Does not sound like Czech but ache. Liberty, library, heave and heaven, Rachel, loch, moustache, eleven. We say hallowed, but allowed, People, leopard, towed but vowed. Mark the difference, moreover, Between mover, plover, Dover. Leeches, breeches, wise, precise, Chalice, but police and lice, Camel, constable, unstable, Principle, disciple, label. Petal, penal, and canal, Wait, surmise, plait, promise, pal, Suit, suite, ruin. Circuit, conduit Rhyme with "shirk it" and "beyond it", But it is not hard to tell Why it's pall, mall, but Pall Mall. Muscle, muscular, gaol, iron, Timber, climber, bullion, lion, Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair, Senator, spectator, mayor, Ivy, privy, famous; clamour Has the a of drachm and hammer. Pussy, hussy and possess, Desert, but desert, address. Golf, wolf, countenance, lieutenants Hoist in lieu of flags left pennants. Courier, courtier, tomb, bomb, comb, Cow, but Cowper, some and home. "Solder, soldier! Blood is thicker", Quoth he, "than liqueur or liquor", Making, it is sad but true, In bravado, much ado. Stranger does not rhyme with anger, Neither does devour with clangour. Pilot, pivot, gaunt, but aunt, Font, front, wont, want, grand and grant. Arsenic, specific, scenic, Relic, rhetoric, hygienic. Gooseberry, goose, and close, but close, Paradise, rise, rose, and dose. Say inveigh, neigh, but inveigle, Make the latter rhyme with eagle. Mind! Meandering but mean, Valentine and magazine. And I bet you, dear, a penny, You say mani-(fold) like many, Which is wrong. Say rapier, pier, Tier (one who ties), but tier. Arch, archangel; pray, does erring Rhyme with herring or with stirring? Prison, bison, treasure trove, Treason, hover, cover, cove, Perseverance, severance. Ribald Rhymes (but piebald doesn't) with nibbled. Phaeton, paean, gnat, ghat, gnaw, Lien, psychic, shone, bone, pshaw. Don't be down, my own, but rough it, And distinguish buffet, buffet; Brood, stood, roof, rook, school, wool, boon, Worcester, Boleyn, to impugn. Say in sounds correct and sterling Hearse, hear, hearken, year and yearling. Evil, devil, mezzotint, Mind the z! (A gentle hint.) Now you need not pay attention To such sounds as I don't mention, Sounds like pores, pause, pours and paws, Rhyming with the pronoun yours; Nor are proper names included, Though I often heard, as you did, Funny rhymes to unicorn, Yes, you know them, Vaughan and Strachan. No, my maiden, coy and comely, I don't want to speak of Cholmondeley. No. Yet Froude compared with proud Is no better than McLeod. But mind trivial and vial, Tripod, menial, denial, Troll and trolley, realm and ream, Schedule, mischief, schism, and scheme. Argil, gill, Argyll, gill. Surely May be made to rhyme with Raleigh, But you're not supposed to say Piquet rhymes with sobriquet. Had this invalid invalid Worthless documents? How pallid, How uncouth he, couchant, looked, When for Portsmouth I had booked! Zeus, Thebes, Thales, Aphrodite, Paramour, enamoured, flighty, Episodes, antipodes, Acquiesce, and obsequies. Please don't monkey with the geyser, Don't peel 'taters with my razor, Rather say in accents pure: Nature, stature and mature. Pious, impious, limb, climb, glumly, Worsted, worsted, crumbly, dumbly, Conquer, conquest, vase, phase, fan, Wan, sedan and artisan. The th will surely trouble you More than r, ch or w. Say then these phonetic gems: Thomas, thyme, Theresa, Thames. Thompson, Chatham, Waltham, Streatham, There are more but I forget 'em- Wait! I've got it: Anthony, Lighten your anxiety. The archaic word albeit Does not rhyme with eight-you see it; With and forthwith, one has voice, One has not, you make your choice. Shoes, goes, does *. Now first say: finger; Then say: singer, ginger, linger. Real, zeal, mauve, gauze and gauge, Marriage, foliage, mirage, age, Hero, heron, query, very, Parry, tarry fury, bury, Dost, lost, post, and doth, cloth, loth, Job, Job, blossom, bosom, oath. Faugh, oppugnant, keen oppugners, Bowing, bowing, banjo-tuners Holm you know, but noes, canoes, Puisne, truism, use, to use? Though the difference seems little, We say actual, but victual, Seat, sweat, chaste, caste, Leigh, eight, height, Put, nut, granite, and unite. Reefer does not rhyme with deafer, Feoffer does, and zephyr, heifer. Dull, bull, Geoffrey, George, ate, late, Hint, pint, senate, but sedate. Gaelic, Arabic, pacific, Science, conscience, scientific; Tour, but our, dour, succour, four, Gas, alas, and Arkansas. Say manoeuvre, yacht and vomit, Next omit, which differs from it Bona fide, alibi Gyrate, dowry and awry. Sea, idea, guinea, area, Psalm, Maria, but malaria. Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean, Doctrine, turpentine, marine. Compare alien with Italian, Dandelion with battalion, Rally with ally; yea, ye, Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, key, quay! Say aver, but ever, fever, Neither, leisure, skein, receiver. Never guess-it is not safe, We say calves, valves, half, but Ralf. Starry, granary, canary, Crevice, but device, and eyrie, Face, but preface, then grimace, Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass. Bass, large, target, gin, give, verging, Ought, oust, joust, and scour, but scourging; Ear, but earn; and ere and tear Do not rhyme with here but heir. Mind the o of off and often Which may be pronounced as orphan, With the sound of saw and sauce; Also soft, lost, cloth and cross. Pudding, puddle, putting. Putting? Yes: at golf it rhymes with shutting. Respite, spite, consent, resent. Liable, but Parliament. Seven is right, but so is even, Hyphen, roughen, nephew, Stephen, Monkey, donkey, clerk and jerk, Asp, grasp, wasp, demesne, cork, work. A of valour, vapid vapour, S of news (compare newspaper), G of gibbet, gibbon, gist, I of antichrist and grist, Differ like diverse and divers, Rivers, strivers, shivers, fivers. Once, but nonce, toll, doll, but roll, Polish, Polish, poll and poll. Pronunciation-think of Psyche!- Is a paling, stout and spiky. Won't it make you lose your wits Writing groats and saying "grits"? It's a dark abyss or tunnel Strewn with stones like rowlock, gunwale, Islington, and Isle of Wight, Housewife, verdict and indict. Don't you think so, reader, rather, Saying lather, bather, father? Finally, which rhymes with enough, Though, through, bough, cough, hough, sough, tough?? Hiccough has the sound of sup... My advice is: GIVE IT UP!

Nice to see a British version of it, although I haven't been able to find an RP version. As my voice is a very standard version British English, I've recorded by own version. Find it in the link below ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-daYEKu9OsTY.html

Fantastic reading and wonderful accent :)

I really loved your version! Clearly us foreigners still have a lot to learn ;)

New friend here sending my support, keep it up, stay connected

Bloody excellent!

7:57, it's hard to hear and I couldn't believe it, and even different dictionaries say differently, victual is pronounced "/ˈvidl/" or "/ˈvɪt l/". With never seeing the word, I would think the syllables are vic·tual, and pronounce as such, but it turns out it's vict·ual. I can't think of _why_ c becomes silent, but there it is. I want a petition to change the word to "vittle" to stop with this madness.

Excellent. I really enjoyed your ad libs.

Nice to hear this long version. singer sounded a bit odd?

Of all the readings of The Chaos I have heard so far yours is closest to what I imagine the Chaos should sound like. To make it even more perfect I would like to add a few words. Most of the words in your video are pronounced by you perfectly and I appreciate your annotations inserted afterwards. Well read studding-sail and gooseberry. The poem unquestionably sounds better read with a British accent, but even though some people happen to read it using American [which I do] or any other accent, some words absolutely have to be read using British to make the rhyme work! Unquestionably: Via - choir, parquet - khaki, rather - father, broad - reward, often - orphan, iron - lion, pores - pause - pours - paws - yours, four - Arkansas (as you pointed out!), unicorn - Strachan… …and maybe a few more I have missed. Next thing - rhytm I seem to here some rhythm in poems, and therefore I prefer reading a few words differently just as British short library (read like one syllable) saves the rhythm, while American li-bra-ry (read like three syllables!) does not. The desert as ˈdɛzət should go first, then desert as dɪˈzəːt - before address. Similarly, it sounds more rhythmically when difference is slightly split into di-ffer-rence and menial into me-ni-al, while the phrase seven is right should be delicately turned into seven’s right - to obtain the two-vowel effect instead of the three- or more vowel element. And - rhyme again Some words seem to beg to be read differently just for the sake of the rhyme; grimace as ɡrɪˈmeɪs to rhyme with bass as beɪs (the bas should then go into the third line, preceding large), the ending close (not the first close) as kləʊs to rhyme with dose as dəʊs and - should greasy not be griːzɪ to rhyme with easy? Finally - the word loch as lɒk maybe? And that housewife - just as you mentioned - hə-zəf, sounds more interesting! But besides all those mentioned, excellent work of yours! And I am looking forward to your second edition. If by any chance, or rather by not having noticed it yet, I am repeating what has already been said by others, please forgive me my nerve. And if your second edition is already somewhere on RU-vid, I would appreciate the link.

Fantastic version!

Excellent. Only heard one error on first listen. 'Mica' is pronounced with long i as 'my-cur' not with the short i 'me-cur' as you have it. My claim to authority consistis of Geology A level, a degree in Environmental Science (and for a change!) dictionary dotkom agreeing with me. Yes, this longer version is the better of the two - the scansion is dodgy in places in the shorter version. I think I'd run out of puff on the longer one though! Thanks for your kind words on my version.

@davidenespana Amazing timing, I was reviewing my recording off-line this afternoon (I'm working on a revised second edition) and noticed the same mistake which I've now annotated in-video - I'm well aware of what you say and have no idea whatsoever from where I got that bizarre pronunciation!

For English we had to present a poem of our choice… y’all can guess what I took and know my teacher started weeping

Please help me answer this question: In this sentence " Polish, Polish, poll and poll " ( 10'43)? What are differences between "Poll" and "Poll"? Meaning or pronunciation....?

Spanking work. You did well... but... you pronounced; 1) Bade. It's "bay-d'" or "bayed". The past of "bid". IE "I bade him goodnight before he left." 2) "studding-sail" is pronounced as seen IE "studding...sail". Unless you are using a colloquialism? But then you'd be reading this wrong. 3) it's "top sails". "Tops'ls" is, again, a colloquialism and is, by definition, an uncorrect speaking of the wordage. 4) Mica is "my kah" mot "meeka'" 5) Parquet is "par-kAy" not "pay-kEy" 6) Ricocheted is "rick-oh-shade" not " rear-ko-shade" 7) it's "two-pence" and "three-pence". Refer to (2, 3) 8) Plover is "p'lover" not "p'l-over" 9) Wont is "woah'nt" not "one't" 10) Dose is more like "dohs'" and not "doze" 11) Phaeton is "fay-tun" not "fay-a-tun" 12) Ghat is "gar-t'" not "gore-t'" Side note: I used to go to college and lived in the district of Bury in the UK. The word is OLD but the name Bury is pronounced "buh-ree" here The name Bury, Buri and Byri comes from the Saxon and means "a stronghold" 13) faugh is "fh'" not " foghhh" 14) Raleigh is "Rah-lee" in the UK. it's "raw-lee" in the states. I thought this was about the English pronunciation... not the American? 15) Piquet... it's "pee-kay" Lol... 16) you said "sky-n'... I THOUGHT it was "skeen". Turns out after my semantic journey I discovered it's "skay-n'" 17) Eyrie is "ear-y" not "airy" 18) You got the bass (base) and Bass (Bass). One is low frewuency tones "(base) and one is a fish (Bass). Notice the initial punctuation on the capital letter as it's a namey type word. Side note...TIL "Demesne" TYVM. TL;DR; The poem did exactly what it set out to do. we ALL got at least one word uncorrect. Ye'?

I try to learn the English language and I won't give up. Now, this question comes to mind. What is the difference between buffet and buffet? Feel free to pm me, I have many more questions. :)

RIP headphone users every time he puffs air into the microphone.

what does does "dose" mean? 7:16

Phaethon? or Phaeton?

where I can take the text of it ?

Solder=sauder.

too fast