General > General Technical Chat

Do *you* pronounce the L in SOLDER ? (In the USA?)

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mcovington:
In my youth, "solder" was always pronounced "sodder" in the United States; "sole-der" in England.

I think I'm sometimes hearing Americans pronounce the L now, more often "sol-der" than "sole-der".  But I'm not sure.  I'm going by YouTube videos, mainly, and I'm not always sure where people are from.

What is your experience?  Is the pronunciation with L catching on in the USA?

BTW, I'm a linguist and have looked into the history of the word.  The "sodder" pronunciation is actually older.  The word is from French "souder," but the L was put into the spelling on the basis of the Latin etymology (related to "solid"), and eventually a lot of people started pronouncing the L.  This is very similar to what happened with "salmon" except that nobody pronounces the L in that one.

Mr.B:
Please use the forum search feature for your answer.
This topic has been trashed to death in the past on a couple of occasions.

mcovington:
OK, will do.  I am a linguist, and for me, this is an actual question -- I'm not spoiling for a fight about it.  I've been on both sides of the Atlantic and have pronounced the word both ways.

Mr.B:

--- Quote from: mcovington on December 20, 2022, 03:58:45 am ---...I'm not spoiling for a fight about it...

--- End quote ---

Sorry, I perhaps misread your intention.
I will close the door on my way out...

mcovington:
No problem.   The search feature immediately led me to some long brawls, but not actually the information I want -- which is to know whether a pronunciation with L is catching on in the USA.  I'm not asking what is wrong or right; I know the origins and history of both; I'm just wondering whether some Americans are using the L pronunciation now.

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