“Roof” Pronunciation

Hi, you have A Way with Words.

How you doing?

Doing well. Who’s this?

This is Donnie Dinwiddie from Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Hi, Donnie. Welcome to the show. What’s up?

I’ve got a question for you. I’m a career roofer, and I’ve got a boss that pronounces it every time we have a meeting, a get-together.

He pronounces it roof.

I would like to know, because the big joke is that we’re roofers, not roofers like dogs.

We don’t bark like dogs.

So what my question is, is where did that terminology roof instead of roof come from?

Is that regional?

Because he’s from the mountains of Virginia.

Oh, yeah.

And he went to Auburn School, you know.

So I think that’s in the south, deep south, right?

Oh, Auburn, Alabama?

Yeah.

-huh.

And where are you from, Donnie?

I’m from Virginia Beach.

Okay.

Donnie, you say roof.

We are roofers, but he references us as roofers.

Roofers.

How nice.

Is there anyone in the company that says it more like rough?

No, he’s the only one that I’ve ever heard pronounce it roof.

Donnie, what about your customers?

What do they say?

Because everybody calls us roofers.

He’s the office manager.

Yeah.

He’s the CEO of our division, and he kind of got mad the other day when I told him I was going to make Baker Roofing famous.

He said, oh, we’re already famous.

I said, no, I’m talking about nationwide because I’m getting ready to go on this NPR show.

Oh, and I told him why, and he says, oh, you looking for a job, Mr. Dinwiddie?

I said, no.

That’s why I called Prentice.

Which is our owner down in Carolina.

Oh, you got some insurance, huh?

I said, yeah.

It’s been a lot of fun, but he hasn’t liked it at all.

Donnie, Donnie, Donnie.

All right, let’s break this down.

Let’s talk some linguistics.

First of all, most people do say roof in the United States.

All right, roof.

However, maybe 10% to 20% say roof.

Wow.

Yeah, it’s kind of like the same vowel in foot.

Yeah.

It’s a root.

But also some of these people also say root instead of root.

Right, right.

You know, my father is one of those people who says roof and root.

He says roof just like your boss.

And where is he from?

He’s from southeast Missouri.

There are a large number of people in this country who are nodding their heads and agreeing with your boss’s pronunciation right now.

Yes, sir.

There are a lot more of us.

Every one of them.

Tell them I’m not a dog.

Roof, roof.

But there is another third group.

So there’s roof.

I’m exaggerating the vowels.

There’s roof.

Right, right.

And there’s roof.

And there’s another third group that says roof.

It’s more of an

It’s even more of an sound, a schwa sound.

The jargon here is the common pronunciation of roof is a tensed vowel, and the roof pronunciation is a lax vowel.

And that’s not a judgment on anybody’s speech patterns or their ability to articulate well.

It’s just the jargon that we use to describe those vowels.

Yeah, yeah.

Props to you.

You’ve got stones to challenge your boss on national radio.

That’s what I’m known for at this company.

Like I say, I’ve been here for 35 years, so I’ve done something right.

Being a smart aleck, you know.

Yeah, it’s working.

Keeping the company on their toes, you know, getting a little bit.

Because like I tell them all the time, I’m not here to make a million dollars, but if I can get a laugh out of y’all.

It worked.

It worked.

I got to tell you, Donnie, you’ve just gone from a local treasure to a national treasure.

We are so happy to talk to you on this show.

We really appreciate it.

You’ve got to call us again sometime.

Thank you very, very much.

Appreciate it.

All right.

Bye-bye.

What’s going on in your workplace when it comes to language?

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