The words South Africans are searching for help pronouncing — with “allow” topping the list in KwaZulu-Natal.
While South Africans are struggling to pronounce Porsche, Shein and Worcestershire sauce, KwaZulu-Natal residents have a rather unexpected word tripping them up – allow.
It is not Worcestershire, charcuterie or even the French-sounding croissant giving KwaZulu-Natal residents a pronunciation headache. It is the word "allow".
A new study examining Google's most-searched pronunciation queries across South Africa has found that KZN stands apart from the other provinces, with "allow" emerging as the word residents searched for help pronouncing most frequently.
The finding is particularly unusual considering that the national list is dominated by foreign words, international brands, food and names that can leave even confident speakers second-guessing themselves.
Across the country, Porsche topped the list with 121 200 pronunciation-related searches between January 1 and November 9, followed by online fashion retailer Shein with 102 000 and Worcestershire sauce with 97 200.
While residents of Gauteng and Limpopo were searching for how to pronounce Shein, and those in Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape were struggling with "schedule", KZN's biggest pronunciation mystery was the everyday word "allow".
The provincial findings also revealed that Worcestershire sauce topped searches in the Northern Cape, "burgundy" in the Free State, "daiquiri" in North West and "jalapeño" in the Western Cape.
The research, conducted by word-finding experts at Unscrambler.com, analysed Google Trends data and search volumes from Ahrefs, combining 110 variations of searches such as "how to pronounce" and "how do you pronounce".
South Africans are struggling to pronounce Porsche, Shein and Worcestershire sauce, KwaZulu-Natal residents have a rather unexpected word tripping them up – allow.
It is not Worcestershire, charcuterie or even the French-sounding croissant giving KwaZulu-Natal residents a pronunciation headache. It is the word "allow".
A new study examining Google's most-searched pronunciation queries across South Africa has found that KZN stands apart from the other provinces, with "allow" emerging as the word residents searched for help pronouncing most frequently.
The finding is particularly unusual considering that the national list is dominated by foreign words, international brands, food and names that can leave even confident speakers second-guessing themselves.
Across the country, Porsche topped the list with 121 200 pronunciation-related searches between January 1 and November 9, followed by online fashion retailer Shein with 102 000 and Worcestershire sauce with 97 200.
South Africa's 15 pronunciation headaches
The national rankings show just how many familiar words are sending South Africans to Google for help.
For anyone wondering whether they have been saying these words correctly, the study provides a pronunciation guide.
Porsche is pronounced "POR-shuh", Shein is "SHAY-in", while Worcestershire sauce is "WUSS-ter-sheer sauce".
Charcuterie is "shar-KOO-tuh-ree", schedule is "SKEJ-ool" and croissant is "kruh-SAHNT".
The Irish names Aoife and Saoirse are pronounced "EE-fa" and "SEER-sha" respectively.
Why do we struggle with certain words?
Randoh Sallihall, spokesperson for Unscramble Words, said pronunciation difficulties were not necessarily determined by how long or complicated a word appeared.
He said academic research points to irregular spelling, words borrowed from other languages, regional variations, mishearing and unfamiliarity as some of the main reasons people mispronounce words.
"Word length, however, seems to have no effect on the difficulty level," Sallihall said.
The study found that pronunciation challenges cut across several categories, including English words, foreign words, names, food and drink, place names and brands.
The Free State recorded the highest number of pronunciation-related searches, followed by the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.