LEE JONES

I have lived in the UK for over 50 years

One of the things that constantly makes me laugh is the difference in the pronunciation of certain words. Having lived in the UK for over 50 years, I believe I have acquired by default, a good command and respect of the English language.

One such word is “NICHE”

Being actively involved in Internet Marketing, this word crops up frequently, and at first it was not apparent that anything was different in the way it was pronounced while reading an ebook or report, but It was amusing to hear my American Friends use this term, in my view incorrectly.

Like most of us when you read to yourself, you pronounce the words in your mind, and therefore the written word will sound correct according to what side of the pond you reside. But then came audio, which was closely followed by video with an audio track, and it became very clear there is definitely a difference in pronunciation.

Shame on you Brits ?

Yes I must admit many of you Brits are now pronouncing the word “Niche” incorrectly, you know how to use the correct pronunciation, as you have always pronounced it “Neesh” before your IM days’ - so why do I constantly hear British people involved in Internet Marketing pronouncing it incorrectly, you should hang your head in shame for doing so. I’m sure you all know what I am talking about here, but for those that don’t, let me explain further.

I personally say “Neesh” - that’s because I’m English … The Etymology makes it a French word pronounced “Neesh”, and from there it was corrupted in one way to fit the British-English language, and another way to fit the American-English language. It’s most probable that all Americans say “Nitch”, like the audio pronunciation guide on most web pages. (Usually because they are an American online dictionary) also, I have always pronounced “Niche” with a long E vowel and a terminal SH sound, on the analogy of microfiche or nouveau riche.

“The word “NICHE” click to hear the Pronunciation

UK Pronunciation

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USA Pronunciation

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As you can clearly hear there is somewhat of a difference, so which one, or who is right?

Let’s break it down a little, the word niche is a part of other longer words such as
corniche a very famous model of car from the world renowned company Rolls-Royce

“The word “CORNICHE” click to hear the Pronunciation

In the UK it’s pronounced

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In USA it’s pronounced

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So it seams that in this instance the pronunciation of “corniche is the same, at least it’s not a cor-nitch, which does not quite have the same quality, of sounding like a prestigious car.

A poll

A poll was carried out recently for one month, of how to pronounce “Niche”?
and here are the results: (very surprised by the results!)

http://www.lee-jones.com/go/poll-niche

Now I know it may sound strange, but all of us in the UK are actually taught the English language throughout all of our schooling years, so we have adopted “Neesh” as the correct way.

So please you Brits, use the language that comes naturally and the way you have been taught, instead of following the IM crowd.

Basically it doesn’t really matter which way you say it, it all means the same, and for most of the time we understand the meaning. But for all of us in the UK, it does sound very strange the first time you hear it pronounced “Nitch”.

I would like to hear what you think ? - please reply below in the comments