Router Pronunciation: A Poll on the Correct Way to Say It

[fresh_42]

This is a questions that bothers me for several decades. I even asked native English speakers, but they had no definite answer. I guess that both is correct to some extent.
Therefore this little poll: How do you pronounce router?

 

[Psinter]

Neither.

Rawter.

The vowels there being pronounced like they are pronounced in Japanese.

 

[jim mcnamara]

There is a geographic disparity in the pronunciation of some English words, just like a lot of other languages. So answers may not depend on how the person pronounces something like 'Route 66'. I worked as sysadmin for about 20 years, and routers were a daily topic. Everyone I know here in New Mexico who knows what a router is, says:
Router == 'rowter'
Route 66 == 'root 66'
Not everyone says:
Route == 'root'
About 30% prefer 'rowt'

So good luck on figuring this out - I never did.

 

[beamie564]

I just realized I've never used this word in my life. So I don't know how to pronounce it
And can't stop thinking about it now!
.

 

[gleem]

try the sound of the ou in round or in ouch.

 

[Evo]

try the sound of the ou in round or in ouch.

Yes, this would be correct.

I believe that is the sound that is meant by "rowter".

Although some people might think rowter would be pronounced RO ter, pronouncing the row like "row your boat", that would be wrong.

 

[fresh_42]

I believe that is the sound that is meant by "rowter".

I wrote something about crows just before ... Not easy, to spell English pronunciations without using phonetic symbols which aren't understood by everybody.

 

[Jonathan Scott]

Here in the UK, the network box "router" is pronounced "root-er" formed from "route" with "-er" on the end, but the woodworking tool "router" is formed from "rout" with "-er" on the end, so it sounds like "outer" with an "r" on the front.

 

[Evo]

I wrote something about crows just before ... Not easy, to spell English pronunciations without using phonetic symbols which aren't understood by everybody.

Sometimes I see words in dictionaries with phonetic symbols even I don't understand, so it's lucky that I already know how to pronounce them. I think old dictionaries were easier.

 

[Evo]

Here in the UK, the network box "router" is pronounced "root-er" formed from "route" with "-er" on the end, but the woodworking tool "router" is formed from "rout" with "-er" on the end, so it sounds like "outer" with an "r" on the front.

Ah, so another thing the British got wrong, the router was invented in America, so we get to choose.

Don't get me started on potato chips.

 

[fresh_42]

Here in the UK ...

I had asked a group of English (and one Scottish) IT folks. They refused to make a definite decision. It was more like a "some say ... and some ..."

Btw. most people here pronounce it the French way, too. Guess, the Americans shouldn't have chosen a french word, though.

@Evo In Louisiana?

 

[DrGreg]

In the UK, at least, it depends on the meaning.

Derived from the noun "route", it's pronounced "rooter" -- IPA /ˈruːtər/ -- e.g. a type of computer network device.

Derived from verb "to rout", it's pronounced "rowter" -- IPA /ˈraʊtər/ ("row" rhyming with "how") -- e.g. device for cutting grooves.

 

[Evo]

@Evo In Louisiana?

Heck NO.

 

[Jonathan Scott]

I had asked a group of English (and one Scottish) IT folks. They refused to make a definite decision. It was more like a "some say ... and some ..."

IT people often use American English pronunciation of technical terms. However, "route" and "routing" are definitely pronounced like "root" in British English, and even the agent form "router" existed before network equipment. It can for example refer to a person who determines the route that something should take, either in the physical sense of routing transport, or in the sense of passing a query to the appropriate department to handle.

"Rout" is a different word where the "out" bit is pronounced as in the word "out". It can for example refer to a disorderly retreat. However, it can also refer to cutting a hollow or groove in wood, and curiously the word in that form comes from a variant of "root" in the sense of pigs "rooting around" in the ground with their noses.

 

[Pepper Mint]

It may also depend on what you mean by router. As for the networking device we are using, I think the British may pronounce it /ru:ter/ while North American /rounder/.

 

[Evo]

So the answer is in the US it's rowter (pronounced like "outer" ), in the UK they choose to pronounce it rooter. The rest of the world doesn't matter.

 

[fresh_42]

So the answer is in the US it's rowter (pronounced like "outer" ), in the UK they choose to pronounce it rooter. The rest of the world doesn't matter.

You mean I should ask the NSA?

 

[fresh_42]

The French would use a sound that doesn't even exist in English (as far as I know). Similar to the German ü (note the dots).

But then it would have to be a ru(e)ter.

And are you sure that the sound of ü doesn't exist in English? How do they pronounce lynx then?

 

[rootone]

It's definitely 'root' + 'er' as far as I am concerned.
'rowt' + 'er' is either a woodworking tool, or it's else it's something/somebody being noisy and disrupting.

 

[davenn]

There is a geographic disparity in the pronunciation of some English words, just like a lot of other languages. So answers may not depend on how the person pronounces something like 'Route 66'. I worked as sysadmin for about 20 years, and routers were a daily topic. Everyone I know here in New Mexico who knows what a router is, says:
Router == 'rowter'
Route 66 == 'root 66'
Not everyone says:
Route == 'root'
About 30% prefer 'rowt'

So good luck on figuring this out - I never did.

OMG --- no way

outer ( as in outer edge of the bowl) with a R in front

It's definitely 'root' + 'er' as far as II am concerned.

again OMG no way

we don't even want to go to what a rooter is ... this is a all age forum !
kids could be reading

'rowt' + 'er' is either a woodworking tool, or it's else it's something noisy and disrupting.

YES --- the same as the wood/metal working tool !Dave

 

[zoobyshoe]

1st thing that comes up on google:

rout·er1/ˈroudər/
noun

1. a power tool with a shaped cutter, used in carpentry for making grooves for joints, decorative moldings, etc.

rout·er2/ˈro͞odər,ˈroudər/
noun

1. a device that forwards data packets to the appropriate parts of a computer network.

 

[jim mcnamara]

@davenn Yes way!. I cannot help what people do with language. ~40% of NM residents are bilingual - and in some languages you've probably never heard of -Tiwa, Keres, Navajo. My son's Grandma spoke 7 languages. This does not help and when people create creole versions on the fly it is all over but the tears for the linguisitic purity Nazis. We call it Spanglish or Navlish, for example.

 

[davenn]

Yes way!. I cannot help what people do with language.

seriously disgusting
a rooter isn't a good word, the only use I know of for someone/animal that is a rooter is the slang for intercourse

 

[jim mcnamara]

davenn -

One of my colleagues years ago discussed the concept of language clusters in a seminar. What you are citing is the fact that English is a language cluster.

You can say that the OED is THE one and only authority. And the publishers of said dictionary would agree. In practice language is dynamic, which does not excuse ignorance, but geographically and SES isolated accepted common practice is really going to diverge over time, along with pronunciation. Even with mass media.

 

[rootone]

How do they pronounce lynx then?

In the dialect of English I grew up with it is spoken the same as 'links'.
.. and 'grew' is = groo, not grou..

 

[davenn]

In the dialect of English I grew up with it is spoken the same as 'links'.
.. and 'grew' is = groo, not grou..

agreed

 

[rootone]

Tomatoes Potatoes.

 

[zoobyshoe]

You can say that the OED is THE one and only authority. And the publishers of said dictionary would agree. In practice language is dynamic...

You have the wrong idea about dictionaries. Dictionaries aren't authorities that dictate word meanings or pronunciations. The people who write dictionaries spend all their time monitoring how words are used and pronounced and they are a report, essentially, of what people are currently using words to mean, and how they are pronouncing them.

If you look at the definition I posted, you'll see they report two common pronounciations of "router" the computer device.

 

[fresh_42]

The rest of the world doesn't matter.

Seems it's time to demand our eigen-s, Ansatz's and Leibniz-notations back.

 

[mfb]

Ansatz is German for "approach" (approximately), it doesn't make sense to add 's to it.

 

[fresh_42]

Ansatz is German for "approach" (approximately), it doesn't make sense to add 's to it.

I couldn't write Ansätze, couldn't I?. And if they get uneasy on their routers, I'll demand all back, not just a single Ansatz.
But demanding a correct plural might be an even far better idea!

 

[mfb]

Ah, plural. That is challenging. But so is Schrödinger's name for those not familiar with German. Or Euler.

 

[jtbell]

a rooter isn't a good word, the only use I know of for someone/animal that is a rooter is the slang for intercourse

In the US, Roto-Rooter is a well-known plumbing company that specializes in clearing clogged drains and sewers.

(from Wikipedia)

 

[fresh_42]

Ah, plural. That is challenging. But so is Schrödinger's name for those not familiar with German. Or Euler.

My favorite is Graßmann.

Euler should be easy. They have an entire hockey team with his name! The Edmonton Eulers!

 

[1oldman2]

In the US, Roto-Rooter is a well-known plumbing company that specializes in clearing clogged drains and sewers.

(from Wikipedia)

That is the first thing that crossed my mind about this thread, I was also surprised to see Dave was familiar with the same context as I am, that dates from school days in the 70's for me. I would reset my "rooter" by flushing, but the power was off briefly and my router reset itself today.

 

[1oldman2]

The Edmonton Eulers!

Laughing my azz off!