‘Ate’ or ‘Et’? British Library mulls over pronunciation

A view of the British Library in London. File Photo

The British Library is inviting people to have their voices recorded as part of a project to chart the way English pronunciation and accents are changing.

It wants visitors to an upcoming exhibition to record themselves reading a passage from the children’s book “Mr. Tickle.”

Linguists say pronunciation is constantly evolving. Young British people are more likely to call the eighth letter of the alphabet “haitch,” rather than “aitch,” and pronounce the past tense of “to eat” as “ate” instead of the old-fashioned “et.”

The library said Thursday that visitors to its Evolving English exhibition will be able to record themselves in specially designed phone booths, or submit clips on the library’s website, www.bl.uk.

The exhibition opens Nov. 12 and runs to April 3.