[영어Q&A] vase pronunciation

A1.

I believe the two forms are used as you say: /vɑːz/ is the only form used in (standard) BrE and AusE, and I'd be very surprised if I heard an American say that rather than /veɪs/. (Is /veɪz/ a possible alternative in AmE?) Nevertheless, everyone is aware of the variation, so for comic effect you could show someone unsure of it.

A2.

As far as I know, /veɪz/ is never used here in AE. But the Tom Hanks confusion is understandable because both /vɑːz/ and /veɪs/ are used here. I would say that /veɪs/ is definitely more common, especially where I'm from—the Midwest—but I've always heard it both ways and have probably even said it both ways.  

I don't know if this can be generalized to the rest of Americans, but in my experience, those who habitually use /vɑːz/ here tend to be of a higher socioeconomic class or spend more time around people/cultures that use /vɑːz/; and/or work with antiques or home furnishings; and/or are being a little pretentious. Of course this isn't to say that using /vɑːz/ is pretentious, but Americans who want to make themselves sound smarter or more cultured will sometimes use British or other foreign variations of a word.

A3.

There are three pronunciations current in my part of the world, 
vɑːz
veɪz
vɔːz
The third is probably related to the 17th century spelling, vause, which I assume (probably wrongly) was pronounced to rhyme with cause. We're inclined to hang on to older versions way out here on the periphery of BE.

A4.

In my part of the world (US mid-Atlantic seaboard) /veiz/ is heard quite commonly, along with /veis/. 

To me, the pronunciation "vahz" (sorry, don't know how to do the IPA symbols, even assuming I spoke IPA, of which my grasp is tenuous) sounds pretentious coming from an American, although there may well be regions or social circles where it is the normal, expected pronunciation.

A5.

Hmm, I had no idea.

It occurs to me—and I can't say for sure because I rarely find myself talking about vases—that if I needed to say it in the plural I might be inclined to use the väz pronunciation, just because for some reason in the plural it sounds less awkward to me. But then if given time to think I might stop myself, out of fear of sounding pretentious!

A6.

My mother always told me that if it was a "/vɑːz/", it came from an antique shop; otherwise it's just a plain /veɪs/! (Coming from the Midwest US).

Seriously, /vɑːz/ sounds pretty pretentious to my AE ear when coming from an AE-speaker.

A7.

I hear only /vɑːz/ from my English compatriots.

A8.

I hear both /veɪz/ and /vɑːz/ here in New York, but I do not remember hearing anyone from this part of the US saying "/veɪs/".


As for the "pretentiousness" of "vahz", I do remember someone writing in to Judith Martin's "Miss Manners" column to ask "When is a VASE a VAHZ?" The answer came back "When it is filled with DAH-ZIES".

A9.

I have always thought that this was the exact same isssue as tomato (tuh-mate-oh AmE vs tuh-mah-toe BrE).
It's lucky Miss Manners didn't select dahlias as the example - pronounced day-lee-uhs in BrE and dah-lee-uhs in AmE