Pronunciation of hoisin

[Laurence Horn]

At 1:07 AM -0800 1/22/09, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>On "Throwdown! with Bobby Flay" season 4, episode 8, he challenges
>Sohui Kim to a contest in making dumplings. He and she both used
>hoisin sauce.
>
>American Heritage gives "hoi sin" as the pronunciation of hoisin, with
>the accent on either syllable. I've also heard "hoi seen", but only
>from Cantonese speakers.
>
>Bobby Flay distinctly pronounced this as "hoi sehn". BB
>
Well, if you start out with "hoi sin" (as I do, with equal stress on
both parts) and you have the pin/pen merger, "hoi sin" and "hoi sehn"
will be indistinguishable.

LH

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