American English Pronunciation Tip: How to say Halloween
There’s lots of confusion about how to pronounce Halloween. Language morphs, so there’s a difference between common, everyday pronunciation and what’s considered preferred. To help with this holiday, you might want to consider the meaning of the root words.
Hollow, pronounced HAH-loh (like the American o in hot), means empty on the inside. The owl sits in the hollow oak tree.
Hallow, Pronounced Ha-loh (like the a in hat), means to make sacred, to sanctify. Hallowed = holy.
All’s Hallowed Evening, got shortened to All Hallow’s Eve, to Halloween.
It’s not pronounced, “Holloween.”
If you need a memory aid, maybe thinking of a witch’s HAT will help you get the right sound. In fact, you should make the same a sound when you say “Halloween” as when you say “happy.”
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With a little practice you’ll be ready to have a “HAPPY HALLOWEEN!”