Is it pronounced ‘almond’ or ‘amond’? UC asks public to help crack this tough nut
Are almonds the top-grossing crop in the Central Valley? Or is it amonds?
The dual pronunciations have been around for decades, experts at the University of California said. They have launched an online survey at bit.ly/3JAyuF4 that explores how the phenomenon emerged and how it varies around the Valley.
Respondents can state how they say the word, and why. The questions also include their place of residence, the language of their ancestors and whether they own or live near an almond orchard, among others.
The project website has other morsels gleaned over the years from farm advisers with UC Agriculture & Natural Resources:
“Amond” is more common in counties with longer histories with the crop, such as Merced, Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Butte. They go back more than 100 years.
“Almond” is more likely from Fresno to Kern counties, where the industry boomed with the 1970s completion of the State Water Project.
Immigrant farmers may have been influenced by their first language. For example, almond is “amandel” in the Dutch spoken by many of the Ripon area’s settlers.
Is the almond/amond difference a bitter conflict, waiting for a ruling from the USDA’s Bureau of Pronunciation? No, it is not.
Nor has it kept the Valley from cornering the global market. Growers here account for about 80% of the supply, grossing an estimated $5.03 billion in 2021. That was more than any crop in the region, and second only to grapes statewide.
The UC team shared a joke you might have heard about how “amond” entered the lexicon: The nut is an almond as it develops over the summer, and then a harvesting machine knocks the ‘ell out of it.
The team also asked why no one says “wanuts” when the subject is walnuts, another major product of the Valley.
Listen to pronunciations of the word at www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/almond .
