Among other American states, Illinois seems to present the most dramatic case when it comes to pronunciation. The reason is that its spelling clearly ends with an ‘s’ that is, however, not meant to be pronounced. This is intriguing for a non-native speaker who is naturally tempted to say Illi-noiS – based on what their trusted eyes see. But the correct pronunciation of the word is not Illi-NOIS but Illi-NOI, meaning that it ends with the same diphthong that…
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