Talk:damage

I found the following results googling for: dæmɪdʒ - 2,480 dæmədʒ - 9

I think the correct transcription for this word is dæmɪdʒ. I have also listened attentively to a native (British) speaker pronouncing it and to my (nonnative, I admit) ear the second vowel sounds ɪ rather than ə.

I update the article.

Damage versus Damages

I believe that the correct use of the word "Damage" in the context of destruction has no plural. "Damages" on the other hand means award or compensation. I have not updated this page. Cheers - Lars Lars Mathiesen (talk) 22:24, 20 November 2012 (UTC)

I completely agree with Lars. I think there need to be separate entries for "damage" and "damages", since the legal concept of damages is really quite different. The word "damage", in its traditional sense, does not take the plural form damages. You would not say, for example, "The storm caused a number of damages to the village", would you? Cheers - Tim 210.148.47.161 06:19, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

US pronunciation

There is no support for the following pronunciation, nor have I, a native American who have lived in most areas of the US and visited the rest, ever heard anyone pronounce it this way:

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdæmədʒ/

Merriam-Webster, Random House and American Heritage dictionaries ALL give the same pronunciation given here for the UK, which is the only pronunciation I have ever heard from any native English speaker from anywhere in the world:

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdæmɪdʒ/

The audio recording included here as the US pronunciation even uses the /ɪ/, not the /ə/, pronunciation.

I am going to remove the US pronunciation and the notation that the UK pronunciation is for that country only, since the evidence is overwhelming that it is the universal pronunciation among native English speakers. If the /ə/ pronunciation is so precious to some editor that he or she feels compelled to restore it, please cite some very reliable source for that pronunciation, since as far as I can determine no one else on earth has ever used it.

If the word is pronounced /ˈdæmədʒ/ in some part of the world other than the US and the UK, please accept my apology if I've insulted you, and please restore that pronunciation and indicate clearly where it is used. I only know that it is not used in the US, and the dictionaries I have consulted all are US dictionaries.—Jim10701 (talk) 18:44, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

The sources I located which give only the /ˈdæmɪdʒ/ pronunciation are listed below. Note that all are dictionaries published in and primarily for the US:

• Merriam-Webster: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/damage (archived at http://www.webcitation.org/6FXKpHbSF)
• American Heritage and Random House: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/damage (Note: this page also includes an entry from the UK-centric Collins English Dictionary, with exactly the same pronunciation.)

—Jim10701 (talk) 19:39, 31 March 2013 (UTC)