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This is from a British speaker who teaches speaking skills to millions of students. In one of his videos, he mentions the word "gerund" but he pronounces it "/gerUND/". Speaking and IELTS (see:15:36-15:46)

Saying "gerUND" is just wrong, isn't it?. And I listened to him again and again. He is eloquent and seems to speak with an RP accent, but he said "gerUND" two times, so it can't be a slip of tongue.

So, I got surprised, and even had to look it up again. And the dictionaries (Cambridge, collins, Merriam) say it /dʒɛrənd/, as expected.

I would not ask this question if he was not an IELTS teacher, too. I can't help wondering,why would a British eloquent speaker, who seems to speaks with an RP accent, pronounce the word "gerund" so wrong?

Could I be hearing it wrong?

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    @Mari-LouA, but all of the dictionaries I looked up and other web sites that pronunces words out loud including Collins, Cambridge and Merriam pronounce it as /ˈdʒɛrənd/. So, if the pronounciation /ˈdʒɛrʌnd/ is also acceptable, why no dictionary covers it? Isn't it interesting? Commented Aug 27, 2023 at 10:54
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    I'm British, and his pronunciation is unusual, certainly not typically British. The problem I think is that he is putting the stress on the second syllable like jeRUND instead of the standard JErund. I would consider this a mistake. Commented Aug 27, 2023 at 11:10
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    I think the / -ʌnd/ pronunciation is quite rare, but the letter "u" can be pronounced as /ʌ/ in many English words such as lunch and bus. I think it's a very good question, and it's clear you did some good research before posting. Yes! Billy Kerr has hit the nail on its head, the speaker places the stress on the 2nd syllable. It's very unusual. Commented Aug 27, 2023 at 11:10
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    His accent is absolutely not RP. It's northern, possibly Manchester. And I don't hear him saying gerAND, he is saying gerUND; the odd part is the stress, not the vowel sound. Commented Aug 27, 2023 at 11:41
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    I’m voting to close this question because it turns on a mis-hearing (and/or a distinction not recognised by native Anglophones). Commented Aug 27, 2023 at 16:39

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the speaker speaks unmarked standard English. he is a teacher and his "ji-ruuund" is prosodic emphasis on the gerund nature of a word.

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