Epiphany

I was at a wedding reception where there were also in attendance numerous persons I needed to address as "Aunt." And it suddenly struck me: there really is only one proper pronunciation for "aunt." And it's not the American one. 

"Aunt" is supposed to rhyme with the following list of words

daunt

flaunt

gaunt

haunt

jaunt

vaunt

It is not supposed to rhyme with these words

ant

brant

can't

grant

pant

rant

Note the spellings. Why would every other spelling which includes the four-letter sequence "aunt" be pronounced different from the same four letters standing alone? There really is no room for doubt left. But just in case, I queried my standard reference only to have my concerns confirmed. "Aunt" had only one phonetic spelling: /ɑːnt/. For those who don't study the International Phonetic Alphabet as though it would make a difference to the world, I'll draw your attention to the two stacked dots following the one-story "a." These indicate that the vowel preceding them is the long rather than the short version of the pronunciation. Thus "aunt," not "ant." 

By the by, if your standard reference is Merriam-Webster online with their little sound bite that reads words aloud for you, then I weep.

I filled some four hours or more pondering the history, development, and likely causes of the word's mispronunciation and could really only come up with one conclusion. It being a new year, I resolved myself to pronounce words as they ought to be pronounced. The time is now! One fifteen! I will make a stand! I will say /ɑːnt/ and not /ɑnt/! I will restore balance to the English Language! 

And! I will come up with some sort of solution for everyone I've addressed as "Auntie" all these years. Because nowhere, absolutely nowhere, could I find any linguistic support for a native English speaker to be saying it /ɛnti/. 

P.S. To Brian's sister: Your wedding was lovely and I promise I didn't pass the entire time contemplating the pronunciation of the word "aunt." There was at least one half hour in there where I argued with your cousin over the difference between Sprite and 7UP. She's under the delusive impression that they're the same thing.