Pecan is a rising fall flavor — however you pronounce it

The intrigue: The debate on how to say "pecan" is still nutty.

• According to Merriam Webster "puh-KAWN," "puh-CAN," and "PEE-can" are widely used.
• And depending on which survey you point to, either "PEE-can" (preferred by Northeasterners) or "puh-KAWN" is the most popular way for Americans to say it.
• Some people have very strong feelings about their preferred pronunciation.

Between the lines: The word "pecan" comes from the native people who speak Algonquian languages. Their words for nut include one pronounced a lot like our "puh-KAWN."

• The closer you are to where the pecan trees natively grow, the more likely you might be to pronounce it that way," says sociolinguist Erica Brozovsky.
• But "pecan" was first borrowed by the French, and then borrowed by English speakers — some shifting the stress to the first syllable, probably because of phrases like "pecan pie," according to linguist Danny Hieber.

The bottom line: There isn't one simple English pronunciation of the word, Hieber tells Axios. "This causes people a lot of angst, but that's just how language works."