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There are a significant number of words in the English language that end with "-ook". Most of them (e.g. book, cook, hook, look, nook, rook, took) are pronounced with "o͝ok"; however, spook, mook, and kook are pronounced as "o͞ok". Is there a non-obvious rule that is at play here? Why is there a discrepancy?

Edit: This not a duplicate of this question as was suggested by @Josh: that was a question on HOW to pronounce "oo" words (by ELLs), not WHY they are pronounced this way.

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Alex Willison
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    Have you looked up their etymologies? – John Lawler Jan 16 '17 at 16:18
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    Why would you expect consistency in English pronunciation? – Arm the good guys in America Jan 16 '17 at 16:19
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    The words in your first list are mostly from Old English, spook is from Dutch, and mook and kook are 20th-century words. – Barmar Jan 16 '17 at 16:26
  • @Josh This is not a duplicate of that question: that was a question on HOW to pronounce "oo" words (by ELLs), not WHY they are pronounced this way. – Alex Willison Jan 16 '17 at 17:54
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    @Barmar this seems like it should be an official answer – Alex Willison Jan 16 '17 at 17:55
  • My cat's name is *Toots* (short "oo" as in *wood, Tootsie roll, Toots & the Maytals). I'm surprised how often people ask her name then repeat it back with a long "oo" (as in wooed, food, Tooting Bec*), as if they don't hear the difference. – FumbleFingers Jan 16 '17 at 18:16
  • Presumably you mean /u/ versus /ʊ/ using standard phonetic notation. – tchrist Jan 16 '17 at 18:26
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    *Pronunciation of ‘oo’ in English – long or short? https://jakubmarian.com/pronunciation-of-oo-in-english-long-or-short/ –  Jan 16 '17 at 19:09
  • Lax high back /ʊ/ is the normal pronunciation of OO before K in English. In some borrowed or recent words, however, tense high back /u/ occurs instead. American English phonemic symbols here. – John Lawler Jan 16 '17 at 20:21
  • Sorry that your question got closed. I also think it would be nice to have separate questions to address separate issues related to these sounds; however, since I can't make a post here, I've edited my answer to the linked question to add a section on the etymological origin and current distribution of these sounds. – herisson Jan 16 '17 at 23:54
  • Thanks, @sumelic. It did appear like they were two different questions; however, I think that your amendment is a good idea! – Alex Willison Jan 17 '17 at 14:07

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