Dictionaries don’t say what’s right; they just say what’s popular.
Example: say “process” out loud. Now say “protest”. If the first part doesn’t sound the same but each sounds normal, you’ve discovered something that is wrong but popular.
Thats probably usually just the case in American English. I was born in the UK and pronounce the first part the same way.
But generally you are right. They is no “right” way of pronouncing words. Language is always changing and if enough people pronounce a certain word a certain way for a long enough time, it will eventually be considered the right way.
Dictionaries don’t say what’s right; they just say what’s popular.
Example: say “process” out loud. Now say “protest”. If the first part doesn’t sound the same but each sounds normal, you’ve discovered something that is wrong but popular.
Prescriptive dictionaries vs descriptive dictionaries.
https://youtu.be/2qT8ZYewYEY?si=dSLrMsCuGV9gP6dE
Thats probably usually just the case in American English. I was born in the UK and pronounce the first part the same way.
But generally you are right. They is no “right” way of pronouncing words. Language is always changing and if enough people pronounce a certain word a certain way for a long enough time, it will eventually be considered the right way.
just travel the USA and find out how different some words are in different parts