Carol,

 

Here’s the OED entry for the past participle “been”:

 

8. pa. pple.: been (bin, bn). Forms: Southern ? 1-2 ebéon, 2-3 ibeon, ibon, iben, ibi, 3-4 ibeo, beo, 3-5 ibe, ybe, 4 yben, by, 4-6 be. Northern ? 2-3 beon, 3-7 ben, 4 beyn, buen, 4-7 bene, 5-6 byn(ne, 6-8 bin, 7- beene, 5- been. Not known in OE., where no pa. pple. of any of these verbs (am, was, be) appears. The common literary form in 14-15th c. was be, before the general acceptance of the northern ben, bene. South-western dialects have still a-be = ibe. (In U.S. often pronounced ben.)

 

When the OED uses geographical references, they are to England, but note that the northern British form has the alternate “ben,” perhaps reflecting a pronunciation rhyming with “pen.”  American English has been heavily influenced by northern British, especially Scots English, and this influence is particularly strong in Northern Midlands (American) English.  Southern Midlands probably wouldn’t have it because they merge short /i/ and short /e/ to short /i/ before nasal consonants, as in the pin/pen merger.  As the OED entry indicates, the “ben” spelling was attested 1300-1800.  “Bin” is the Northern US pronunciation.   As with a lot of pronunciations, which one is right depends on where you are. 

 

Herb

 

From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Carol Morrison
Sent: 2008-02-09 18:14
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: pronunciation of "been"

 

I think that "been" should be pronounced "bin," but my husband and in-laws pronounce it as "ben". I usually say to my husband: "Ben is a person; you have been to the supermarket." Recently I have heard newscasters and others on tv pronounce "been" as "ben". Is the pronunciation changing? The only other way I've heard this word pronounced is "bean" by British actors.

 

Carol