my name

[Wilson Gray]

On Aug 26, 2004, at 8:27 AM, Dennis R. Preston wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at MSU.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: my name
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> Tom,
>
> Hardly personal at all.
>
> Many items which might be rendered with a schwa in unstressed
> syllables are actually more [I]-like in US southern speech. I seem to
> have the following practice:
>
> Careful: [dInIs]
> Moderately careful: [dIn at s] (where [@] = schwa
> Casual, allegro: [dI~:s] (where [I~] = nasalized [I] and [:] = length
>
> But I am perhaps (nay, certainly) contaminated by years of northern
> exposure; I have heard speakers more southern than me preserve the
> [I] even in casual speech. Their stressed [I] is also tenser than
> mine and deserves a raise mark on the [I].
>
> dIn(I)s
>
> PS: Then relationship of my name to "dentist" has always been
> interesting to me. Some people have [dInIst] for both me and the
> tooth-doctor.

dInIs, speaking of that, Richard Pryor, in one of his bits, provides
the following definition:

"... A orthodontist. That's a dentist ..." Approx. [@ O:f at dOnIs. aes @
*dInIs*]

-Wilson Gray

>
>
>
>> Without getting too personal, I sometimes wonder how you can sign
>> your name
>> "dInIs" (if that's a phonetic representation) with both vowels
>> identical,
>> which I believe they are not because of their different accentuation.
>> Praps
>> this has been discussed before. Just kidding!
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at MSU.EDU>
>> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2004 7:56 AM
>> Subject: Re: Intrinsic vowel length
>>
>>
>>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail
>> header -----------------------
>>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>  Poster:       "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at MSU.EDU>
>>>  Subject:      Re: Intrinsic vowel length
>>>
>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> -----
>> -----
>>>
>>>> Of course! Thanks. (And I was even her colleague for a bit.)
>>>
>>>  Dennis
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> Lehiste (1980)
>>>> Suprasegmentals.
>>>> MIT Press [i think].
>>>> the classic.
>>>> !
>>>
>>>
>>>  --
>>>  Dennis R. Preston
>>>  University Distinguished Professor of Linguistics
>>>  Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African
>> Languages
>>>  A-740 Wells Hall
>>>  Michigan State University
>>>  East Lansing, MI 48824
>>>  Phone: (517) 432-3099
>>>  Fax: (517) 432-2736
>>>  preston at msu.edu
>>>
>
>
> --
> Dennis R. Preston
> University Distinguished Professor of Linguistics
> Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African
> Languages
> A-740 Wells Hall
> Michigan State University
> East Lansing, MI 48824
> Phone: (517) 432-3099
> Fax: (517) 432-2736
> preston at msu.edu
>