BURR-Y is not 'non-standard' (was Eggcorn?)

[Wilson Gray]

Or "Listen at this, y'all," as we'd say in East Texas.

-Wilson

On 2/18/07, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: BURR-Y is not 'non-standard' (was Eggcorn?)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 7:43 AM -0500 2/18/07, RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:
> >In a message dated 2/15/07 1:35:30 PM, zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU writes:
> >
> >
> >>  a footnote: i pronounce "bury" to rhyme with "curry" rather than
> >>  "Terry" -- yes, i know this is non-standard
> >>
> >The "curry" pronunciation is certainly not "non-standard" in those regions
> >where it is standard. That is to say, this is a regionalism, and in such
> >respectable places as New Jersey the most educated of speakers
> >pronounce BURY as if
> >it were etymologically related to Aaron Burr.
> >
> >Are there any words other than BURY that are spelled -UR- but have the -E-
> >vowel in any standard variety of American English? It seems to me that the
> >''berry'' pronunciation of BURY is the excentric one, spellingwise. FURY HURRY
> >MURRY JURY as well as CURRY ...
>
> Well, across the Hudson, I grew up pronouncing "bury" as a homophone
> of "berry", but I also distinguish among the other examples.  "Furry"
> (I assume that's what Ron is referring to, since "fury" is rather
> different), derived from "fur", has the [U] vowel of "fur", while I
> grew up pronouncing "curry", "hurry", and "Murry" with something much
> more like a [^].  (Now, I vary them between the two vowels, while
> "furry" is never [^].)  "Jury" is again different, with more of an
> [u].
>
> >
> >In some North Carolina courts, the Law French "Oyez! Oyez!" has come down to
> >us as "Oh yes! Oh yes!" They should of course have translated it as "Listen
> >up, y'all!"
> >
> >The opening of court thus sounds a little like the middle of a porn film.
>
> Or the end of _Ulysses_.
>
> LH
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
-Sam'l Clemens

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org