"parap(@)legic" - asphalt

[Jonathan Lighter]

I've always said "azfault" & will keep on doing so.

Eugene O'Neill, however, seems to have begun as an "ashpalt" man. His unpublished 1918 play, "Shell Shock," contains this scene description:

"Through the open windows, the white curtains of which hang motionless, unstirred by the faintest breeze, a sultry vapor of dust-clogged sun light can be seen steaming over the hot ashpalt."

(Thanks to Live Search Books for putting O'Neill's typescript online.)

Lest one think that "ashpalt" must be a simple typo, Live Search reveals two more printed exx. (1900 and 1907).

There is also an Anglo-Irish comic song dating from the early 20th C. (or the late 19th) titled "The Hot Ashpelt [sic]."

None of these pronuns. are in OED.

JL

Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote: ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender:       American Dialect Society
Poster:       Tom Zurinskas
Subject:      Re: "parap(@)legic" - asphalt
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

from m-w.com (a really marvelous free resource)
(phonetics in m-w, ~truespel, and common sense (as a linguist called it)

Main Entry: para·ple·gia
Pronunciation: \ˌpa-rə-ˈplç-jik
     - as I hear the speaker say it ~pairuplleejik  (pair-a-PLEA-jic)

Main Entry: 1as·phalt
Pronunciation: \ˈas-ˌfȯlt also ˈash-, especially
British -ËŒfalt\
      -   as I hear the speaker say it   ~asvault  (ASS-vault)
Variant(s): also as·phal·tum  \as-ˈfȯl-təm, especially
British -ˈfal-\
      -  as I hear the speaker say it   ~asffaultoom  (ass-FALL-tomb)

It's always been ASS-vault to me, although clearly the "ph" indicates an ~f
sound.
I'll switch to the ~f sound.  Best to keep in line with spelling.

Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL4+
See truespel.com.  The 4 truespel books and "Occasional Poems" are at
authorhouse.com.





>From: sagehen
>Reply-To: American Dialect Society
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject: Re: "parap(@)legic"
>Date: Mon, 21 May 2007 23:04:46 -0400
>
>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society
>Poster:       sagehen
>Subject:      Re: "parap(@)legic"
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> >At 7:00 PM -0500 5/21/07, Sarah Lang wrote:
> >>On May 21, 2007, at 11:30 AM, James Harbeck wrote:
> >>
> >>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >>>-----------------------
> >>>Sender:       American Dialect Society
> >>>Poster:       James Harbeck
> >>>Subject:      Re: "parap(@)legic"
> >>>----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>>---------
> >>>
> >>>>I know I also insert a vowel sound there. But now that I know it's
> >>>>naughty,
> >>>>I will continue to do so :)
> >>>
> >>>Are you aware of other places in your dialect (or idiolect?) where
> >>>you similarly insert a schwa between [p] and [l]? That is, is there a
> >>>documentable transformation pattern?
> >>
> >>I'm from Edmonton Alberta and I also insert a schwa--but we Canadians
> >>are famous for that.
> >>
> >>(I also say "ash-phault" for "asphalt.")
> >>
> >As soon as I read that last comment, it occurred to me to check where
> >the Cowboy Junkies (and in particular their lead singer, Margo
> >Timmins) hail from, because it always puzzled me that they sing about
> >"ashphalt" (in "200 More Miles").  Sure enough, they're all
> >Torontonians.  Not Alberta, but apparently close enough for
> >(Canadian) government work.
> >
> >LH
>  ~~~~~~~~~~~~
>"Ash-phalt" is hardly confined to Canada.  I've heard it everywhere I've
>lived in the states (middle west, west coast, northeast).
>AM
>
>~@:>   ~@:>   ~@:>   ~@:>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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