"Norval" ... How do *you* pronounce it?

[Paul A Johnston, Jr.]

Norval Smith, a Scottish linguist who used to be at U. of Amsterdam was  also [nOrv at l}.

Paul Johnston

----- Original Message -----
From: Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
Date: Friday, August 28, 2009 9:57 am
Subject: Re: "Norval" ... How do *you* pronounce it?

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------
> ------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "Norval" ... How do *you* pronounce it?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> ------------
>
> On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 2:31 AM, Wilson Gray<hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > I got a note from Facebook telling me that Norval [Surname] had
> become> my Fb-friend. That reminded me of a grade-school classmate
> of mine
> > down home in Texas. His name was Norval Moore, pronounced
> > approximately [na:ve at l mo].
>
> The only place I've run across that name is in the great Preston
> Sturges movie "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" (1944). Eddie Bracken
> plays Norval Jones, who ends up posing as Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki to get
> his beloved Trudy Kockenlocker out of a jam... Anyway, I'm pretty sure
> it's pronounced ['nOrv at l] (rhymes with "Orville") in the film.
>
>
> --Ben Zimmer
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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