the dissappearing "awe" sound (UNCLASSIFIED)

Tue May 26 22:45:11 UTC 2009

Every dictionary dictates, Bill.  Shall we through them out too.

If you should be in charge of a facility where the words "off/on" are spoken I would tell you that you should inform those men/women to say those vowels differently for safety reasons.

I personally would like the vowel "awe" saved.  It is quickly dissappearing.  My wife is now dropping them.  My cousin has changed the name of her child, Shawn ~Shaun to Shon ~Shaan.

I don't like the awe-dropping change.  It creates homonyms and misunderstandings.  I recently heard "See the hock." I said "What?"  Oh the "hawk."

I blame it on "whole language" teaching.  Teachers were forbidden FORBIDDEN to say teach kids that letters stand for sounds.  So kids did not learn that the "aw" and "au" text strings stood for a sound.  Accents hold sway.

I've been around a long time now.  The one great change in English pronunciation in the media is awe-dropping.  My judgment is that it corrupts the alphabetical principle, creates homonyms, and misunderstanding.  There's nothing good in it.

You defend the freedom of those who want to arbitrarily and capriciously say words as they please.  It's freedom, and freedom's a good thing.  But so is mine when I behold something I think is not good and try to change it.

Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
see truespel.com

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> Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 14:43:25 -0500
> From: Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL
> Subject: Re: the dissappearing "awe" sound (UNCLASSIFIED)
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC"
> Subject: Re: the dissappearing "awe" sound (UNCLASSIFIED)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
>> It should be mandatory that
>> "off" have the "awe" vowel and "on" have the "ah" vowel for safety
>> sake.
>>
>>
>
>
> You keep making these imperative statements. "There should be a
> standard." "Spelling should be simplified." "It should be mandatory."
>
> I probably have less formal training in linguistics and language than
> 90% of the participants on this list. But even I know that what you are
> asking for will not happen and cannot happen.
>
> There is no formal authority for English and how it should be written
> and spoken. Never will be one. Your 3rd grade English teacher gave you
> rules to follow. Guess what -- mine did too, but they were different
> rules. (and my 4th Grade teacher had different ones still).
>
> Even if there were an authority, that authority would be ignored.
>
> The English language grows and shrinks, evolves and is modified by those
> who use it. This has been going on ever since English became a separate
> language from its forebears. It will continue.
>
> King Canute Zurinskas can order the tide, but it will still ebb and flow
> as it sees fit. Likewise, you can continue to say "this is how English
> should be" and it will make no difference.
>
>
>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------
>>> Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 11:14:33 -0500
>>> From: Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL
>>> Subject: Re: the dissappearing "awe" sound (UNCLASSIFIED)
>>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>>
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -------------
>> ----------
>>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>>> Poster: "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC"
>>> Subject: Re: the dissappearing "awe" sound (UNCLASSIFIED)
>>>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>> ----------
>>>
>>> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
>>> Caveats: NONE
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
>>>> Behalf Of Tom Zurinskas
>>>> Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 10:13 AM
>>>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>>> Subject: the dissappearing "awe" sound
>>>>
>>>> Can you believe this advice to English learners. Life is simpler:
>> One
>>>> less phoneme to say. To me this shows the need to stabilize the
>>>> language. No more awe-dropping.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> If only someone had had the foresight to stabilize the language 600
>>> years ago, it would have been so much easier to slog through
>> "Canterbury
>>> Tales".
>>>
>>> Seriously, why does the language need stabilizing? So what if it
>>> evolves? That's one of the reasons that English has become a global
>>> language.
>>>
>>> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
>>> Caveats: NONE
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> _________________________________________________________________
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>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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