the good old days, and that pesky letter "shee" (formerly "shch")

[Sarah Hurst]

I object! I'm from the Oxford area and I pronounce "Pall Mall" as "Paul
Maul" - not only that I think most Londoners I know do too. I don't think
it's affected as Will claims. 

Sarah

-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
[mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of William Ryan
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 1:08 AM
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] the good old days, and that pesky letter "shee"
(formerly "shch")

Re "Jeck" and "Peddington" - guide books to London sometimes tell you 
that the street called Pall Mall is pronounced "Pell Mell". It still is 
by posh old ladies who shop at Fortnum and Mason's, and perhaps the 
Queen, although a few affected speakers may sometimes be heard to 
pronounce it "Paul Maul", and a few taxi drivers may pronounce it to 
rhyme with "how now". Otherwise most Londoners probably rhyme it with 
"pal". I remember reading somewhere that King George V (I think) 
explained the difference between The Mall (another London street) and 
Pall Mall by saying "I walk down The Mall but I run Pell Mell".
One of the problems for Russians who have been taught what they are told 
is good British English is that they often find it hard not to put a 
strong 'y' in front of the 'e' (I am not versed in IPA) so that 'have' 
becomes 'hyev'.
Will Ryan

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