oh-MAHZH

[A. Maberry]

On Fri, 30 Apr 1999, Ron Butters wrote:

> In a message dated 4/29/99 11:28:54 PM, maberry at U.WASHINGTON.EDU writes:
>
> I think I tend to say oh-MAHZH myself. Living in a part of the country where
> people say UHM-bull for "humble," I think my use of the Frenchified
> pronunciation of "homage" reflects an uncertainty about whether hearers
> expect me to say "AHM-idge" or "HAH-midge." In this respect, oh-MAHZH can't
> be "wrong" cuz that is how the French say it. (Why would one characterizes it
> as "pseudo-French"? Is rahn-dey-voo also "pseudo-French"? Do we have to say
> HERB rather than ERB in order to avoid being "pseudo-French"?)
>

Sorry about the "pseudo-French" term. What I was getting at was that
ho-MAHZH is not really a French pronunciation but that oh-MAHZH is.
The dictionary I checked (Random House) lists the pronunciation of herb as
("urb", and "hurb, esp. British). I've heard more people around here, use
"hurb" than in the past.

Allen
maberry at u.washington.edu