gripe from a lurker (a/an)

[Beverly Flanigan]

However we do it, I always find it helpful to point out to students that we
only have two articles in English, and that the 'n' is only for liaison
(they've usually never heard that before!).  Then we can move on to /r/,
/l/, and /t/ liaison (any more?), as in 'draw(r)ing', 'draw(l)ing', and
across(t). They also need (to be) told that for native dialect speakers
these intrusions are always followed by a vowel, and of course I cite the
mis-imitations of JFK's intrusive /r/s which we oldies recall.


At 09:19 AM 10/2/99 -0500, you wrote:
>If I pronounced "the apple" with a schwa in "the," who knows, I might say "a
>apple."  In my ideolect, however, "the" boy has a schwa, "the" apple has a
>barred i.   I say "an apple."
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Dennis R. Preston <preston at PILOT.MSU.EDU>
>To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Sent: Saturday, October 02, 1999 7:27 AM
>Subject: Re: gripe from a lurker (a/an)
>
>
>> Sooner or later you-all will catch on to the easy rule (mine, which
>yields,
>> for example, "a apple," not to mention "the apple" with schwa in the
>> article).
>>
>> dInIs
>>
>>
>>
>> >That's odd. I find the use of (a) in the quoted American Heritage
>> >Dictionary passage quite jarring to both eye and ear. I'm not a linguist
>> >and don't know the terminology for it, but I find my pronunciation of the
>> >(h) in the unstressed first syllable of "historic/al" to be vocalic
>enough
>> >to require (an); whereas the stress it receives in "history" pushes the
>(h)
>> >far enough into the consonantal realm that (a) seems more natural.
>> >
>> >Scott Swanson
>> >==a Montanan de-lurking briefly.
>>
>> Dennis R. Preston
>> Professor of Linguistics
>> Department of Linguistics and Languages
>> Michigan State University
>> East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
>> preston at pilot.msu.edu
>> Office: (517)353-0740
>> Fax: (517)432-2736
>