Glamis

[emckean at ENTERACT.COM]

On Thu, 7 Oct 1999, Robert Kelly wrote:

> the only pronunciation (other than the spelling-pronunciation you mention)
> I've heard is /gla:mz/, one syllable.  I've heard it often, from Scots and
> older English folk.  But nowadays you hear Fotheringay just as spelled,
> and Shrewsbury with the vowel of Tuesday on the BBC where one grew up
> trying to get the 'authentic' pronunciation right as /fungei/ and
> /Sro:zbri/.  Interesting, if nobody uses the pronunciation, how authentic
> is it?  I gather Ulverston is as spelled nowadays, whereas fifteen years
> ago people round the town said /u:st at n/.  So probably the
> spelling-pronunciations will take over. Is it a sinister side effect of
> grammatology....?
>
>
I think that the rise of the spelling pronunciation can be tied to phonics
instruction. When you tell hundreds of thousands of children to "sound
things out" you can't be surprised when they do!

I'm still not certain whether this is a good or bad thing. . .

Erin McKean
editor at verbatimmag.com