Stress patterns on words spelled with final <el>

[Herb Stahlke]

In one of James Garner's lesser performances, the Hallmark TV
movie Decoration Day, there is a southern character named Wendell,
and it's always [wen'del].  Of course, everyone in the film,
Garner included, has a studied southern accent.

Herb Stahlke

>>> laurence.horn at YALE.EDU 08/27/00 11:53PM >>>
Well, he could have anglicized it to Almondtree, but then
everyone
would have had to decide whether or not to pronounce the L.
Curiously, I've only ever heard the geneticist Gregory Mendel's
name
pronounced 'mEn.dL, but maybe everyone knows he was Austrian or
whatever.  I'm not sure the double-LL really helps either.  The
Mets
have a relief pitcher named Turk Wendell and I've heard it
pronounced
with each stress pattern about half the time.  (I think he
actually
pronounces it to rhyme with Mendel.)  On the other hand, the
last
name of the linguist Bill Cantrell is always pronounced with
final
stress, possibly even by himself.

L