on pronouncing "gyros" (recycled Linguist List posting)

[David Bowie]

From:    Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
: >On Thu, 23 Mar 2000, A. Vine wrote:

: >> I've seen a remarkably similar sandwich in other countries
: >> (England, possibly Belgium, maybe even parts of Germany)
: >> called "doner kebabs,"

: I've read in the Times that these are quite popular as snack food
: in Germany, sold from carts or stands run by Turkish emigrants
: and guest workers.

All over Germany--excellent food for when you've only got 5 marks (6 in a
big city, 4 in a small town--prices may have risen in the past decade) in
your pocket and you need something more filling that a Käsesemmel.

Pronunciation note--the most usual way these were advertised (in Bavaria and
Baden-Württemberg, in any event) was with the spelling "Döner Kebab", but a
few places listed them as a "Döner Kebap", pronounced identically in most
but not all of Germany. Anyone know which spelling most closely matches the
Turkish?

<snip>

David Bowie                                       Department of English
Assistant Professor                            Brigham Young University
db.list at pmpkn.net              http://humanities.byu.edu/faculty/bowied
   The opinions stated here are not necessarily those of my employer