free variation in pronunciation

[Benjamin Barrett]

> -----Original Message-----
> [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf Of Beverly Flanigan

At 06:08 PM 4/2/01 +0100, Lynne Murphy wrote:
> >_Either_ and _neither_ have two pronunciations each,

> >Are there
> >any other examples of absolutely free variants in
> lexical pronunciations?
> >By my definition of "absolutely free", they must be
> equally acceptable in
> >all semantic, social, (in)formal, stylistic (etc.)
> contexts for a single
> >speaker/speech community.
>
> "economic" --> [i] or [E]

Egg can be ei or e. I've seen people pronounce ink as eenk and Ink,
though I'm not sure how common this is. I think there are probably
several where the initial syllable has free variation between the
vowel sound and schwa, though I can't think of any right now.

Benjamin Barrett