Paraplegic.

[Jerome Foster]

How else do you pronounce it  in English besides the "French" way? The man
who drilled my well in Connecticut in the seventies, pronounced it
"reservoy."
----- Original Message -----
From: "Natalie Maynor" <maynor at CS.MSSTATE.EDU>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2001 2:12 PM
Subject: Re: Paraplegic.


> Anne Gilbert wrote:
>
> >   "Nucular" is a popular pronunication
> > for "nuclear", even among people who will use "reservwah"(a sort of
French
> > pronunciation) to suggest their education.
>
> I think most people pronounce things as they're used to hearing them
> pronounced.  I'm not sure what you mean about "reservwah" suggesting
> someone's education.  Assuming that you're talking about the word
> "reservoir," I've heard it pronounced "reservwah" many, many times,
> by people of all levels of education.  Although I've never researched
> it, my guess is that there's an age division among the people I've
> heard use the word most often -- people who live or do business "at
> the reservoir" near Jackson, Mississippi, my hometown.  Younger speakers
> in Mississippi are much more r-ful than their elders.  My guess is that
> most speakers over seventy who mention the reservoir near Jackson
> pronounce it in what you're calling a French way.  Oops.  I just noticed
> that middle r.  I don't think I've ever heard it pronounced.  That
> syllable would be [s]+schwa.
>    --Natalie Maynor (maynor at ra.msstate.edu)
>