milch cow

[Peter Richardson]

Peter McGraw and I were wondering the other day about the pronunciation of
_milch cow_--that is of the _milch_ part. The DARE gives milks. Having
seen it in print before hearing it, I always assumed the ch was an
affricate: Miltsch. Then I heard it as Miltsch, but I can't attest to the
authority of the speaker. I'd like to say it was from my grandmother, who
was from Scranton, PA and had all sorts of PaGerman words floating about,
but I can't. Does anyone out there have an affricate hook to hang this on?
Or does anyone who wants to talk about a cow that's giving milk just say
"milk cow" ?

Peter R.