Halloween pronunciation

[Beverly Flanigan]

I suspect it's (at least in part) because no one knows the origin of the
term anymore.  "hallowed," "all hallows," "e'en," etc.--what the heck do
they mean these days?  I sometimes explain the All Souls/All Saints thing
to my classes (while dressed in a witch's mask and cape), and it's news to
almost everyone (except the occasional Latino/a, who knows about the Day of
the Dead).

"Hollow," on the other hand, is a familiar word--so it becomes a hollow
evening?!  (Not here in Athens, Ohio, world's capital of Hallowe'en
frivolity....)


At 12:24 PM 11/1/01 -0500, you wrote:
>When did everyone start calling it Holloween?  I pronounce the a as a
>short a.  I grew up in Illinois in the fifties and sixties and it always
>strikes my ear wrong to hear Holloween.
>
>Patricia Kuhlman
>Brooklyn, NY
>pskuhlman at juno.com


_____________________________________________
Beverly Olson Flanigan         Department of Linguistics
Ohio University                     Athens, OH  45701
Ph.: (740) 593-4568              Fax: (740) 593-2967
http://www.cats.ohiou.edu/linguistics/dept/flanigan.htm