nucular and Latino

[Laurence Horn]

At 8:47 AM -0800 11/15/01, James Smith wrote:
>--- "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at PILOT.MSU.EDU> wrote:
>...compared to traditional
>>  British
>>  proniciations, which actually used to have a
>>  pronuncaition  of
>>  "pizza" with rhymed with "pit."
>>
>>  dInIs
>
>I was stopped on the street here in Salt Lake by a
>"british" sounding young man who asked where he could
>buy a "pie-za" (even a touch towards "paw-za").  I had
>no clue what he was looking for until he spelled out
>p-i-zed-zed-a.
>
Maybe it's just that the American pronunciation of "pizza" is already
taken in Britain--for the proper name conventionally spelled "Peter".

When I was in London in September I confirmed that (as the New Yorker
had reported) there are superb sandwiches of grilled chorizo and
arugula served up very fresh on grilled Portuguese rolls at the
wonderful Borough Market (South Bank, near the Tate Modern), and that
the locals don't seem to be able to come closer than "KOR-itso" in
pronouncing it.  Everyone in California can manage "cho-REE-so",
albeit with native U.S. vowels (not Victor Sifuentes style), the
first vowel optionally turning into schwa.

And everyone I know can get their tongue and palate around "NYOH-key"
for "gnocchi".  Again, English style diphthongized vowels and no
geminate _k_, but it is an Amurican word after all, as much as
"pizza" or "chorizo".   And now I'm getting hungry.

larry