till

[Salikoko S. Mufwene]

When my daughter was 7, I remember having an exciting discussion with her about the pronunciation of "pterodactyl." She curiously pronounced its last syllable as [tow], like in "toe" (ignore the aspiration matter, on which I am helpless ::)). I tried to correct her, saying it must be [til]. Just to help this non-native speaker who just did not get it, she pointed to her toes and asked me what the word is. I said "toe" and then she said, "now you got it." I replied that "tyl" in "pterodactyl" did not have the same pronunciation as "toe." Then, exasperated, she said, "Maybe in African English you say [til] but in American English it is [tow]." I told her she was right only about the way I said it not about the relationship between "tyl" and "toe." She gave up, more exasperated with me now. The following day, she returned from school with a partial concession, saying, "Daddy, neither of us was right. My teacher said it's [t at l]", i.e., with a schwa. This is definitely the way that the teacher must have pronounced "pterodactyl" the first time in her class. I have no idea why she perceived it as [tow]. The ongoing discussion on "till" just reminded me of this one of many interesting linguistic discussions about native and non-native competence with my daughter. She is still upset that I published a paper about her language acquisition, using her nickname, and not obtaining her permission.

Sali
on research leave in Singapore.


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Professor  Salikoko S. Mufwene
ellssm at nus.edu.edu (until Nov. 31, 2001)
65-779-1175 (Home); 65-874-3919 (Office)
Fax: 65-773-2981
I also receive email addressed  to s-mufwene at uchicago.edu
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