"pterodactoe"

[Beverly Flanigan]

We don't have to reach this far for an explanation.  Final /l/ (and often
medial /l/ too, I believe) becomes a vowel or semi-vowel in many dialects
("swallowed" is one lay term for it), resulting in homophones for "toe" and
"toll."  If you drop a final [d] also, "told" might also be pronounced
[to].  The [t@] reduction of [t at l] is close enough to [to] to be heard by
Sali's daughter as "toe."  The /l/ would be lost in "ball," "call," "bowl,"
"oil," etc.  I always show my classes a cartoon from the Black Crows
(what's its real name?), where one crow holding a phone says to another
crow, "Phone caw."

The loss of /l/ is common here in the South Midland and is common in
Philadelphia and Baltimore (where my ex-in-laws exhibited it regularly),
and it's common in much AAE.  On the loss of medial /l/, I believe I recall
"Baltimore" being pronounced [baw at m@r], and of course it's in
[m at r@l at n].  (aw = backward C; @ = schwa.]


At 10:46 PM 10/4/01 -0500, you wrote:
>   Salikoko Mufwene wonders why his daughter perceived the last
>syllable in  "pterodactyl" as "toe" rather than [til]. Here's a
>guess: The strange, multi-syllable "pterodactyl" was associated in
>the child's mind with the only word she knew that had even a passing
>phonetic resemblance to it, viz. the game "tic-tac-toe"; "-dac-" in
>"pterodactyl" was key here. Once the child focused on this "-dac-",
>the next syllable just had to be "toe." Maybe the child was also
>seeking symmetry: ter-oe-dact-oe.
>
>---Gerald Cohen
>
>>    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.


_____________________________________________
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