How we spent our Canadian vacation

[Beverly Flanigan]

Now this word/sound is confusing to me.  In Minnesota we always said it,
pronounced as [e], and I still do.  But is the (French) Canadian sound
that's always remarked upon a nasalized [e~] or maybe [E~]?  Except that
western Canada would presumably have the non-nasalized form.  I've never
been clear on why this little utterance so fascinates people--unless the
nasal is crucial?


At 10:45 AM 8/12/2002 -0700, you wrote:
>Too bad it's been wiped out in such a large area (east of Sault Ste.
>Marie), but at least it's a relief that it survives somewhere.  Maybe it'll
>stage a comeback?
>
>Peter Mc.
>
>--On Monday, August 12, 2002 1:04 AM -0500 Tom Kysilko <pds at VISI.COM> wrote:
>
>>  However, we did not hear the
>>Canadian "eh" until Sault Ste Marie.  That included ferry passengers,
>>motel clerks, gas station attendants, waitresses, fellow diners, and
>>librarians. But West of there it was ubiquitous.
>
>
>
>****************************************************************************
>                               Peter A. McGraw
>                   Linfield College   *   McMinnville, OR
>                            pmcgraw at linfield.edu