The Pierian spring

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated 07/19/2002 4:09:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
flanigan at OHIOU.EDU writes:

> BTW, as a native Minnesotan, I have the same three-way split in the test
>  words that you do, assuming you have "color" with a wedge (or stressed
>  schwa).  If you mean /U/, as in my Northern "pull," that's a different
>  matter.  But our mixed use of symbols on this list IS a problem.

Having no training in phonetics, I know better than to touch the Pierian
spring of IPA.  That's why I have been giving rhymes, in hopes of not being
ambiguous.

For me the first syllable of "color" rhymes with cull, dull, gull, hull,
lull, mull, null, sully, and skull.  If that doesn't help, then it is the
vowel as in Hun, Khun, Kun, nun, run, sun, ton, won, and of course pun.
Pronouncing "color" as /'cUl-'r/ (that is, with the /U/ of pull, wood, good,
etc.) sounds very odd to my ears.

I really have no idea what the usual pronunciation of "wash" might be in
Louisville, Kentucky.  Obvously my family or somebody I learned from said
/warsh/ with a vowel somewhere near that of "arm".  Living here in the
Northeast, I'm often asked where my Southern accent is.  I think I have faint
traces of such, particullarly in the word "Southern", which I pronounce as
/suth-'n/  (/u/ as in, well, color), dropping most or all of the /r/.  Now,
if I drop a fair number of /r/s, why should I insert a superfluous /r/ in
"wash"?

       Still confused

       Jim Landau