pronuncation of BURY

[Dennis R. Preston]

Actually, "Lars" with a devoiced final consonant is already a
modification from the Norwegian /sh/ (for "rs"), but, just like
Polish "rz" (which is simply /zh/, we don't seem to be able to resist
those /r/s, so we get two stages of modification /lash/ -> /lars/ ->
/larz/.

dInIs

>Now, now, I take umbrage at the "hickish and old-fashioned" comment--esp.
>since I'm a Norw-American from southern Minnesota!  (And I hope you
>recognized my irony when I mentioned "proper" English--or do you think your
>English is more proper than mine?)  I doubt that it had anything at all to
>do with Norwegian immigrants, any more than with any other immigrants.  In
>fact, I'm quite sure that other regions (Northern?) have bury-furry
>too--and logically the Philly-Baltimore area has it, since American, Lower
>Merian, etc. rhyme with Murray there.  Walt Wolfram, where are you when we
>need you?!
>
>Again, I think Craig-as-Kregg is not lexically limited.  Someone else
>mentioned "plague" as "plegg"; I've heard that too, besides The Hague as
>Hegg.  On the other hand, Lars with a devoiced final consonant is a
>holdover from Scandinavian languages, but that too is changing with the
>younger generations.  Ditto with Oslo, where the medial fricative is also
>devoiced in Norway but not here.
>
>At 05:59 PM 7/21/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>>  >
>>>  I don't know about Iowa, but the bury-furry rhyme was common in my
>>parents'
>>>  generation in Minnesota.  At some point I switched to bury-berry, probably
>>>  through schooling in "proper" English.
>>>
>>
>>Beverly--
>>
>>That must be why I thought that "bury" pronounced like "burry" sounded
>>'hick-ish' and old-fashioned.  I have to wonder if it had something to do
>>with the many native Norwegians in the Southern Minnesota in the 1850s to
>>1920s.  It sounds like something the Norwegian-as-first-language Minnesotans
>>I have known would say. (especially those who would now be 70-100 years
>>old).  I know I have never said "bury" as anything but "berry".   And on
>>this topic, notice that most of the questions we seem to have on this type
>>of sounds (besides the classic Merry-Mary-Marry) are questions about names.
>>Names are different.  You pronounce a name the way everyone else around you
>>pronounces it (unless the bearer tells you differently).  So, I have no
>>problem imagining saying "Craig" as "cregg" or "crayg" (like Hague).  Or
>>"Gary" like "merry" or "Mary" or "marry", depending on how someone was
>>introduced to me.  Naturally, myself, I would say "Gary" like "Mary" (not
>>really different from how I say "marry"), and "Craig" like "cregg". I have
>>never run into anyone who did not like the way I said their name (anyone
>>with either of those two names, anyway).
>>
>>My sister, during and since college, has a friend from Saulte St Marie in
>>Michigan (I may have spelled that wrong, living in Wisconsin now), who is
>>named "Lana".  Not only would she not tell me when I asked whether it was
>>[lanna] or [layna], she claimed she could not hear a difference, and
>>responded to either one.  I had noticed she did not seem to care, and
>>responded to either one; but I was very surprised when she told me she could
>>not even hear that I was saying it two different ways.
>>
>>Anyway, my point is, that names are always tricky when you start talking
>>about pronunciation: especially the new ones (I met a girl named "Solare"
>>today, but she and everyone else pronounces it [solar], with no schwa or [E]
>>at the end).  The older ones are spelled differently (if you're lucky), and
>>pronounced differently according to tradition in that family's speech, in my
>>experience.  Just like "Jan" as a man's name being [yahn] or [jan], or how
>>you say the [s] on the end of "Lars".  So anyway, there's my two cents:
>>names are almost always lexically variant for individuals, and not
>>necessarily according to some overall phonemic rule.
>>-- Millie
>
>Beverly Olson Flanigan
>Associate Professor of Linguistics
>Ohio University
>Athens, OH 45701

--
Dennis R. Preston
Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Languages
740 Wells Hall A
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1027 USA
Office - (517) 353-0740
Fax - (517) 432-2736