spelling that exclamation of disgust

[Dale Coye]

In a message dated 12/27/2003 3:15:36 PM Eastern Standard Time,
preston at PILOT.MSU.EDU writes:


> >Don't some dialects (not mine) already have one?
>
> dInIs
>
>
> >Abot the phoneme: I was half-jokingly speculating about the possibility of
> >analyzing this as a vowel diphthong  /iu/, that would take its place beside
> >/ou/, /au/, and /Uu/.
>
In parts of the South they have /ju/ in variation with /iu/ and according to
PEAS it used to be a folk pronunciation in NE-Upstate NY, but I believe it has
now died out (this is in words like music, due, news in NE). But what's
interesting about ee-yoo is that all dialects in the US have added it (at least
that's my guess), so we have this diphthong existing in a single lexical item.
I don't say this much unless I'm trying to get a reaction from my children,
but as I experiment with these sounds, I realize I do have another expression of
disgust which I'd render as /i 'j at x/--maybe we'd write it yuch--with a good
German velar voiceless fricative at the end.  I don't know if other people have
it but it could be put to use teaching students that elusive German sound.

Dale Coye
The College of NJ