Spelling errors as a reflection of non-standard speech

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Jul 22, 2004, at 8:34 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:

> In the men's restroom, as was said back in the day, in a bar in the
> South-Central Area of Los Angeles, I once saw the following graffito
> written over a urinal: "Smile! You on Candy Cambra!" Would that I had
> been there when that was written! I would have loved to know where the
> author came from. I've *never* heard anyone pronounce "camera" as
> "cambra" in my entire life...

probably not with a full [b].  but a brief transitional oral stop in
[mr] (as in "camera") is extremely common; it's what happens when the
nasal gesture is ended a bit before the lips are opened.  people who
notice this transitional stop might then interpret it as lexical.

arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)