the curious phonology of Wisconsin

[Laurence Horn]

At 8:09 PM -0500 11/21/04, Douglas G. Wilson wrote:
>>The syllable division
>>of the state name is
>>
>>wI - skan - s at n
>>
>>not wIs - con - s at n
>>
>>as the rest of us have it.
>
>I didn't notice anything odd when I moved to Wisconsin.
>
>AFAIK, I've always said /wI skan s at n/, although I grew up in Detroit. Never
>thought about it, though.
>
>I say /dI sk at rIdZ/ and /dI skard/ too, I guess, but /mIs k&lkjulejt/.
>
>I suppose if I read aloud the unfamiliar word "discalculate" I would say
>/dIs k&lkjulejt/.
>
>I say /mI stejk/ but /mIs trit/, I think.

and /mIs tUk/, I assume, for a closer minimal pair.  or /mIs tajm/.

>
>The /I/ is more schwa-like when it doesn't have the following /s/ in the
>same syllable, I think. I suppose my tendencies are quite conventional in
>these things?
>
No doubt, but there's still the perception on the part of both
sophisticated and naive speakers that /w@ skan s at n/ has more of a
schwa for there-ites.  I assume it correlates with degree of
destressing.

larry