Different dialects, same error

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>As a New Yorker, I'm definitely in the group that
>distinguishes -in- from -en-, unlike you and dInIs, and like your
>friend, I was a bit puzzled about Windy as a name.  But that's
>definitely what I heard, and unlike what happens when I'm listening
>to those who neutralize, I really did hear it as Windy in the song
>and not Wendy.

I distinguish /In/ from /En/ but many didn't where I grew up and I wouldn't
have any trouble understanding "pin" for "pen" etc. based on context. To
make this "Windy" into "Wendy" however never occurred to me for an instant:
I took the name in the song to be an odd nickname and I've never wondered
about it at all. Why? I suppose that those persons who would pronounce
"Wendy" the same as "windy" would (in my perhaps limited experience) have
other characteristic pronunciations which I didn't hear in this song.

I hear e.g. /wIndi h&z stOrmi ajz/. If I heard something in the direction
of /wIndi hEj at z stO(r)mi az/ (more southern, I suppose) maybe I'd take the
first word as "Wendy". Or maybe I'm just imagining things.

-- Doug Wilson