Different dialects, same error

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated  Sat, 4 Sep 2004 22:47:13 -0400,  Wilson Gray
<wilson.gray at RCN.COM> writes:

>   as a result of a
>  phonological rule of BE that causes Mc/Mac always to be pronounced as
>  [maek], as in "M[ae]c Cracklin," "M[ae]c Arthur," I mistakenly
>  *assumed* that McBrown, pronounced M[ae]c Brown in BE, was his surname.
>  That is, there is no difference in pronunciation between "Johnny
>  McBrown" and "Johnny Mack Brown."

When you say "no difference in pronunciation" between "McBrown" and "Mack
Brown", are you saying that in BE the "Mc-" or "Mac-" prefix receives the same
stress as the middle name "Mack" standing along?  That is, would a speaker of BE
say " 'maek 'braun" rather than " maek 'braun" for "McBrown"?  The other
possibility, that in BE a single-syllable middle name would be unstressed, I would
find a little surprising.

          - James A. Landau