/wh/ - /w/

[Sally Donlon]

I seem to regularly make the /hw/-/w/ distinction without
even realizing it until my mortified middle-school-aged
daughter cringes and criticizes me for speaking like an
elitist...

sally donlon
(on the Third Coast in way South Louisiana)



Dennis R. Preston wrote:

> My nephews and nieces have also lost the good old Louisville /hw/ -
> /w/ distinction, which was never mentioned in school in my day. Its
> disappearance must have been being noticed (oh lovely verbal string!)
> by the guardians of the local tongue.
>
> Bowman Field! What a blast from the past!
>
> dInIs
>
>
>
>
>
>> In a message dated  Mon, 27 Sep 2004 13:27:40 -0400,
>>  "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at MSU.EDU> writes:
>>
>>>   Look like the old /hw/-/w/ jumped up. It bit me the other day. I was
>>>   out in the garden working and bitching and carrying on about how hard
>>>   I had it, etc... My neighbor said " You want some cheese and crackers
>>>   to go  with that wine." Luckily my pragmatic organizer took over, and
>>>   I had to figure out why what he said make sense. Finally, of course,
>>>   I got to his "wine" - "whine" homophony.
>>
>>
>> It's an old Jewish joke:
>>      What's a JAP's (Jewish-American Princess's) favorite wine?
>>      "Why can't we go to Miami this year?"
>>
>> I pronounce "wh" as /w/ and don't even hear /hw/ when someone uses
>> it.  I do
>> remember elementary school teachers trying to teach us that "wh" is
>> pronounced
>> /hw/ but I don't recall any of my classmates taking this seriously.
>>
>> Born and raised in the "Highlands" (East End) section of Louisville, near
>> Bowman Field.
>>
>>       - Jim Landau
>
>
>