/wh/ - /w/

[Dennis R. Preston]

Wait till your middle-aged school children (PhD program) start mocking you.

dInIs

>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