/wh/ - /w/

[Marsha Alley]

  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>>
  Poster:       "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at MSU.EDU<mailto:preston at MSU.EDU>>
  Subject:      Re: /wh/ - /w/
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  >The poshness of /hw/-/w/ is odd to me too (since I had it nateral as
  >a kid), but I came to learn later that many thought of it as a swell
  >form (and have been teased mercilessly by my Milwaukee wife, who
  >also mocks my /a/nvelope, /ku/pon, and pa/ja/mas).



Dennis, I grew up in Southern California but of solid Appalachian and Missouri country stock.  My "accent" is like yours, and believe me, I'm not a member of anything remotely elite or posh.  I spoke quite like a mountain child until beginning school in 1953 - the Los Angeles school system trained me out of it quickly.  It comes back just as quickly, though, if I'm with someone from the deep south.  I do not, however, say "aunt" as [ahnt] as southern African-Americans do, but rather [ant].  

I now live in rural Oregon and find many people here sound a lot like my old relatives but without the hard twang, but many of them say [ahnt].  No idea why.

I sometimes wonder if it's rurality more than regionality that influences how we sound.  I'm just now beginning to study all of this and am fascinated.

Marsha Alley marshaalley at msn.com<mailto:marshaalley at msn.com>
/a little red-faced over the sux conversation, but I'll get over it, LOL