aunt/ant

[J. Eulenberg]

"Ant," definitely.  Raised in Dallas, TX.  Still, no one in my family 
(Texas or Washington State via Iowa) used anything else.  I was surprised 
the first time I heard Auwnt.  Particularly surprised because it sounded 
more high-falutin', yet it came from my African-American girlfriend. 
Close to, but not exactly like the British, which sounds to my ears like 
"Ahnt."  I've never tried to emulate it, because my family would hoot at 
me.

Julia Niebuhr Eulenberg <eulenbrg at u.washington.edu>

On Wed, 29 Sep 2004, Beverly Flanigan wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OHIOU.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: aunt/ant
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Oops, let's be careful when we talk about "backwoodsy" vs. "normal" rural
> (whatever that means).  A very sophisticated grad student of mine from
> Tennessee [tIn at si] spoke of his Aunt Jane using "ain't" [ent].  And the 'u'
> in "aunt" isn't pronounced, is it?  Unless you're suggesting a diphthong in
> "Auwnt Sadie"?  Rather, "aunt" is pronounced with the /a/ of "father,"
> right?  (In fact, my father, a fussy old-timer, insisted on it; a
> Minnesotan, he was taught by a New England schoolmarm who of course used
> the /a/.  Minnesota is still divided in its pronunciation of this word, and
> rural/urban, educated/uneducated, black/white, older/younger are not
> determining factors, as far as I can tell.)
>
> At 10:40 PM 9/28/2004, you wrote:
>> Eh-yop, that's what I mean.
>>
>> I'm not all the way up on how to show pronunciation, bear with me.  Lots
>> of folks around here pronounce the u in aunt as African-Americans do,
>> while my Scots-Irish Blue Ridge background has me saying *ant*
>> instead.  Not the really backwoodsy *aint*.  Mixed with the normal rural
>> colloquial speech, the drawn out aunt sounds like an affectation to my
>> ears.  "Dang, ain't them dogs uh Auwnt Sadie's mean?"
>>
>> I don't know, maybe they're just trying to be funny and I'm too
>> gullible.  Perhaps I should make this burning question my life's work,
>> huh?  LOL.
>> Marsha
>>
>>   ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>>   Sender:       American Dialect Society
>> <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>>
>>   Poster:       Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM<mailto:wilson.gray at RCN.COM>>
>>   Subject:      Re: /wh/ - /w/
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>   On Sep 28, 2004, at 9:42 PM, Dennis R. Preston wrote:
>>
>>  >
>>  >> Rural-urban is indeed an important distinction
>>  >> and now (finally) being paid attention to. I'm
>>  >> bemused by the /ant/ (as opposed to /ænt/)
>>  >> pronouncers in Oregon. Tell us more.
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > dInis
>>  >>
>>  >
>>
>>   dInIs, I think that she means that "aunt" is pronounced as though
>>   spelled "ant" and not that it's actually pronounced [ant]. Though I
>>   could be wrong, of course.
>>
>>   -Wilson
>