aunt/ant

[Beverly Flanigan]

And one more anecdote:  When I was at the Stanford LSA institute way back
in '87, I overheard a little African American girl talking with a white
friend (obviously bosom buddies, maybe 8 years old).  She mentioned her
aunt [ant], then quickly "translated" it for her friend as [aent]--quite
aware, like Barbara, that the other girl might not understand her otherwise!

My own family goes back and forth on the two forms; I use [aent] now in the
Midland, but my brother and sister still use [ant]; my nieces are mixed;
and so on.

At 04:40 PM 9/29/2004, you wrote:
>I'm mostly in the "ant" (i.e. [aent]) camp, born in Tennessee (Oak
>Ridge) and lived the next nine years near Cleveland, OH. When I moved
>to Andover, MA, my fourth grade spelling teacher, who had asked what
>we did over the summer, said "You mean "awnt" [ant], when I said we
>had gone to visit my [aent] in Colorado.
>
>I still use [aent] to refer to my aunts and prefer to be [aent]
>Barbara, even for my New Englander nephews. However, I did notice
>myself announcing once that I was going to be an aunt again with an
>unexpectedly back vowel (not quite /a/). I only noticed it because my
>audience was Chicago born and bred and didn't understand me.
>
>Barbara
>
>>"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 /Ênt/)
>>>>  >> 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