Why is "Missouri" pronounced with -z-

[Terry Irons]

Gerald,

As a graduate student working for Don Lance in the 80s, I did some
research on the history of the pronunciation of Missouri.   In the 19th
century, in fact,  [mIsuri] was the preferred pronunciation.  The
pronunciation [mIzuri] was scorned.  An explanation for the shift from s
to z in "Missouri" and "possess" in contrast with "Mississippi" is a
variant of Verner's Law--stress on the following syllable.

I believe Don covered this in one of his articles on the pronunciation
of Missouri ((1985, Missouri Folklore Society Journal or 1999 Names) but
I am not certain.

--
Virtually, Terry
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Terry Lynn Irons        t.irons at morehead-st.edu
Voice Mail:             (606) 783-5164
Snail Mail:             UPO 604 Morehead, KY 40351
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