nauseous = nauseated (1885)

[Dennis R. Preston]

Peter,

My point was for the pronunciation of nauseous with =zh-, and I am a
naw-ze-ated speaker, contrary to your prediction.

dInIs



>Oh, I'm sure I've heard "naw-zhe-ated" as well as "naw-ze-ated," though
>from different speakers.  What strikes me is hearing "nawshus" from
>speakers the rest of whose speech would lead me to expect "naw-ze-ated"
>rather than "naw-she-ated," since they weren't British.  I assume
>"naw-zhe-ated" speakers would use the -zh- consistently (i.e.,
>"naw-zhe-ous" or "nawzhus").
>
>Peter
>
>--On Tuesday, January 11, 2005 11:58 AM -0500 "Dennis R. Preston"
><preston at MSU.EDU> wrote:
>
>>Peter,
>>
>>Then you never heard me and a bunch of my kind who all use -zh-
>>rather than -sh-. It's certainly a LH (i.e, Lowland Hillbilly) form
>>but may have wider distribution.
>>
>>dInIs
>>
>>
>>>I came in on this discussion in progress when I rejoined the list after
>>>an absence, so I apologize if this aspect has already been covered, but
>>>it seems to me that "nauseous" is isolated by its pronunciation in
>>>addition to its other peculiarities.  I don't recall ever hearing it
>>>pronounced other than "nawshus," whereas I don't recall hearing the
>>>other words in question pronounced other than "naw-ze-ating" and
>>>"naw-ze-ated."  A kid I went to high school with, who was British, was
>>>famous for saying "naw-she-ated," but I'm sure the "nawshus" pronouncers
>>>I've heard--even very recently--were not all British.
>>>
>>>Peter Mc.
>>>
>>>--On Monday, January 10, 2005 5:02 PM -0500 Benjamin Zimmer
>>><bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU> wrote:
>>>
>>>>In other words, "nauseous" has become a "skunked word" -- a word that
>>>>has undergone a recent semantic shift and is therefore a source of
>>>>confusion amongst those unsure of which sense is the accepted one.
>>>>Bryan A. Garner introduced the idea of "skunked words" in his _Modern
>>>>American Usage_ (I believe "nauseous" is a prime example on his list).
>>>>Garner notes that some anxious speakers simply avoid skunked words if
>>>>the new, prevailing usage is disparaged by prescriptivists as incorrect
>>>>and the earlier usage is no longer generally understood by anyone other
>>>>than the
>>>>prescriptivists.  In the case of "nauseous", the word can be avoided
>>>>entirely because the speaker has recourse to the unambiguous choices of
>>>>"nauseated" and "nauseating".
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>*****************************************************************
>>>Peter A. McGraw       Linfield College        McMinnville, Oregon
>>>******************* pmcgraw at linfield.edu ************************
>>
>>
>>--
>>Dennis R. Preston
>>University Distinguished Professor
>>Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic,
>>         Asian and African Languages
>>Wells Hall A-740
>>Michigan State University
>>East Lansing, MI 48824-1027 USA
>>Office: (517) 353-0740
>>Fax: (517) 432-2736
>
>
>
>*****************************************************************
>Peter A. McGraw       Linfield College        McMinnville, Oregon
>******************* pmcgraw at linfield.edu ************************


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic,
        Asian and African Languages
Wells Hall A-740
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1027 USA
Office: (517) 353-0740
Fax: (517) 432-2736