Mitsubushi?

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Apr 25, 2006, at 11:43 AM, Alison Murie wrote:

>> [AMZ]
>> one way involves remembering that the second syllable has U in it,
>> but spreading that vowel onto the immediately following, accented,
>> syllable, where it can stand out: I U U I (with the Us in the middle
>> and the Is at the edges) instead of I U I I.
>>
>> another way is just to forget about the U, and use all Is: I I I I.
>>
>> still another way is to move the U into the accented syllable: I I
>> U I.
>>
>> these are the three most common "improvements" on the original -- the
>> first at around 100,000 google webhits, the other two at about half
>> that.
>  ~~~~~~~~~
> If I'd been going to guess which of the maldistributions
> (dystributions?)
> of U & I  would prove most hit on, I'd have  thought I I U I, on the
> grounds of Mitzi's being a familiar nickname that trips readily
> from the
> tongue.

it's true that of mitsi, mitsu, mutsi, mutsu, bishi, bishu, bushi,
and bushu, only the first is pronounced like a generally recognizable
english word.  though Mitzi isn't all that common a name.  but, hey,
I I U I comes in third of fifteen, which isn't bad.

>   (I assume the "bush" syllable is more "boot" than "book"?)

yes.  so bushi isn't quite bushy (or bushie).  (ok, it is, for some
speakers, but not most.)

arnold

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