Spelling pronunciation spot-check

[Wilson Gray]

In my family, we've always said "sal-mon." Unfortunately, I have no
idea whether this be a BE thing, a Texas-BE thing, or what. Most
likely, it's a BE thing, since I was in my twenties, before I became
accustomed to hearing "'saa-mon." Judge Joe Brown always pronounces
the /l/ in "calm" and it strikes me as a spelling pronunciation. It
might have to do with the fact that, in Southen BE, "come" in all of
its meanings is pronounced "cahmHowever, I don't have any intuition
WRT "pahm" v. "palm." They both sound okay to me. But I like to hear
the /l/ in "Palmer."

-Wilson

On 8/16/06, William Salmon <william.salmon at yale.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       William Salmon <william.salmon at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Spelling pronunciation spot-check
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> >>>   The pitchwoman for Red Lobster in a current commercial does the
> >>> same for "salmon." (Like "salmonella." Folk etymology?)
>
> > On the latter, it might be relevant that a number of people with the
> > last name of Salmon (one who's a grad student here and of course a
> > subscriber to the list, and another who's a well-known philosopher of
> > language) pronounce the "l" as in "salmonella".  Although I wouldn't
> > imagine for that reason.
>
> Especially since some people pronounce 'salmonella' without the L, as
> "sammonella".
>
> > (I think it's safe to assume that Will
> > doesn't have a sister named Ella...)
>
> The assumption is safe. Now, there was a great-great-aunt Ella Salmon
> though...
>
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