"Fo'ward"

[Beverly Flanigan]

At 01:10 PM 12/14/2006, you wrote:
>  Beverly Flanigan  writes:
> >And they were all reduced in England before colonization, as far as I
> >know.  We have Wooster and Glouster in Ohio too, founded, I believe, by
> >early settlers from Old and New England for whom these were already reduced
> >in speech, and respelling followed pronunciation.  As I understand it, our
> >concern now is with recent, seemingly unexplainable, r-lessness in normally
> >r-ful speakers.
>~~~~~~~
>Beverly, of course, gets my point. If non-rhotic speakers were involved
>there'd be no question.  I did think of another example, though it's
>perhaps somewhat old-fashioned.  The word "ornery" (for which OED gives
>"dialectal for ordinary")  was pronounced by some  r-ful speakers as
>"onry."  Hardly ever hear it in any context any more.
>AM
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

"Onry" is still used in southern Ohio!  And the first vowel is closer to
"awe" than to "ah" (actually midway between, as I've noted for short o in
this area many times).

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org