army ranks [was: assorted comments]

[Dennis R. Preston]

The 'calvary' pronunciaqtion is much less frequent in l-vocalization dialects.

The principal motivation for 'calvary' is the -lr- coda-onset
proximity in 'cavalry.' If the /l/ has been vocalized, that proximity
is no longer an issue and 'cavary' is a good pronunciation for both
items.

dInIs

>  >
>>Speaking of dialects, as we sometimes do, here ;-), when I was a child in
>>Texas, I thought that this was the "Silver War," since "silver" and "civil"
>>fall together in the local version of BE as something like [si at v@], when the
>>next word doesn't begin with a vowel. I knew what "silver" was, but I didn't
>>learn "civil" until after I started school.
>>
>>-Wilson
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>This reminds me of the "Calvary"/"cavalry"  interchange we hear so often
>from whites in all parts of the country.  Does this  also exist in BE?
>  AM
>
>
>  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>W stands for >:<  War ____Waste___Wiretaps____Witchhunts  >:<
>  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
15-C Morrill Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1036
Phone: (517) 353-4736
Fax: (517) 353-3755
preston at msu.edu

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