"potato" vs. "potahto"?

[Salikoko S. Mufwene]

Incidentally the "tater(s)" variant of "potato(es)" is attested in
Lorenzo Dow Turner's transcriptions of Gullah.

Sali.

Paul A Johnston, Jr. wrote:

>I have never heard anyone, on either side of the pool, say "potahto".  Some British dialects, such as
>Scots, however, have shortened forms that suggest an earlier "potatto" type--in Scotland (and
>Ulster, I think), they're "tatties"--but I don't think these types crossed over here.  All I know of is
>"taters" on these shores.  Potahtoes?  Nope.  Tomahto, on the other hand, is general British--they
>laugh at our "tomaytoes"--and I'm sure was in use, at least by upper-class Northeasterners, in the
>early 20th century, as so many Briticisms would have been.
>
>Paul Johnston
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
>Date: Friday, May 19, 2006 5:59 pm
>Subject: Re: "potato" vs. "potahto"?
>
>
>
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header ------------
>>-----------
>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
>>Subject:      Re: "potato" vs. "potahto"?
>>--------------------------------------------------------------------
>>-----------
>>
>>I used to say "tomahto" till I was ridiculed out of it, but I've
>>never heard anyone say "potahto."  Some fifty years ago I asked my
>>grandparents why they didn't say it (to be consistent with
>>"tomahto"), and their response was something like, "because no one
>>says 'potahto.' "
>>
>> So evidently they'd never been aware of it outside of the song
>>either, as far back as the 1890's.
>>
>> JL
>>
>>"Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU> wrote:
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>>Sender: American Dialect Society
>>Poster: "Arnold M. Zwicky"
>>Subject: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Re:_=A0_=A0_=A0_"potato"_vs._"potahto"=3F?=
>>--------------------------------------------------------------------
>>-----------
>>
>>On May 19, 2006, at 10:24 AM, RonButters wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>In a message dated 5/19/06 1:12:06 PM, s-mufwene at UCHICAGO.EDU
>>>
>>>
>>writes:>
>>
>>
>>>>The following sentence occurs in an article published today in the
>>>>Chicago Tribune about the US Senate's vote to declare English the
>>>>"national language":
>>>>
>>>>"We think it's basically the same thing. It's a `You say potato, I
>>>>say
>>>>potahto' kind of thing," said Tim Schultz, director of government
>>>>relations of U.S. English Inc.
>>>>
>>>>I have always heard the variation about "tomato." Is there
>>>>
>>>>
>>really a
>>
>>
>>>>[p@'ta:to] pronunciation of "potato" too?
>>>>
>>>>Sali.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>You say tomato, and I say tomahto,
>>>You say potato, and I say potahto--
>>>Tomato, tomahto; potato, potahto--
>>>Let's call the whole thing off.
>>>
>>>Song (Cole Porter?)
>>>
>>>
>>yes, Cole Porter.
>>
>>but the "potato" part of the song was in there just to get a rhyme.
>>is there any evidence of pronunciations of "potato" with [a] rather
>>than [e] *before* "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off"?
>>
>>in fact, is there any evidence that some people now use the [a]
>>pronunciation, except in an allusion to the song?
>>
>>for what it's worth, the OED doesn't list it.
>>
>>arnold
>>
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--
**********************************************************
Salikoko S. Mufwene                    s-mufwene at uchicago.edu
Frank J. McLoraine Distinguished Service Professor
University of Chicago                  773-702-8531; FAX 773-834-0924
Department of Linguistics
1010 East 59th Street
Chicago, IL 60637, USA
http://humanities.uchicago.edu/faculty/mufwene
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