saying "ah" for "awe"

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

There is really nothing "easier" about saying either variant, unless you 
think that lip-rounding is a real chore.

Nor is spelling always a guide: how do you pronounce DON? How do you 
pronounce DAWN? If DON were spelled DAN would that make it easier to justify the "ah" 
pronounciation that most people use in DON?

There is also a good deal of variability based on the word itself, CONTACT 
sounds very foreign to me if pronounced with the rounded vowel.

The bottom line is everyone is queer but thee and me, and sometimes I find 
thee a little queer,

In a message dated 10/1/06 3:11:00 PM, truespel at HOTMAIL.COM writes:
> 
> Personnally, if language is given to change, I would prefer it to be more
> phonetically consistent with spelling.  What you say is that we have no way
> to influence this.  I think we have a way - our school systems.  The 
> dropping of phonics was a bad thing.  Now "phonemic awareness" is back.  A good 
> thing. ... Like substituting "ah" for "awe", I think r-dropping is easier to say 
> as well.
> 
> Tom z
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
> 

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