Slang poster

[Jonathan Lighter]

"Wagon" can rhyme with "Reagan" ?  To me, this is like those people in Detroit who rhyme "bus" with "cross."

  Truly, language is not only stranger than we imagine; it's stranger than we can imagine.

  Or did somebody already say that ?

  JL

Michael H Covarrubias <mcovarru at PURDUE.EDU> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Michael H Covarrubias
Subject: Re: Slang poster
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> Poster: Tom Zurinskas
> Subject: Re: Slang poster
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Are the vowels in "slang" and "slant" pronounced the same in m-w.com?
>
>
> Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL4+
> See truespel.com and the 4 truespel books at authorhouse.com.


Although the pronunciation key uses the same symbol for both, in the recording I
hear either a slight diphthongization or a raising in "slang".

This is similar to the [e] for [©¡] alternation I heard in North Dakota and
Minnesota.

When I ask my wife to say "wagon" she says [wegən] and when I ask her to
syllabify it she says [wej - gən]. She claims the first vowel is identical to
the vowel in "ray gun." And it's a true rhyme with "Reagan" she offers.

I recently posted the claim:
"[A]pparently before a voiced velar stop or nasal (either [g] or [©¯]) she raises
/©¡/ to /e/. Adding the [i]/[j] diphthongisation is probably just a natural
effect when a coda is lost and the following onset is noticeably suspended."

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Michael Covarrubias
Purdue University
mcovarru at purdue.edu
wishydig.blogspot.com

USA - MI4, OH3, MD3, MI13, ND5, MI3, IN1+

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