"Neanderthal/ ~tal"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Looks like MW favors the full mock-German sound, complete with / a / in the second syllable.

  I doubt I've ever heard an American say NeAHNdertall, not even specialists on cable.

  JL

Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Tom Zurinskas
Subject: Re: "Neanderthal/ ~tal"
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I enter "neandertal" in m-w.com and get
Main Entry: Ne·an·der·thal
Pronunciation: nE-'an-d&r-"tol, -"thol; nA-'än-d&r-"täl
Function: noun
Etymology: Neanderthal, valley in western Germany

The spelling is automatically changed from "t" to "th" by m-w.com.

In "tradnouncing" (pronouncing the letter strings typical of the way
American traditional alphabetical patterns are spoken) we should push for
"th" spoken as the usual "th", in this case unvoiced.

We don't call Mexico, ~Meheekoe, so we shouldn't prefer saying neandertal,
over neanderthal.


Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL4+
See truespel.com and the 4 truespel books at authorhouse.com.





>From: Jonathan Lighter
>Reply-To: American Dialect Society
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject: "Neanderthal/ ~tal"
>Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2006 17:15:42 -0700
>
>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender: American Dialect Society
>Poster: Jonathan Lighter
>Subject: "Neanderthal/ ~tal"
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Wikipedia explains the two English versions thisaway :
>
> "The term Neanderthal Man was coined in 1863 by Irish anatomist William
>King. Neanderthal is now spelled two ways: the spelling of the German word
>Thal, meaning "valley or dale", was changed to Tal in the early 20th
>century, but the former spelling is often retained in English and always in
>scientific names, while the modern spelling is used in German."
>
> Certainly "Neandertal" has been far more common in my experience over
>the past twenty years or more, though I grew up spelling and saying
>"Neanderthal" with the "th". Is this the only English borrowing whose
>spelling (and to some degree pronunciation) has been changed to reflect a
>later change in spelling in the source language ?
>
> I knew an anthro grad student once who derided my use of "Neanderthal"
>as "wrong." I told him his use of "toolkit" was "offensive." Then we beat
>each other up.
>
> That last part is fiction. But he did say, somewhat sniffily, that
>"-thal" was "an incorrect pronunciation," even in English.
>
> JL
>
>
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