dot-calm

[Dennis R. Preston]

This works only for people who incorrectly pronounce "measure" with short e.

dInIs

>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
>Subject:      Re: dot-calm
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>On 1/2/07, Mark A. Mandel <mamandel at ldc.upenn.edu> wrote:
>>
>>  It doesn't take a minimal pair to decide that two phones are different
>>  phonemes. English voiced and voiceless <th> (/th, dh/) should be distinct in
>>  any analysis even without such marginal minimal pairs as "thy/thigh" and
>>  "this'll/thistle". So would /sh, zh/ (do those two have any minimal pairs at
>>  all?).
>
>There's "mesher" vs. "measure", "Asher" vs. "azure", "Aleutian" vs.
>"allusion", "cash" vs. "cazh" (short for "casual"), "shush" vs.
>"zhuzh" (a Queer Eye-ism), etc.
>
>
>--Ben Zimmer
>
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>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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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

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