For words ending in "-ity" is it ~t or ~d

[James Harbeck]

>I'm saying your books are wrong.  Sorry about the heresy, but perhaps the
>writers were natives of other languages with prevalent r-flaps.

LOL! "My books" are being used to teach a lot of linguistics
students... maybe you should call around and let universities know
they're wrong.

If one person calls you an ass, ignore him. If two people call you an
ass, check for hoofprints. If three call you an ass, buy a saddle. If
the leading authorities in a field disagree with you, it's not 100%
certain that they're right, but you might want to spend a little more
time investigating their position.

Me, I'll trust Peter Ladefoged et al. (including no shortage of
native Anglophones!) and my own ears and proprioception far sooner
than I'll trust Tom Zurinskas. Sorry. I'm not going to bother posting
sound files, because if you've missed hearing it so far, you'll miss
hearing it again.

As to who dictionaries are aimed for and how they aim for them, and
who lexicographers consider authorities on such matters and so on,
I'll leave that to the accomplished and respected lexicographers on
this list. If in fact they find it worth their time to comment at
all. For myself, I've said as much as there's any point in my saying.
You haven't persuaded me, and if I haven't persuaded you, we're
getting nowhere and may as well stop.

James Harbeck.

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