Pronunciation question (from L. Urdang)

[Laurence Urdang]

Sorry,  . . .!
  In my earlier email, I forgot to acknowledge the comments regarding schwa vs. barred i.  I have been a member of LSA (etc.) for more than fifty years and clearly recall that issue's being brought up at least once at every annual conference (often by Robert Stockwell).
  I am neutral in that controversy.
  Laurence Urdang

ruespel at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Tom Zurinskas
Subject: Re: Pronunciation question (from L. Urdang)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In truespel I represent them, ~didint, ~woodint, ~koodint, ~shoodint (
syllables each). However, "won't" and "don't" are one syllable each.
Interesting about "won't", I often hear it as ~woent and as ~wuent (where
~ue is as in "true"). It's about 50/50.



Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
See truespel.com - and the 4 truespel books plus "Occasional Poems" at
authorhouse.com.





>From: Jesse Sheidlower
>Reply-To: American Dialect Society
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject: Pronunciation question (from L. Urdang)
>Date: Mon, 28 May 2007 22:34:15 -0400
>
>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender: American Dialect Society
>Poster: Jesse Sheidlower
>Subject: Pronunciation question (from L. Urdang)
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>>From Larry Urdang, who was having trouble sending to the list:
>
>----- Forwarded message from Laurence Urdang -----
> Colleagues,
>
> [IPA is not available in my email font. I tried to keyboard the unique
>characters in Word, then copy them here from there, but that wouldn't work,
>which is why I have described "X." For some unknown reason, the schwa
>copied.]
>
> In my many years of experience in establishing the [phonetic symbols and
>in transcribing the pronunciations of words for dictionaries (Funk &
>Wagnalls International Edition, Random House Unabridged, Collins English
>Dictionary, etc.), I have always regarded the n in words like didn’t,
>wouldn’t, couldn’t, shouldn’t, etc. as a syllabic: ['dIdXt] (where X is a
>lower-case roman "n", with a tiny circle below it), etc., because that’s
>the way they were pronounced by native speakers of English.
> In recent years, I have noted that their pronunciation has shifted to
>the use of a full schwa: ['dIdənt], etc. The change appears to be
>very deliberate and emphatic: people are pointedly saying the latter rather
>than the former as if it were a mark of culture or sophistication or,
>perhaps, just for clarity of articulation.
> Am I hearing things, or has this change been noticed by others? I
>suggest that it might not be a change but that the schwa pronunciation
>might be increasing in frequency.
> Has anybody else noticed this, or am I just “hearing things”? Has any
>written comment appeared on the subject?
> Laurence Urdang
> 4 Laurel Drive
> Old Lyme, CT 06371
> urdang at sbcglobal.net
>
>----- End forwarded message -----
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

_________________________________________________________________
Like the way Microsoft Office Outlook works? You’ll love Windows Live
Hotmail.
http://imagine-windowslive.com/hotmail/?locale=en-us&ocid=TXT_TAGHM_migration_HM_mini_outlook_0507

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

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