vl cluster spotting

[Dennis Preston]

There is no frequency effect for us /l/-vocalizers (widespread as we
are); we all pronounce all these words just as you have given them.
Post-vocalic /l/ realization, even though I have been in the frozen
north lo these many years, still sounds like an affectation or
foreignism to me.

dInIs





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>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>Subject:      Re: vl cluster spotting
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>At 6:53 PM +0000 11/10/07, ronbutters at aol.com wrote:
>>I suppose the psycholinguistic constraints on "foreign" clusters &
>>such have already been figured out by clever psychologists? Perhaps
>>"vlog" sounds like an English word in a way that "Vladivostok" does
>>not, so it is hard to believe that the initial "vl" cluster is
>>happening in "vlog." And "tse-tse" sounds like "teensy" Do some
>>people never master "Schlitz" because it sounds so much like "slits"?
>
>Could be, but are those a different subset of speakers from those who
>say "srimp" rather than "shrimp"?
>
>>I've noticed, b y the way, that assimilation is common in "alcohol"
>>--> "a'cohol" (not sure if the same people say "A'catraz" or
>>"a'cemy" (or "A' Capone").
>
>I'd suspect a frequency effect here--"alcohol" is a lot more frequent
>than the other items, and so a lot more likely to simplify.
>
>LH
>
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--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
Morrill Hall 15-C
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48864 USA

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