vl cluster spotting

[Wilson Gray]

On 11/10/07, Dennis Preston <preston at msu.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dennis Preston <preston at MSU.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: vl cluster spotting
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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
>
>
>
>
>
> >---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >-----------------------
> >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"?

FWIW, among BE-speakers, these aren't a different subset of speakers
from those who say, "srimp," "scrimp," or "strimp."

-Wilson

> >
> >>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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