Another one bites the dust?

[Charles Doyle]

_Webster's Third_ and (at least some of) its "collegiate" descendants do give the equivalent of [-bre] for one pronunciation of the plural of "vertebra."

--Charlie
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---- Original message ----
>Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2007 10:19:02 -0400
>From: "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at MSU.EDU>
>
>And the historical foundation for /ey/ for Latin "ae" plurals ain't so good either, but it's OK for Modern English I reckon.
>
>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: Another one bites the dust?
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>At 10:45 AM -0400 9/6/07, Lynne Murphy wrote:
>>>Both my Pilates teacher (New Zealander, I think) and my yoga teacher
>>>(English) ALWAYS say 'vertebrae', no matter how many they're talking about.
>>>E.g. 'Try to move each vertebrae on its own'.
>>>
>>>Lynne
>>
>>Maybe we're being (relatively) unfair, and they're really saying (or
>>thinking) "(one) vertebra" but pronouncing the last "a" /ey/ as in
>>"*a* priori" or "prima f*a*cie".  That does involve lengthening it
>>and putting it through the vowel shift, but what the hay.  The plural
>>"vertebrae" would then shift orthographically but be phonetically
>>invariant.
>>
>>LH
>>
>>>
>>>--On Wednesday, September 5, 2007 11:31 pm -0400 Wilson Gray
>>><hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>>
>>>>Heard on CSI:
>>>>
>>>>[Holding up a bone]: "Looks like a human _vertebrae_."
>>>>
>>>>-Wilson
>>>>--
>>>>All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
>>>>come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>>>>-----
>>>>                                                -Sam'l Clemens
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Dr M Lynne Murphy
>>>Senior Lecturer in Linguistics and English Language
>>>Arts B135
>>>University of Sussex
>>>Brighton BN1 9QN
>>>
>>>phone: +44-(0)1273-678844
>>>http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com
>>>
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>>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
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>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>
>--
>It should be the chief aim of a university professor to exhibit
>himself [sic] in his own true character - that is, as an ignorant man
>thinking, actively utilizing his small share of knowledge. Alfred
>North Whitehead
>
>Dennis R. Preston
>University Distinguished Professor
>Department of English
>Morrill Hall 15-C
>Michigan State University
>East Lansing, MI 48824-1036 USA
>Office: (517) 353-4736
>Fax: (517) 353-3755
>
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