Alternative pronuncations of SHRIMP

[Wilson Gray]

Thanks, Ron. "Srimp" is the pronunciation that I'm most familiar with,
too, that being the one used in my family.

I've heard "skrimp" used in neo-blaxploitation movies. In one case,
the character who used "skrimp" was identified as a "North Carolina
river cricket," for whatever that's worth.

I have a friend from Fuquay(sp?) Springs, NC, who says "skrimp,"
"skreek," i.e. "street," etc., to the extent that you get the
impression that he may have a speech defect. However, if you call
these pronunciations to his attention, he will easily and immediately
switch to, e.g. "street," protesting that

"I don't say no 'skreek,' man!"

Very strange. Apparently, if he's given a reason to monitor his
speech, he will always use the ordinary pronunciation, while remaining
consciously completely unaware that he uses "skreek" in unmonitored
speech. I also once had an acquaintance, a native of New Orleans, who
said, e.g. "stratch" instead of "scratch." In his case, I didn't know
him well enough to challenge him on his speech. So, I don't know
whether he would have reacted like my buddy from NC.

OTOH, when I used "munincipal(ity)," I was fully aware of what I was
saying. But I was somehow unaware that no one else was using that
pronunciation and my brain somehow interpolated the extraneous -n-
when I saw the words in print. Another time, I believed that there was
a word, "enroach," which I knew only from literary sources. Then, one
day, I began to notice that there was another word, "encroach," that
had precisely the same syntax and meaning as "enroach." Finally,
"enroach" totally vanished and I saw only "encroach," from then on.
Also very strange.

-Wilson

On Thu, Aug 14, 2008 at 6:14 PM,  <RonButters at aol.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       RonButters at AOL.COM
> Subject:      Alternative pronuncations of SHRIMP
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> In a message dated 8/13/08 10:58:28 PM, hwgray at GMAIL.COM writes:
>
>
>> Did they, by chance, have that skr- -> str- feature? The only people
>> that I've ever heard speak this way were black NC natives.
>>=20
>
> Don't you mean <shr> =3D=3D> /str/?=20
>
> I think the NC child I heard in Venice just used the ordinary dictionary=20
> pronunciations, though I have been in North Carolina for so long that if she=
>  had=20
> pronounced SHRIMP as /srImp/ and I might not notice it. In   the 1970s I  =20
> interviewed about 30 African-Americans in Wilmington, NC, and a similar numb=
> er in=20
> Asheville, and I don't remember ever hearing /strImp/, though that of course=
> =20
> doesn't mean that somebody somewhere may not say it de temps en temps.
>
> However, I can't find any mention of the /strImp/ pronunciation anywhere, at=
> =20
> any time, by anyone, in the scholarly literature that I've looked at. (DARE=20=
> is=20
> a pretty good authority, however.)=20
>
> DARE mentions alternative pronuncations for SHRIMP, the most frequent being=20
> the one that is familiar to me, /srImp/, which they characterize as South an=
> d=20
> South Midland. DARE cites LAGS to pretty much the same end, though LAGS also=
> =20
> records a /skrImp/. DARE also records several instances of /swImp/ and /swEm=
> p/,=20
> which are most often associated with AAVE.
>
> One article in American Speech (see below) also mentions only /srImp/--and=20
> again characterizes it as Southern (along with parallel pronunciations of SH=
> RUB,=20
> SHRED, SHRIVEL, etc.). The author also traces it back to English dialects,=20
> where both the dictionary pronunciation and /srImp/ are found. In a footnote=
> , He=20
> also mentions occasional pronunciations--in England (but calls them=20
> sporadic): /skrImp/, /zrimp/.=20
>
> TI : Pronunciation of 'Shrimp,' 'Shrub,' and Similar Words
> AU : Reese, George H.
> SO : American Speech
> VO : 16
> NO : 4
> DA : Dec., 1941
> PP : 251-255
> EI : http://www.jstor.org/stable/486563
> IN : 00031283
> AB :
> PB : Duke University Press
> CR : Copyright =A9 1941 The American Dialect Society
>
> I can send you a pdf of the DARE entry, if you like. I can also send you a=20
> scan of the Reese article, if you like.
>
>
> **************
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