"Business takes Vi[z]a"

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Aug 18, 2008, at 7:30 AM, Doug Harris wrote:

> Joel --
> FYI:
> Here ya go:
> http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=alicia

... a site that apparently provides a single "correct" pronunciation
for each word.   in this case, a 4-syllable "conservative"
pronunciation (that sticks close to the spelling, giving one vowel for
each vowel letter; and with stressed [I] rather than [i], perhaps by
trisyllabic laxing).  the two 4-syllable pronunciations sound old-
fashioned or british to me, but maybe that's just because i don't hear
them very often.

in the real world, there are four pronunciations, distributed socially
and geographically i don't know how.  all four are phonologically well-
formed for just about everyone, so they're all available.  of course
you might want to take the usage of particular people named Alicia
into consideration.

arnold

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