pirates in the Gulf of X

[Joel S. Berson]

I am reminded that in "As You Like It" the Forest of Arden is
referred to (a half-dozen times) as a desert.  Must have been near the Gulf.

Joel

At 12/6/2008 11:22 AM, Arnold Zwicky wrote:
>noticed in an op-ed piece "Grand Theft Nautical" by John S. Burnett in
>the 5 December NYT: a reference to piracy in the "Gulf of Arden".  at
>first i took this to be a simple typo (possibly a cupertino) for "Gulf
>of Aden", but it seems to have been intended (and has been preserved
>on-line).
>
>googled references to this body of water (raw webhits):
>   Gulf of Adan  149
>   Gulf of Arden  1,040
>   Gulf of Eden  4,280
>   Gulf of Aden  880,000
>
>reference works in English seem to have the spelling ADEN (for both
>the gulf and the Yemeni port city for which the gulf is named),
>pronounced (in English) [ed at n] ([e] as in "hay").  EDEN might be an
>attempt to represent this English pronunciation (or there might be
>people who think it's [id at n], as in the Garden of Eden).  ADAN might
>be an attempt to approximate the Arabic pronunciation (with a low
>vowel in both syllables), or might represent a compromise between the
>Arabic and the English pronunciations.  ARDEN might have originated
>with non-rhotic English speakers, with AR representing [a:].
>
>the AR spelling is used by speakers (like Burnett himself) who would
>appear to be rhotic; presumably they got it (ultimately) from non-
>rhotic speakers.  but how do they pronounce ARDEN?
>
>anyone have actual knowledge of the spellings and pronunciations?
>
>arnold
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org