LaGuardia ", La Bomba"

[Laurence Horn]

At 8:46 PM -0500 2/8/09, RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:
>No insult intended. I am simply stating linguistic fact (see Larry's
>response). Check any elementary textbook on English phonology.
>
>People do not always know what it is that they really do when they talk. I
>doubt very much that people do find you stilted and artificial, precisely
>because you do not behave the way you think you do.
>

I think we've already found some legitimate variation among New
Yorkers on this, though.  Besides Joel (a no-schwa guy) and me (a
double-schwa guy), there's Mark (single schwa, in the "Guardia").  I
just asked my wife, a non-linguist who grew up in NY and Connecticut,
what the other airport in New York besides Kennedy is called and she
said it precisely Mark's way.  When I asked her why, she said "Wasn't
that his name?"  So one man's stilted and artificial may be another
man's, or woman's, careful.

Carelessly,
LH

>In a message dated 2/8/09 10:12:33 AM, Berson at ATT.NET writes:
>
>
>>  At 2/8/2009 11:06 AM, RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:
>>  >There is no way for me to demonstrate to you that your use of yourself as
>>  an
>>  >informant is inaccurate, but what you say flies in the face of thousands of
>>  >hours of tape-recorded speech of
>>  >Americans. If you always use [a] in "LaGuardia," you must sound like a very
>>  >artificial and and stilted speaker to those who hear you.
>>
>>  I don't appreciate insults.  As an educated New Yorker, I probably
>>  distinguish more phonetic variations than you do, and I also know how
>>  an Italian name was pronounced.
>>
>>  >Unless of course you
>>  >put significant stress on the first syllable (cf. "Lafayette").
>>  >
>>  >In a message dated 2/8/09 10:01:18 AM, Berson at att.net writes:
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > > At 2/8/2009 10:48 AM, RonButters at aol.com wrote:
>>  > > >In most (all?) varieties of American English, [a] reduces to schwa
>>  > > >when unstressed. The pronunciation of "LaGuardia" with two schwas is
>>  > > >totally normal in ordinary speech cadence. It is totally unremarkable.
>>  > >
>>  > > Not in my normal speech, and I would remark on it (or silently wonder
>>  > > if the speaker was from out of town).
>>  > >
>>  > > Joel
>>  > >
>>  > >
>>  > > >In a message dated 2/8/09 9:25:30 AM, Berson at ATT.NET writes:
>>  > > >
>>  > > >
>>  > > >>At 2/8/2009 10:04 AM, James A. Landau <JJJRLandau at netscape.com> wrote:
>>  > > >> >I checked the written transcript of Flight 1549 talking with New
>>  > > >> >York TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach Control).  There were only a
>>  > > >> >few words with "awe".  One, repeated several times, was "LaGuardia",
>>  > > >> >which is most often pronounced /l@ 'gwawr dee @/.  This is odd,
>>  > > >> >since it is an Italian name which Fiorella pronounced I don't know
>>  > > >> >how but his ancestors pronounced /lah gwahr dee ah/.
>>  > > >>
>>  > > >>l@ by analogy with "the"?
>>  > > >>
>>  > > >>BTW, it's "Fiorello", not "la".  And while I listened to his reading
>>  > > >>of the comics, I can't attest to his pronunciation, only mine --
>>  > > >>which is /lah gwahr dee ah/.  Are recordings of his readings
>>  > > >>extant?  Possibly he introducing himself.
>>  > > >>
>>  > > >>Also BTW, checking on the year of his readings, I notice that the
>>  > > >>Wikipedia article separates La Guardia.
>>  > > >>
>>  > > >>Joel
>>  > > >>
>>  > > >>------------------------------------------------------------
>>  > > >>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>  > > >
>>  > > >
>>  > > >
>>  > > >
>>  > > >
>>  > > >**************
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>>  >
>>
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>>  > > >
>>  > >
>>  > >
>>  > >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >**************
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>>  >
>>  >------------------------------------------------------------
>  > >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
>**************
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>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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