Dyslexia and English Orthography was "surprise"

[Tom Zurinskas]

What sound was that again?  Sample word?


Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
see truespel.com


>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Laurence Horn
> Subject: Re: Dyslexia and English Orthography was "surprise"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 4:03 PM -0500 2/21/09, Paul Johnston wrote:
>>Sorry about this--I'm trying to represent the low back rounded vowel
>>here.
>
> Ah, my bad. What I thought was a capital D was actually a
> steroid-infused upside-down script a (that last character should be
> viewed in a font like Comic Sans).
>
> LH
>
>>
>>Paul Johnston
>>On Feb 21, 2009, at 3:48 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>>
>>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>-----------------------
>>>Sender: American Dialect Society
>>>Poster: Laurence Horn
>>>Subject: Re: Dyslexia and English Orthography was "surprise"
>>>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>---------
>>>
>>>At 3:29 PM -0500 2/21/09, Paul Johnston wrote:
>>>>The dialects that have this are either non-rhotic now, or
>>>>historically were so. There's a merger of an earlier /wOnt/~/wDnt/ =
>>>>were not, with early /r/ dropping before alveolars, stemming from
>>>>some sort of Eastern English settlement, most probably, with the /
>>>>wont/ from will not, it seems to me. The distribution listed (New
>>>>England + E VA, E NC) is consistent with settlement from East Anglia
>>>>(North) and the Northeast Midlands (South), both areas of which have
>>>>this /r/ dropping, and something like /D/ or /^/ for this vowel.
>>>
>>>Can you remind me (and maybe us) of what /D/ is in the system you're
>>>assuming? In the version of ASCII IPA I use, it's the initial
>>>consonant of "this", which it clearly isn't in this context.
>>>
>>>LH
>>>
>>>>
>>>>Paul Johnston
>>>>On Feb 20, 2009, at 8:34 PM, Bill Palmer wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>>>-----------------------
>>>>>Sender: American Dialect Society
>>>>>Poster: Bill Palmer
>>>>>Subject: Re: Dyslexia and English Orthography was "surprise"
>>>>>--------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>--
>>>>>---------
>>>>>
>>>>>The "won't" that is articulated in eastern NC in the sense I have
>>>>>described
>>>>>is clearly what most of us would interpret as the normal
>>>>>contraction of
>>>>>"will not". No "r" sound is discerned.
>>>>>
>>>>>Bill P.
>>>>>
>>>>>----- Original Message -----
>>>>>From: "Mark Mandel"
>>>>>To:
>>>>>Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 8:14 PM
>>>>>Subject: Re: Dyslexia and English Orthography was "surprise"
>>>>>
>>>>>>---------------------- Information from the mail
>>>>>>header -----------------------
>>>>>>Sender: American Dialect Society
>>>>>>Poster: Mark Mandel
>>>>>>Subject: Re: Dyslexia and English Orthography was "surprise"
>>>>>>-------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>--
>>>>>>----------
>>>>>>
>>>>>>On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 7:52 PM, Bill Palmer
>>>>>>
>>>>>>wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Well, I appreciate that explanation.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>So let me move on to a question that I think this list is
>>>>>>>supposed to
>>>>>>>address. If not, then just slam-dunk me.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>In North Carolina, where I live, and particularly in the eastern
>>>>>>>part,
>>>>>>>there
>>>>>>>is a tendency to use "won't" to mean "was not" or "were not".
>>>>>>>Ex: Q: "Who ate that last piece of pie?"
>>>>>>> A: "It won't me".
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Does this practice exist anywhere else? I have lived in and
>>>>>>>travelled
>>>>>>>thru
>>>>>>>much of the South, and don't recall hearing it anywhere else.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Bill Palmer
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I can't reply knowledgeably, but let me assure you that in terms of
>>>>>>appropriateness your question IS a slam-dunk.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Is this the pronunciation I've seen written as "warn't" in the same
>>>>>>sort of context? "about 198,000" rgh ("raw Google hits") for
>>>>>>"warn't".
>>>>>>The first page or so shows a few ringers, but most of them look
>>>>>>real,
>>>>>>such as
>>>>>>
>>>>>>- it warn't always like this [blog title]
>>>>>>- What does 'there warn't much sand in my craw' mean?
>>>>>>- Day 140: "We said there warn't no home like a raft, after all.
>>>>>>Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't.
>>>>>>You
>>>>>>feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft."
>>>>>>- And when it come to character, warn't it Compeyson as had been to
>>>>>>the school, and warn't it his schoolfellows as was in this position
>>>>>>and in that...
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Those last two are from Twain (Huckleberry Finn) and Dickens!
>>>>>>(_Great
>>>>>>Expectations_, in Google Book Search, http://tinyurl.com/d5qndc)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Mark A. Mandel
>>>>>>
>>>>>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>>>
>>>>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>>
>>>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>
>>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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