often / sophomore (was: Pronuncations)

[Arnold Zwicky]

On Jan 15, 2009, at 10:52 AM, Damien Hall wrote:

> A couple of responses to Robert Lawless' earlier questions about
> _often_
> and _sophomore_, which I posted here:
>
> From Chad Nilep:
>
> There is variation in the pronunciation of 'often', but I'm not
> aware of
> arguments that this is age-related. Some suggest the t-full version
> is an
> Americanism, other that it is a Briticism, but both variants seem to
> exist
> in the USA, Scotland and Ireland (not sure about England nor other
> Anglophone countries).
>
> ... The variation seems to go quite far back in history. The
> American Heritage
> Book of English Usage (1996) suggests that the /t/ was lost in the
> 15th
> century, but that "Because of the influence of spelling," often "is
> now
> commonly pronounced with the t." http://www.bartleby.com/64/C007/0141.html
> That would, as Robert suggests, make the t-full version a spelling
> pronunciation.
>
> In contrast, though, Oxford English Dictionary notes, "Several
> orthoepists
> of the 16th and 17th centuries, including Hart, Bullokar, Robinson,
> Gil,
> and Hodges, give a pronunciation with medial -t-. Others, including
> Coles,
> Young, Strong, and Brown, record a pronunciation without -t-, which,
> despite its use in the 16th cent. by Elizabeth I, seems to have been
> avoided by careful speakers in the 17th cent." OED goes on to note
> that
> twentieth century usage guides, including Modern English Usage (Fowler
> 1926) call pronunciation with /t/ a hypercorrection.
>
> I note, too, that OED lists spellings with and without <t> going all
> the
> way back to Middle English...

i'm pretty sure we've talked about this one before.  the historical
development is clearly very complex.  it's possible that the t variant
is (for some people) a survival of the older pronunciation, but very
likely that for others it originated as a spelling pronunciation
(though i suspect that very very few people currently are creating the
t variant afresh, from spelling; it's just how they've heard the word
pronounced).

>
> From Alex King:

> ... I have never been aware of 3-syllable sophomore, and that
> pronunciation has always been a joke in my circle of family/friends of
> general NWC provenance, but including parents born 1940. I must
> confess that it sounds stupid (writing as a native, no offense
> meant!).

this one we definitely have discussed, in passing, in connection with
"southmore".  i pointed out that american dictionaries generally seem
to list two- and three-syllable variants.  i myself find the three-
syllable variant (which is clearly the older pronunciation, since
"sophomore" is a greek-drived composite, "sopho" -- "soph" 'wise',
with the greek connective "-o" -- plus "more" 'stupid') awkward; in
fact, it sounds to me like a spelling pronunciation!  (similarly for
the three-syllable pronunciation of "opera", and also for some other
words with variants having, or not having, a medial schwa).

nice touch that Alex King finds the three-syllable pronunciation of
"sophomore" "sounds stupid".

arnold

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