the dissappearing "awe" sound (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

> It should be mandatory that
> "off" have the "awe" vowel and "on" have the "ah" vowel for safety
> sake.
>
>


You keep making these imperative statements.  "There should be a
standard."  "Spelling should be simplified."  "It should be mandatory."

I probably have less formal training in linguistics and language than
90% of the participants on this list.  But even I know that what you are
asking for will not happen and cannot happen.

There is no formal authority for English and how it should be written
and spoken.  Never will be one.  Your 3rd grade English teacher gave you
rules to follow.  Guess what -- mine did too, but they were different
rules.  (and my 4th Grade teacher had different ones still).

Even if there were an authority, that authority would be ignored.

The English language grows and shrinks, evolves and is modified by those
who use it.  This has been going on ever since English became a separate
language from its forebears.  It will continue.

King Canute Zurinskas can order the tide, but it will still ebb and flow
as it sees fit.  Likewise, you can continue to say "this is how English
should be" and it will make no difference.



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> ----------------------------------------
> > Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 11:14:33 -0500
> > From: Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL
> > Subject: Re: the dissappearing "awe" sound (UNCLASSIFIED)
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
-------------
> ----------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society
> > Poster: "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC"
> > Subject: Re: the dissappearing "awe" sound (UNCLASSIFIED)
> >
---------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----------
> >
> > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> > Caveats: NONE
> >
> >
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> >> Behalf Of Tom Zurinskas
> >> Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 10:13 AM
> >> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >> Subject: the dissappearing "awe" sound
> >>
> >> Can you believe this advice to English learners. Life is simpler:
> One
> >> less phoneme to say. To me this shows the need to stabilize the
> >> language. No more awe-dropping.
> >>
> >>
> >
> > If only someone had had the foresight to stabilize the language 600
> > years ago, it would have been so much easier to slog through
> "Canterbury
> > Tales".
> >
> > Seriously, why does the language need stabilizing? So what if it
> > evolves? That's one of the reasons that English has become a global
> > language.
> >
> > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> > Caveats: NONE
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> _________________________________________________________________
> Windows Live(tm): Keep your life in sync.
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>
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Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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