Off-gliding to G

[Laurence Horn]

At 3:55 PM -0400 9/25/09, Paul Johnston wrote:
>It was (according to Roger Lass) usual in true upper-class speech as
>late as the early 20c.
>Ii was the MIDDLE classes --in the British sense here--who were
>especially conscious of "correctness".  The upper classes set  the
>tone (and here, were apparently just being conservative, retaining
>the reflex of ME -inde/-ende) and didn't have to worry about adopting
>a spelling pronunciation as much.
>
>Paul Johnston

Interesting.  I hadn't realized the -[IN] (or, for Tom Z's behalf,
-[iN]) pronunciation was a spelling pronunciation and that -[In] is
closer to what we all "should" be saying.  So it's not some of us
"dropping one's g's" but the rest of us inventing them.  Makes
diachronic sense.

LH

>
>
>On Sep 25, 2009, at 2:43 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>Subject:      Re: Off-gliding to G
>>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>---------
>>
>>At 1:37 PM -0500 9/25/09, Barbara Need wrote:
>>>Lynne,
>>>
>>>I wonder how much this might be a reaction to the "g-dropping" in
>>>participles (huntin', fishing', etc.). I have assumed that this was a
>>>shibboleth in England based on its treatment in mysteries (there's at
>>>least one Agatha Christie in which it is a clue!).
>>>
>>>Barbara
>>
>>Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey affects this "g-dropping" in
>>participles as an instance of reverse snobbery (as I understand it).
>>
>>LH
>>
>>>
>>>Barbara Need
>>>Chicago
>>>
>>>On 23 Sep 2009, at 6:37 AM, Lynne Murphy wrote:
>>>
>>>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>>-----------------------
>>>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>>Poster:       Lynne Murphy <m.l.murphy at SUSSEX.AC.UK>
>>>>Subject:      Re: Off-gliding to G
>>>>--------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>-----------
>>>>
>>>>I probably do this from time to time, but my sister-in-law (native
>>>>of South
>>>>London) does it a LOT, though the rest of her family doesn't.  I
>>>>associate
>>>>it with a certain kind of over-enunciative talking that has a
>>>>certain
>>>>'lilt' to it as well.  (Sorry, not a very good description.)
>>>>
>>>>Lynne
>>>>
>>>>--On 22 September 2009 12:27 -0700 Grant Barrett
>>>><gbarrett at WORLDNEWYORK.ORG> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>I received this query from a listener to the radio show and
>>>>>wonder if
>>>>>anyone has any thoughts about it. Is it something you've noticed
>>>>>yourself as being more common? Can you recommend reading on this
>>>>>particular habit?
>>>>>
>>>>>>I wondered if you were aware that, in your broadcasts, you tend to
>>>>>>pronounce a hard G at the ends of words like "sing". I am running
>>>>>>into this habitual off-gliding more and more with my acting
>>>>>>students. When I point this out to them, they are shocked that you
>>>>>>could say a word like "sing" without that hard G sound.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>Grant Barrett
>>>>>gbarrett at worldnewyork.org
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Dr M Lynne Murphy
>>>>Senior Lecturer in Linguistics
>>>>Arts B357
>>>>University of Sussex
>>>>Brighton BN1 9QN
>>>>
>>>>phone: +44-(0)1273-678844
>>>>http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com
>>>>
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>>>
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>>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
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>
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