Three pairs of pronunciation

[Dan Goodman]

Joel S. Berson wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Three pairs of pronunciation
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> A book a friend is reading (sorry, I didn't record the title) claims
> that the following three pairs of words are pronounced differently:
>       for             four
>       morning     mourning
>       horse         hoarse
>
> Initially I said of myself that I pronounce these pairs identically
> (perhaps with a "deeper" OU than O in "mo[u]rning?).  But now having
> rolled them around in my mouth (moth?) too much, I no longer trust what I hear.
>
> The OED does make distinctions (although for mo[u]rning only between
> British and American), but I cannot quite convince myself that they
> are present.  Or expressed correctly:  the key tells me "fur" is
> pronounced like "burn"?  Especially for rhotic moi, who *perhaps*
> pronounces "horse" with an R.
>
>
First two:   identical.   Horse and hoarse:   Different.

I'm from Ulster County NY, which I believe was firmly in the Hudson
Valley Dialect area.   To me, Rod Serling had no accent; unlike just
about everyone else on TV.

--
Dan Goodman
"I have always depended on the kindness of stranglers."
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Expire
Journal dsgood.dreamwidth.org (livejournal.com, insanejournal.com)

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org