Hoarse, four, mourning etc.

[Tom Zurinskas]

Joel,

 

Run the words through thefreedictionary.com or m-w.com.  Click on the icons and hear the words spoken.

 

Let me know if you get this.  I'm wondering if my texts are getting on the list.

Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL7+ 
see truespel.com phonetic spelling

> 
> In lieu of someone to manipulate my tongue, throat, and larynx, is
> there a sound sample of speech with the distinction between these
> three pairs (or some of them) that I can listen to?
> 
> Joel
> 
> At 6/29/2010 09:36 AM, Geoff Nathan wrote:
> >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
> >
> >As others have noted, the 'horse:hoarse' contrast has been
> >extensively discussed on this list, and in the dialectological
> >literature. It is one of a small number of similar examples
> >('boar:bore, board:bored' for example) that continue to contrast in
> >parts of the midwest and southern US. A competent discussion can be found here
> >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-language_vowel_changes_before_historic_r#Horse-hoarse_merger
> >
> >
> >unfortunately there are no sound samples for the contrast. The OED
> >says that RP still distinguishes them as a contrast between long
> >open-o and open-o schwa. I believe this has disappeared, however.
> >
> >
> >The other two (for:four, morning:mourning) are identical in all
> >contemporary dialects I'm aware of, and their etymologies suggest
> >that they fell together long ago (the former), or were never
> >different (the latter, at least from Middle English times). There is
> >some dispute about this, however.
> >
> >
> >Geoff
> >
> >Geoffrey S. Nathan
> >Faculty Liaison, C&IT
> >and Associate Professor, Linguistics Program
> >+1 (313) 577-1259 (C&IT)
> >+1 (313) 577-8621 (English/Linguistics)
> >
> >------------------------------------------------------------
> >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

                                          
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