"folk" with an L

[Wilson Gray]

My late stepfather, a St. Louisan thoughout his life, used "ellum" and
"fillum" for "elm" and "film." I've never heard anyone else use these
pronunciations in real life, though I'm familiar with them from
literature.

I say "Sarah" as [sEra]. my brother uses [s&r@]. Both of these
pronunciations are common enough that I consider both to be
essentially standard, though of course, [sEr@] is more "standard," it
being my preference. I have no idea why my brother uses the "wrong"
pronunciation.

He also says "million" as [mIlj at n], whereas I say [mILj at n].

How it is that he uses these less-"standard" pronunciations I have no
idea. Probably just to annoy me.

-Wilson

On Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 8:10 PM, James Harbeck <jharbeck at sympatico.ca> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       James Harbeck <jharbeck at SYMPATICO.CA>
> Subject:      Re: "folk" with an L
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>>He pronounces the "L" in "folksinger" very distinctly.  I've never heard
>>that before; nor, apparently, has OED.
>
> My brother does it all the time. Not sure where he got it, because I
> don't do it and I never noticed my parents doing it either. Probably
> just a pertinacious spelling pronunciation. He grew up in Alberta in
> the late '60s and '70s.
>
> James Harbeck.
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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