"Divan"

[Tom Zurinskas]

It would be DIE-van (~dievan) for me.  di-VAN (~divvan) sounds like a car.  Thefreedictionary.com has only the UK version spoken ~divvan.  M-w.com has both but with ~divvan first.  M-w.com wouldn't be using UK phoneticists would they?  After all they have Webster in their name.


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



>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Paul Johnston
> Subject: Re: "Divan"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Wilson,
>
> My grandmother (born 1879, NYC) used "DYE-van" interchangeably with davenport to designate the couch. My mom (b. 1904) used the word occasionally, but I've never heard anyone younger use it. My students laugh at me when I mention this.
>
> Paul Johnston
> On Nov 8, 2010, at 10:06 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society
> > Poster: Wilson Gray
> > Subject: "Divan"
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Just heard it pronounced "dih-VAN." I've always used " 'DYE-van."
> > Rather, I've always mentally-pictured it that way. I don't recall that
> > I've ever had occasion to speak this word.
> >
> > --
> > -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
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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