Aunt; was Re: "Authentic pronunciation" (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Jocelyn Limpert]

I've said "ANT" my whole life, as did my parents (Berkeley and Yale -- from
Southern California and Ohio) -- but everyone else I've encountered seems to
say "AHNT" -- from one coast to the other (but never south of St. Louis). I
always it sounded like an affectation, like someone saying "tomahto" for
"tomato."

On Thu, Oct 7, 2010 at 5:09 AM, Barbara Need <bhneed at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Barbara Need <bhneed at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Aunt; was Re: "Authentic pronunciation" (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I  was corrected by my fourth grade (MA) spelling teacher. I have just
> moved from near Cleveland and said that we had gone out to visit my
> [Ant] and she asked me if I meant the little black insect and I said
> no, my mother's sister, and she said, you mean your [Ont] (low back
> rounded vowel). Of course, I meant nothing of the sort. Just one more
> contribution to my decision NOT to adopt the accent of the Northern
> Shore.
>
> Barbara
>
> Barbara Need
> Ithaca
>
> On 5 Oct 2010, at 5:49 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
> > For a number of years, the preferred media pronunciation on both Fox
> > and CNN
> > seems to have been "Ont."
> >
> > One of those things I notice. I can't even tell you the last time I
> > heard
> > one of a leading telejournalists say "ant."
> >
> > As it was explained to me by a know-it-all some thirty-five years
> > ago, "Ant"
> > is "insulting because an ant is an insect and an Ont isn't."
> >
> > I couldn't argue with that logic. (Actually I could have but didn't
> > want
> > to be bothered.)
> >
> > JL
>
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