Heard on [adult swim]: "Japan" > [dZei p&n]

[Jonathan Lighter]

Jerry, that's a great tidbit.

JL

On Wed, Sep 8, 2010 at 9:24 PM, Gerald Cohen <gcohen at mst.edu> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Gerald Cohen <gcohen at MST.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Heard on [adult swim]: "Japan" > [dZei p&n]
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> There's also a Japan in Missouri, pronounced "Jay-pan."
> Robert Ramsay in his book _Storehouse of Missouri Placenames_ has an
> interesting story about it.  The name attracted  unfavorable attention
> during World War II, but then it came out that the town was not named
> in honor of Japan but rather in honor of Christian martyrs who perished
> there.
>
> The objections then vanished.
>
> That's from memory. My copy of Ramsay is at my office.
>
> Gerald Cohen
>
>
> On 9/8/10 5:48 PM, "Jonathan Lighter" <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Heard on [adult swim]: "Japan" > [dZei p&n]
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
> -
> >
> > 1945 Ernie Pyle _Last Chapter_ (N.Y.: Henry Holt, 1946) 23: I noticed a
> lot
> > of people [in the Marianas] unconsciously pronouncing Japan as "Jay-pan,"
> > just as in Africa we always used to say "A-rab" instead of "errab," as we
> > were taught in school. Sometimes they carried it into multisyllables,
> such
> > as "We're going to Jay-pan-man-land" tomorrow.
> >
> > Pyle grew up in west-central Indiana: hence "errab."
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Sat, May 22, 2010 at 3:24 PM, Bill Palmer <w_a_palmer at bellsouth.net
> >wrote:
> >
> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >> -----------------------
> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster:       Bill Palmer <w_a_palmer at BELLSOUTH.NET>
> >> Subject:      Re: Heard on [adult swim]: "Japan" > [dZei p&n]
> >>
> >>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> --
> >>
> >> You would not hear that today, Wilson.  Wake County NC is practically
> the
> >> exclusive province of relocated Yankees.
> >>
> >> Bill P
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: "Wilson Gray" <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> >> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Sent: Saturday, May 22, 2010 1:04 AM
> >> Subject: Heard on [adult swim]: "Japan" > [dZei p&n]
> >>
> >>
> >>> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> >>> header -----------------------
> >>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >>> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> >>> Subject:      Heard on [adult swim]: "Japan" > [dZei p&n]
> >>>
> >>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> --
> >>>
> >>> Spoken by a Squidbilly, according to the story line, a native of the
> >>> North-Georgia hill country:
> >>>
> >>> "Sushi? That's made over yonder in JAY-pan."
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> The only other time that I've heard "Japan" pronounced this way, it
> >>> was spoken by a step-relative of mine from Wake County, NC.
> >>>
> >>> No, I'm not assuming that someone playing the voice of a cartoon
> >>> character is truly a representative speaker of any real local dialect
> >>> of Georgia. But, I'm just saying, you know? This isn't the first time
> >>> that I've heard _Japan_ pronounced as "JAY-pan" and, the other time,
> >>> the speaker really *was* a genuine local yokel in his home county.
> >>>
> >>> This same voice-actor pronounced "out here" as [aut tSi at r]. I would
> >>> have expected [au tSi at r]. But, of course, youneverknow.
> >>> --
> >>> -Wilson
> >>> ---
>
>  ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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