sammich

[ronbutters at AOL.COM]

"sammiches" is pretty much just normal Sandhi reduction: /ndw/ ==> /?w/ ==> /m/ (with the nasalization preserved from the /n/). Compare "grandmother" ==> "gramma". This was not caused by JL's arrival in Knoxville in 1974.

"maters" and (especially) "taters" are well-known dialect variants that are the result of the commonplace process known as "clipping" + a well-known alternative for word-final schwa. "nanners" (presumably from "banana") exhibits the same process.

If people use the forms emphatically/consciously, it just means that they have become consciously aware of the sandhi-reduction form and are jovially mimicking it.

Sent from my iPad

On Jan 11, 2011, at 8:45 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:

> When I arrived in Knoxville in the 1974 I noticed that grownups frequently
> said "sammiches" in a lighthearted way. They still do. They also say
> "taters," "maters," and "nanners."
>
> My perception is that "taters" (by far the most frequently attested in
> print) is the least jocular of the three, "nanners" the most.
>
> For all anybody knows, they'll be standard Inglish in two hundred years.
>
> JL
>
> On Tue, Jan 11, 2011 at 7:09 AM, Tom Zurinskas <truespel at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      sammich
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> This reminds me that my son used to say "sammich" ~samich for sandwich.  I
>> =
>> wonder how many word phrasings come to us from children's
>> mispronunciations=
>> . =20
>> =20
>> http://chris.pirillo.com/community-contest-make-me-a-sammich-edition/
>>
>> Tom Zurinskas=2C USA - CT20=2C TN3=2C NJ33=2C FL7+=20
>> see truespel.com phonetic spelling
>>
>>                                         =
>>
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>> 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."
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