"warthog" with glottal stop

Sat Jan 15 22:26:03 UTC 2011

Paul,

Yes.  My "dog" is like a Georgian "Go Dawgs" but all other "og" words have "ah" ~aa for the vowel.  

But the awe-dropping trend is very persuasive.  I catch my wife saying "tock" for "talk" and ~Shaan for "Shawn" among other swaps.  So I "correct" her.  I say "tock"?  "tock"?  Doesn't that go over big.  So watch out.  Your very name is in jeopardy of change from ~Paul to ~Paal.  My cousins name has been evolving from Paula ~Paulu to ~Paalu, rhymes with Walla Walla by my  wife and my cousins wife.  I wonder if women are more persuaded to do it. Lord knows they talk (tock) more.

For "warthog" the glottal works nicely before the pronounced "h".  If the "t" is pronounced as a real ~t, then the "h" seems to dissappear and the word seems to become war-tog ~wortaag, which doesn't seem right unless some effort is inserted to go from ~t to ~h, which is probably too much trouble for most just for pronunciation sake.

Tom Zurinskas, from Conn 20 yrs, then Tenn 3, NJ 33, now FL 8.
Free English-based phonetic converter, URL and text , at truespel.com

> 
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Paul Johnston <paul.johnston at WMICH.EDU>
> Subject: Re: "warthog" with glottal stop
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Tom,
> You finally showed a feature that isn't Inland Northern--no, not the glottal stop at the end of a syllable before a consonant beginning the next one, which is widely distributed from what I can CAUGHT in all -og words, a low-back rounded vowel (sometimes unrounded with the whole CAUGHT class, but never merged with the COT vowel). Like me, you probably have the vowel in CAUGHT only in the word dog; all other -og items have the vowel of COT). My Midwestern wife laughs at me for this.
> 
> Paul Johnston
> 
> On Jan 15, 2011, at 4:24 PM, Tom Zurinskas wrote:
> 
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster: Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
> > Subject: Re: "warthog" with glottal stop
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > It's glottal stop for me=2C ~wor'haag. My history is below in my auto-sign=
> > ature=2C which I suggest we all do so we know where we're from as a backgro=
> > und to opinions.
> >
> > Tom Zurinskas=2C from Conn 20 yrs=2C then Tenn 3=2C NJ 33=2C now FL 8.
> > Free English-based phonetic converter=2C URL and text =2C at truespel.com
> >
> >
> >
> >> =20
> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------=
> > ------
> >> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster: Neal Whitman <nwhitman at AMERITECH.NET>
> >> Subject: "warthog" with glottal stop
> >> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> > ------
> >> =20
> >> My son Doug and his friend were playing "Halo Reach" yesterday=2C and kep=
> > t
> >> talking about some kind of attack vehicle or robot called a warthog. Afte=
> > r
> >> I'd listened for about half an hour=2C there was no doubt: They were
> >> pronouncing "warthog" as [wOr?hag]=2C with /t/ realized as a glottal stop=
> > .
> >> =20
> >> Later I asked to record Doug saying the word=2C which I'd written out. He
> >> reproduced the glottal stop pronunciation. As I was about to record my
> >> pronunciation=2C for later comparison=2C he said it again=2C this time as
> >> [wOrDag]=2C saying that he alternated between that and the earlier one
> >> depending on the situation. To me=2C his second pronunciation sounded eve=
> > n
> >> weirder=2C because it sounded like "war dog".
> >> =20
> >> My pronunciation has intervocalic flap as well as the [h]: [wOrDhag].
> >> =20
> >> I grew up in Texas=3B live now in central Ohio=2C where my sons have live=
> > d all
> >> their life. What pronunciations have you in other regions or walks of lif=
> > e
> >> heard or used?
> >> =20
> >> Neal Whitman
> >> Email: nwhitman at ameritech.net
> >> Blog: http://literalminded.wordpress.com
> >> Twitter: @LiteralMinded
> >> =20
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> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > =
> >
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> 
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