/Erjudait/

[Alice Faber]

On 2/27/12 11:16 PM, Herb Stahlke wrote:
> Here in the Midwest I've been noticing local TV newsreaders
> pronouncing "erudite" as /Erjudait/, inserting a palatal glide between
> /r/ and /u/.  I don't know if this pronunciation is found in Britain,
> but the OED gives the pronunciation /ˈɛrədaɪt/.  I don't hear the
> glide insertion in words like "rude" or "ruse," and I suspect that
> /Erjudait/ is simply hypercorrection.  It just seems odd that these
> speakers don't insert /j/ between other alveolars and /u/.
>

Granted this isn't exactly a common word...but I don't think I've *ever*
heard a pronunciation other than /Erjudait/, in New York, Texas, or Florida.


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Alice Faber                                       faber at haskins.yale.edu
Haskins Laboratories                            tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
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