"awe" phoneme has disappeared

Mon Jan 30 21:03:22 UTC 2012

The answer is minimal pair drills in preschool to 6th grade. This merge must be stopped! If not, America might as well end up as the 11th province.  ;)

Michael Newman
Associate Professor of Linguistics
Queens College/CUNY
michael.newman at qc.cuny.edu

On Jan 30, 2012, at 8:49 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: "awe" phoneme has disappeared
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Thanks Paul.  But I'm afraid you're too optimistic.  My cousin from CT call=
> s her son ~Shaan now instead of ~Shaun (written name is "Shawn") as she use=
> d to.  My wife and she both call my other cousin from CT (written name "Pau=
> la") Polla ~Paalu now.  It's in the media now.  Everywhere.  My wife's catc=
> hing it.  Do me a favor and always correct them when they say your name as =
> "Poll" ~Paal insted of "Paul" ~Paul=2C and I will stand in precious awe of =
> you.
> =20
> Meanwhile m-w.com is mispronouncing the word "awe" as "ah".  It's all over =
> now.  Even though the symbol is for "awe" the speaker says "ah".
>
> Tom Zurinskas=2C Conn 20 yrs=2C Tenn 3=2C NJ 33=2C now Fl 9.
> See how English spelling links to sounds at http://justpaste.it/ayk
>
>
>> =20
>> ---------------------- 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: "awe" phoneme has disappeared
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> ------
>> =20
>> Tom=2C don't worry about your precious "awe" phoneme--there's been some e=
> rosion=2C but both my native NY/N NJ dialect=2C and the dialect of the stud=
> ents I teach in W MI preserve it just fine. For me cot =3D [kat] and caught=
> =3D [ko at t]. There are plenty just like me=2C as you must know from your ye=
> ars in NJ=2C if not CT.
>> =20
>> Paul Johnston
>> On Jan 29=2C 2012=2C at 10:59 PM=2C Gordon=2C Matthew J. wrote:
>> =20
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header ---------------=
> --------
>>> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster: "Gordon=2C Matthew J." <GordonMJ at MISSOURI.EDU>
>>> Subject: Re: "awe" phoneme has disappeared
>>> -----------------------------------------------------------------------=
> --------
>>>
>>> The discussion in the Atlas of North American English (Labov=2C Ash=2C =
> and Boberg 2006) suggests the merger of the vowels in LOT and THOUGHT has b=
> een widespread across Canada (outside some parts of the Atlantic provinces)=
> for at least several generations and maybe as long as 150 years.
>>>
>>> -Matt Gordon
>>> ________________________________________
>>> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of To=
> m Zurinskas [truespel at HOTMAIL.COM]
>>> Sent: Sunday=2C January 29=2C 2012 9:05 PM
>>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>> Subject: Re: "awe" phoneme has disappeared
>>>
>>> Are you saying that the English phoneme "awe" is not in existance anymo=
> re in Canada? You know that for sure?
>>>
>>> In their Englishaccent.com faq section they say " If you already have n=
> o difficulty communicating=2C then improving your pronunciation is unnecess=
> ary=2C unless you have some strong personal motivation to sound more like a=
> native speaker of American or Canadian English."
>>>
>>> Looks to me they are saying that the "awe" phoneme does not exist in US=
> A as well. Is this prescriptionistic? They have a niice prograrm here but t=
> hey are saying that walk is to be pronounced "wok" and that the "awe" phone=
> me does not exist. This is not right. They need to include it. That would b=
> e "awe"some.
>>>
>>> Tom Zurinskas=2C Conn 20 yrs=2C Tenn 3=2C NJ 33=2C now Fl 9.
>>> See how English spelling links to sounds at http://justpaste.it/ayk
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header --------------=
> ---------
>>>> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>> Poster: "Gordon=2C Matthew J." <GordonMJ at MISSOURI.EDU>
>>>> Subject: Re: "awe" phoneme has disappeared
>>>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------=
> ---------
>>>>
>>>> Yes=2C how dare those Canadians develop a tutorial that accurately des=
> cribes their phonological inventory!
>>>> http://www.englishaccentcoach.com/about.aspx
>>>>
>>>> ________________________________________
>>>> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of T=
> om Zurinskas [truespel at HOTMAIL.COM]
>>>> Sent: Sunday=2C January 29=2C 2012 1:26 PM
>>>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>>> Subject: "awe" phoneme has disappeared
>>>>
>>>> It finally happened. The phoneme "awe" (backward c in IPA) has disappe=
> ared from US English tutorials.
>>>>
>>>> http://tinyurl.com/6vfvuvs
>>>>
>>>> The same phonetic symbol is given for "pot" "walk" and "clock" where e=
> ach take the "ah" ~aa sound. There is no symbol for the "awe" ~au sound. by=
> e bye.
>>>>
>>>> Please help save the "awe" phoneme=2C before it's too late.
>>>>
>>>> Tom Zurinskas=2C Conn 20 yrs=2C Tenn 3=2C NJ 33=2C now Fl 9.
>>>> See how English spelling links to sounds at http://justpaste.it/ayk
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>>
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> =20
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>                                          =
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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