"awe" phoneme has disappeared

Paul Johnston paul.johnston at WMICH.EDU
Mon Jan 30 21:25:59 UTC 2012 

I think Alexander Gil, who decided anything higher than [ae:] in name, tale, etc. was the providence of "dandies and silly little girls" (roughly translated from the Latin) in 1621 is alive and well.  And did he win?  Well, I, like most of you, have [ei] and I'm neither a dandy nor a silly little girl.  Tom probably has [ei] too.

And, shock, horror!  Later on, this change involved a merger with the vowel in rain, tail, too!  A lot of early 17c. orthoepists didn't like that.  They fought it until after the English Civil War, even though the merger was apparently variable in at least somewhat genteel circles since Shakespeare's time.  I'm trying to find out in my research (really) when Cockneys adopted it, but the surrounding area to London didn't until the 19c, and some areas fairly nearby probably still keep the two classes apart (though on our side of the pool, we all merged them, except in Newfoundland).

When speakers want a vowel shift, they get a vowel shift.  Gil or no Gil.

Paul Johnston


On Jan 30, 2012, at 4:03 PM, Michael Newman wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Michael Newman <michael.newman at QC.CUNY.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "awe" phoneme has disappeared
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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

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