"awe" phoneme has disappeared

[Michael Newman]

Eastern NE has long had the merge. It's one of the two main shibboleths (along with the short-a split) of Boston vs. NY r-less speech. Daniel Ezra Johnson has a book on the border published by……(for dramatic pause)…………ADS!  
Stability and Change Along a Dialect Boundary: The Low Vowels of Southeastern New England 


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



On Jan 31, 2012, at 1:52 AM, 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
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Not a joke.  Jay Leno says "ah-some" instead of "awesome."  He's from Mass =
> but now lives in LA.
> =20
> The voices of thefreedictionary.com say
> USA - ahsome  ~aasum
> UK - ohsome  ~oesum
> speaker icon  awesome  ~ausum
> =20
> Standardization would be a good thing.  Where would we be without it. =20
> 
> 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
> =20
> 
> 
> 
> =20
> 
>> Date: Mon=2C 30 Jan 2012 17:39:19 -0500
>> From: thegonch at GMAIL.COM
>> Subject: Re: "awe" phoneme has disappeared
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> =20
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------=
> ------
>> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster: Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject: Re: "awe" phoneme has disappeared
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> ------
>> =20
>> You mean like the joke?
>> =20
>> http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~choh/german.htm
>> =20
>> DanG
>> =20
>> =20
>> =20
>> On Mon=2C Jan 30=2C 2012 at 4:50 PM=2C Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at ix.netcom=
> .com> wrote:
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header ---------------=
> --------
>>> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster: Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
>>> Subject: Re: "awe" phoneme has disappeared
>>> -----------------------------------------------------------------------=
> --------
>>> 
>>> On Jan 30=2C 2012=2C at 1:20 PM=2C Ben Zimmer wrote:
>>> 
>>>> On Mon=2C Jan 30=2C 2012 at 4:03 PM=2C Michael Newman wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> The answer is minimal pair drills in preschool to 6th grade. This mer=
> ge
>>>>> must be stopped! If not=2C America might as well end up as the 11th p=
> rovince. =3B)
>>>> 
>>>> You laugh=2C but have you ever watched Nick Jr. for any length of time=
> ?
>>>> Because of all the Canadian content (Dino Dan=2C Little Bear=2C Frankl=
> in=2C
>>>> Max & Ruby)=2C you can hear the Canadian Shift an awful lawt. Where's
>>>> the legislation to save our kids' vowels from this northern menace?
>>>> 
>>>> --bgz
>>> 
>>> I think we should throw anyone who produces excess phonemes in jail. Me=
> rge until we have only five vowels and then spelling will be simpler.
>>> 
>>> Benjamin Barrett
>>> Seattle=2C WA
>>> 
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>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> =20
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>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>                                          =
> 
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