How to say "Boston"

[Herb Stahlke]

Tom,

When describing a vowel, "low" refers to the position of the tongue, not to
the pitch produced by the larynx.

The two are pretty much unrelated.

Herb


On Sat, Apr 20, 2013 at 3:23 PM, Tom Zurinskas <truespel at hotmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: How to say "Boston"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> From the news of the bombings I'm hearing the pronunciation of Boston with
> "ah" (~aa) over "awe" (~au) in reporters' broadcasts.   To me it was always
> ~Baustin rather than ~Baastin.  I'm surprised but such is the trend,
> nowadays.
>
> From the speakers at thefreedictionary.com I hear ~Baustin.  The same at
> m-w.com, but there even the word "awe" is mispronounced "awe" by the
> speaker.
>
> It's amazing how "awe-dropping" is catching on.  My cousin's wife has even
> changed the pronunciation of her son, "Shawn" to ~Shaan.  The only reason I
> can find is that "ah" is easier to say than "awe'.  I think females are
> more susceptible because their voices are higher, and "awe" is a low vowel
> sound.
>
>
> Tom Zurinskas, Conn 20 yrs, Tenn 3, NJ 33, now Fl 9.
> See how English spelling links to sounds at http://justpaste.it/ayk
>
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