anti-vaxxer / anti-vaccer (double c pronunciation)

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Tue Apr 15 19:21:39 UTC 2014


On Apr 15, 2014, at 2:39 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:

> I don't use the "k" sound in "succinct." The Mac dictionary has it as optional.

I do, but I don't in "flaccid".  The /s/ pronunciation just seems more flaccid than the /ks/.

Same variation with -gg-:  I have /s at g'JEst/, but many of my students turn out to have /s@'JEst/ (or maybe it's /s at d'JEst/.  Stress may play a role here too.

LH

>
> Benjamin Barrett
> Formerly of Seattle, WA
>
> Learn Ainu! https://sites.google.com/site/aynuitak1/videos
>
> On Apr 15, 2014, at 11:28 AM, Brian Hitchcock <brianhi at SKECHERS.COM> wrote:
>
>>
>> I can see why some might pronounce (anti-)VACCER as *anti-vacker*,  or even as *anti-Vassar*.
>> (Reminds me of "antimacassar", a word not seen much nowadays, though the item survives.)
>>
>> I generally hear the two  Cs in SUCCESS, ACCESS, and ACCENT sounded out separately; but I have often heard people pronounce ACCESSORY as if it were  spelled *assessory*, and occasionally heard SUCCINCT pronounced as *sussinked* (perhaps  I hear this less often because fewer people use the word succinct).
>>
>> Even ET CETERA, spelled with T followed by a clearly distinct C,  is often combined to ETCETERA, abbreviated ETC, and then pronounced as *exsetra* (or maybe *exetra*; it's hard to tell).
>>
>> Still, for those who try to phoneticize the spelling of  VACCER to vaxxer, it seems that one 'x' would have been sufficient.  FACSIMILE, for example, with central consonant sounds similar to vaccination, became fax (not faxx); and faxing (not faxxing); so , presumably, faxer (not faxxer).
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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



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