Didn't as [dIdInt]

Tom Zurinskas truespel at HOTMAIL.COM
Tue Jun 24 16:16:07 UTC 2014


How is "didn't" spoken at thefreedictionary.com.   I'm hearing ~didint both for USA and UKThe second ~i is unstressed but still real.  I can't fantasize it not being there.

Tom Zurinskas, Conn 20 yrs, Tenn 3, NJ 33, now FL 12.See how English spelling links to sounds at http://justpaste.it/ayk


 
 




> Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 10:56:43 -0400
> From: laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
> Subject: Re: Didn't as [dIdInt]
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> 
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Didn't as [dIdInt]
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> On Jun 24, 2014, at 9:29 AM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
> 
> > At 6/24/2014 08:24 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >> I've always done that syllabic thing with "Milton" because as a New =
> Yorker
> >> I do the same nasalized thing with "mountain" and "countin'."
> >=20
> > If I had had a childhood acquaintance in NYC, I might have called him =
> "Mil-tn".  But to me the poet and revered republican is "Mill-ton".
> >=20
> Nice minimal pair!  I'm not sure I consistently do that for the poet, =
> though.  I definitely contrast "Milton" (uncle) with "Will-ton" (Wilton, =
> CT), and "tauntin'" with "Taun-ton" (Mass.), and have the strong sense =
> that I'd reduce Wilton and Taunton if I lived in or near those towns, =
> but the poet could go either way.  I agree with JL on "mountain" and =
> "countin'", but the Abbey is "Down-ton".
> 
> LH
> 
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