[Ads-l] Dorchester

[Laurence Horn]

> On Apr 20, 2016, at 11:08 AM, James A. Landau <JJJRLandau at netscape.com> wrote:
> 
> My daughter, who lives in Canton, Massachusetts, asks:  If Gloucester is pronounced /glahster/ (I taste not the Pierian spring of IPA) and Worcester is pronounced /wooster/, why isn't Dorchester pronounced /dorchster/ or /dorster/?
My theory:

Try saying the former ("Dorchster" with the /tSst/ cluster).  I assume the derivation of /glaster/ (or more likely /glOst@/) is from /glOs at st@/> /glOsst@/ (with schwa-deletion) >/glOst@/ (with degemination), ditto with "Worcester".  But if you deleted the schwa in "Dorchester" you'd end up with that unsightly, or unsoundly, consonant cluster (or "clucester" as they used to be called). 

LH 
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