[Ads-l] Dorchester
Joel Berson
berson at ATT.NET
Thu Apr 21 03:16:47 UTC 2016
Which u/U sound is "shrooz-b at ry"? Speaking as a New-Yorker who moved to Boston at the age of 20, but listens to radio and TV.
Joel
From: "Paul A Johnston, Jr" <paul.johnston at WMICH.EDU>
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2016 4:04 PM
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Dorchester
The English town in Dorset doesn't drop the syllable either. Cirencester in Gloucestershire used to throw me, because I was expecting [sIs at st@] or even [sIst@], which are both older pronunciations, but was assured it was [saIr at nsEst@], just what it looks like, nowadays. And does Shrewsbury, MA have [u:] or [oU]? I'd guess [u:] alone.
----- Original Message -----
> From: "Laurence Horn" <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2016 1:00:33 PM
> Subject: Re: Dorchester
>
> ---------------------- 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: Dorchester
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> > On Apr 20, 2016, at 11:08 AM, James A. Landau =
> <JJJRLandau at netscape.com> wrote:
> >=20
> > 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).=20
>
> LH=20
> >=20
> >=20
> > _____________________________________________________________
> > Netscape. Just the Net You Need.
> >=20
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - =
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> xPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3DU7EFh0PPzN8BzI1MEUNvzyawI9LkQdw5EYS0VuUPk-A&s=3Dv5H3lz=
> 0H72-Bqzqg0fGqiGEKZfTFVYZS37j_ReKHi0g&e=3D=20
>
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