[Ads-l] More "box set"

Mon Apr 13 20:22:20 UTC 2020

This phenomenon is probably the most frequently studied pattern of phonological variation in English. There have been oodles of papers on it over many decades. One recent example by Radoslav Pavlik that I happen to be familiar with examined some of the kinds of issues that Mark mentioned. Among the other interesting things to note about this paper is that it studied the pattern in the speech of BBC news presenters, who are of course notorious for not knowing or caring about language. It's paywalled but you can see the abstract here:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0075424217712358

This pattern of t/d deletion has been a regular part of English for centuries. It occurs in monomorphemic words (hones[t], blin[d]) and ones where the cluster is created by a suffix. Wyld (Short History of English) gives an example from 1389 and they are plentiful throughout the written record on both sides of the Atlantic from Early Modern English onward.

Matt Gordon

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Mark Mandel <markamandel at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Monday, April 13, 2020 2:03:34 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: More "box set"

I think it's at least partly contextual.  The /ksts/ of "bo*xed s*et" drops
the /t/ and merges the /s/es; and the /ndt/ of "dow*ned t*rees" drops the
unreleased /d/ before the /t/, or we could say that it begins the
unvoicing, a little sooner. Were might even be able to observe that by
measuring the duration of the cluster in *d*-droppers and non- droppers.

Mark Mandel

On Mon, Apr 13, 2020, 11:28 AM Kathleen Lamantia <
kathleen_lamantia at hotmail.com> wrote:

> I suspect that it's not editing.  So far as I can tell, no one hears the
> "ed" at the end of modifiers anymore.  "Boxed" and "downed" and most other
> words of this construction are on their way to the ash heap.  Those of us
> who know and care are fewer and fewer. Very sad.
>
> It's not as bad as using apostrophes to pluralize, but it is a real
> phenomenon.
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Mark
> Mandel <markamandel at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Monday, April 13, 2020 10:52 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: More "box set"
>
> Ah yes, that seems likely. Thanks.
>
>  Mark Mandel
>
> On Sun, Apr 12, 2020, 10:59 PM Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I am a little bit familiar with NWS bulletins, so I wanted to make sure
> the
> > original bulletin was correct. It was, saying that "(D)amaging winds will
> > blow down trees and power lines."
> >
> > Looks to me like the newspaper did a bad cut-and-paste, or forgot to add
> > the 'ed' to 'down'.
> >
> > On Sun, Apr 12, 2020, 10:27 PM Mark Mandel <markamandel at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > > "Down trees" for "downed trees".
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.phillyvoice.com%2Fhigh-wind-warning-national-weather-service-philadelphia-pennsylvania-new-jersey-delaware%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7C121a752d2afc43b1a85e08d7dfba5c61%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637223863806848664&sdata=EbZc85TeclfnayU%2F2xKiGVgEEGEI5CV24tVBozMxwZM%3D&reserved=0
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High-wind warning issued for Philly region on Monday; widespread power outages possible | PhillyVoice<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.phillyvoice.com%2Fhigh-wind-warning-national-weather-service-philadelphia-pennsylvania-new-jersey-delaware%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7C121a752d2afc43b1a85e08d7dfba5c61%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637223863806848664&sdata=EbZc85TeclfnayU%2F2xKiGVgEEGEI5CV24tVBozMxwZM%3D&reserved=0>
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A high wind warning has been issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) for the Greater Philadelphia region on Monday that could cause widespread power outages due to down trees and power lines.

> > > >>>>>
> > > APRIL 12, 2020
> > >
> > > A high wind warning has been issued by the National Weather Service
> (NWS)
> > > for the Greater Philadelphia region on Monday that could cause
> widespread
> > > power outages due to *down trees* and power lines.
> > > <<<<<
> > >
> > > Reminds me of the old riddle:
> > > Q: How do you get down from a tree?
> > > A: You don't get down from a tree, you get down from a goose.
> > >
> > > MAM
> > >
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