[Ads-l] ~wool and ~chool

[Geoffrey Nathan]

When I taught basic phonology (which I taught from roughly 1975 to 2017)
I usually started with the following set of words:

sit
Sid
hint
pinned
pill

I then pointed out that each "i" sound was different:

sit: short
Sid: long
hint: nasalized, short
pinned: nasalized, long
pill: retracted - not as high, or as front

I then pointed out that these differences didn’t "count", because these
Sounds were allophones of the same phoneme. The retraction is
quite widespread in American English before the dark l in syllable-final
position. I listened to the woman Tom was referencing, and the first
instance is a fairly normal "i", the second one is quite retracted, but
not near the modified "short-u" in "wool".

Not going to measure the formants, but that is my informal assessment.

Geoff

[PS Attempting to fool the software at UGA into not messing up
the formatting]

Geoffrey S. Nathan
WSU Information Privacy Officer (Retired)
Emeritus Professor, Linguistics Program
http://blogs.wayne.edu/proftech/
geoffnathan at wayne.edu

From: Tom Zurinskas<mailto:truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
Sent: Friday, July 17, 2020 3:23 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: ~wool and ~chool

---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: ~wool and ~chool
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'd say the lady speaking here is saying ~chooldrin.   https://www.youtube.=
com/watch?v=3Dz_1Zv_ECy0g  around 20 seconds and 30 s inti video.  I heard =
Lawrence O'Donnel say ~chooldrin on yesterday's show, and he's from Mass.  =
I wool never ceased to be amazed.  ~~fer sher~~

Tom Zurinskas,  Originally from SW Conn 20 yrs,  college NE Tenn 3,  work S=
E NJ  33,  resides SE Florida 18...  truespel.com

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of MULLIN=
S, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY CCDC AVMC (USA) <0000099bab68be9a-dmarc-requ=
est at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Friday, July 17, 2020 7:00 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: ~wool and ~chool




> The word "children" is being pronounced ~choolddin for the past few years=
 (where ~chool
> rhymes with "wool").

Not by me.
Or by anyone I've ever spoken with.
------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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


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