LL-L "Language varieties" 2003.07.09 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 09.JUL.2003 (03) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: "Brooks, Mark" <mark.brooks at twc.state.tx.us>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2003.07.08 (01) [E]

Yes, God Bless Texas!  And, Don't Mess With Texas!  I got a degree in
linguistics from the University of Texas, so I can speak about the thick
black stuff in the ground both as a native speaker, and linguistically.
In
phonetics class my professor became enthralled with my pronunciation of
the
word "oil."  He spent considerable class time one day having me say the
word
numerous times, so that he could place it on a vowel chart.  He
concluded
that it was rounded and between a and o.  Now, he wasn't quite sure if
it
was closer to a or o (personally, I think it's closer to a, but
rounded).
However, he felt that it was almost two syllables (maybe one and a half
;-)).  My opinion is that when moving the tongue from the rounded a to
back
l, we move through a sort of neutral position, that sounds like schwa;
hence
the impression that it's two syllables.  Let me assure you that it's
very
difficult for non-natives to produce that word.  I am told that the
Dutch
had a way of detecting German infiltrators in the underground by having
them
pronounce the name of the town Scheveningen.  Well, if we Texans ever
find
ourselves in a similar situation, we'll just have them "fureners" try to
pronounce the word oil.

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From: "Jim Rader" <jrader at Merriam-Webster.com>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2003.07.08 (05) [E]

> From: GaidhealdeAlba at aol.com
> Subject: Language Varieties
>
> Lowlanders,
>
> I have found something intriguing in the way a friend of mine
> pronounces the word 'Combat'. He pronounces the o as a schwa. This
> interested me. I looked up the word in my dictionary, and though I
> don't take my Merriam-Webster as the final authority, because as Ron
> recently said, dialects are not incorrect, it said that my friend's
> way of pronouncing it is incorrect. I looked up the symbol they used
> in the pronunciation guide, and they said that the IPA symbol for the
> sound was the Greek lower-case alpha. I looked on an IPA site and
> could not find that...

The IPA symbol in Merriam-Webster's _Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth
Edition_, is "script a", i.e., a low back unrounded vowel, not "lower-
case alpha."  Merriam-Webster's _Third New International Dictionary_
(1961), which records pronunciation more comprehensively, does
show a variant of <combat> with schwa (or inverted v).  It's also a
variant given in the _Oxford English Dictionary_.  This pronunciation is
actually an archaism, historically speaking.  Cf. <comfort>,
<company>, <compass>, where schwa is the general pronunciation
(though some Americans have the low back vowel in <compass>).

Jim Rader

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