Ofologists take note!

[Marino]

I remember Mary Haas pronouncing Chitimacha, with <ch> as an affricate and 
the stress on the final syllable.  It stands out in my memory, because I 
felt mortified in having just pronounced it with stress on the penult.  Why 
on earth don't we compile a list of American native ethnonyms with their 
alternative Roman spellings, and IPA renditions of acceptable 
pronunciations?  How are students and young scholars (or old scholars for 
that matter) supposed to know how to say these names?

Mary Marino



At 01:56 PM 6/8/2006, you wrote:
>On Wed, 7 Jun 2006, Wallace Chafe wrote:
> > I believe Mary Haas said Shitty-muh-shaw, with approximately equal stresses
> > on the first and last syllables.
>
>Thanks, Wally and David and Tony.  I heard some remarks on this once by
>Karen Booker that roused my curiosity.  It seems like a good time to
>pursue it.
>
> > Although it may be justified when the origin is French, the pronunciation
> > of ch as sh has recently become an annoying problem in the Santa Barbara
> > area.
>
>I once had a guide to New World Spanish pronunciation that indicated that
>pronouncing ch as sh was stylish in Chile.  I believe my ex-wife may have
>it now!