Yeah, but I have learned to refrain from correcting the checkout clerks at the grocery store when they call the stuff I buy En-dive, when I know perfectly well, it's Ahn-deev. So I have just memorized the numerical code and no longer have to tell them, "No, it's not baby bok choy, it's Ahn-deev", and then watch the confused look. I try not to be insufferable in my use of language, but I probably am.
Chuck On Mar 26, 2011, at 10:49 AM, John Howell wrote: > At 11:54 PM -0500 3/25/11, Aaron Rabushka wrote: >> ...but it is sometimes neVAYduh, MO (with either mizzuREE or mizzurUH >> trailing along) >> Aaron J. Rabushka >> arabus...@austin.rr.com > > Yes, distinctive regional pronunciations will always be with us. They always > seem like distortions to outsiders (which in a way seems to be the whole > point--separating "us" from "them"!). > > All my geography teachers--and almost all TV talking heads--pronounce the > mountain range about which Copland wrote (or didn't!) as Ap-pa-lay-chan. But > the folks who actually live here in that mountain range pronounce it as > Ap-pa-laa-chan (same vowel as the initial vowel). > > A nearby small town, Pulaski, is pronounced Pew-LAS-ki. > > And of course there's the famous Cairo, Illinois, whence the famous syrup, > "Kay-ro." > > Americans, quite aside from the inevitable regional dialects, have a deserved > reputation as terrible linguists, since the same language is spoken > (admittedly in different ways) across an entire continent. Unlike in Europe, > where when you travel you have to switch languages every 3 hours! But I > can't see much of a reason to take PRIDE in mispronouncing words borrowed > from other languages. > > John > > > -- > John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music > Virginia Tech Department of Music > College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences > Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240 > Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 > (mailto:john.how...@vt.edu) > http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html > > "We never play anything the same way once." Shelly Manne's definition > of jazz musicians. > _______________________________________________ > Finale mailing list > Finale@shsu.edu > http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale Chuck Israels 1310 NW Naito Parkway #807 Portland, OR 97209-3162 phone: (503) 926-7952 cell phone: (360) 201-3434 www.chuckisraels.com _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
