On Sun, 16 Mar 2003, Evan Powers wrote:

> Out of curiosity, is there a cultural/historical reason you can think of which 
> explains why the name of this particular street is pronounced differently? 
> Does Winnipeg have a smaller French-Canadian influence?

Winnipeg definitely has a smaller Fench-Canadian influence, but they pronounce
it the French way when referring to carrying canoes. It's a little odd, really.

I just checked Merriam-Webster, and they list both pronunciations, with the
French version I favour being only valid for the third definition:
Pronunciation: 'pOr-tij, 'por-, 3 is also por-'t?zh
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from porter to carry
Date: 15th century
1 : the labor of carrying or transporting
2 archaic : the cost of carrying : PORTERAGE
3 a : the carrying of boats or goods overland from one body of water to another or 
around an obstacle (as a rapids) b : the route followed in making such a transfer

-- 
Craig West         Ph: (416) 567-1491   |  It's not a bug,
[EMAIL PROTECTED]               |  It's a feature...


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