Carl Lowenstein wrote:
On 7/2/07, Alan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Carl wrote:
>
> How about people who enunciate the"t" in "often". Granted the root
> word is "oft". The "of-ten" pronunciation bothers me frequently.
>
So you say...what? "Of-fen"?
"Do you come here offen"?
That's...odd.
Not where I come from linguistically. OED says the pronunciation
"of-ten" is frequent in the South of England. I find it frequent
among people who were taught to sound out words from their spelling.
Even my daughter, who, with a Ph.D. in linguistics ought to know
better.
W.S. Gilbert had a great deal of fun punning between "orphan" and
"often'. Frequently.
carl
I'm guessing he had a Brittish accent. That would make the two words
sound almost indistinguishable.
--
Terror is an efficacious agent only when it doesn't last. In the long
run there is more terror in threats than in execution, for when you get
used to terror your emotions get dulled.
--Mark Twain
--
[email protected]
http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
