A Happy New Year and Good Health to Everybody
Friday, 31 December 2010
phonetic symbol pleasures
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| credit: BBFC |
Honi soît qui mal y pense!
Thursday, 30 December 2010
early c20 /ɑː/ - part 3
The blurry picture is becoming clearer now thanks to the detailed remarks made by some of my readers!
The variation between /ɑː/ and /ɔː/ seems to be restricted predominantly to the letter sequence <-auNC-> in words most of which are of French origin. (N = nasal, C = consonant(s))
I put two tables online that list such words together with their pronunciations as indicated in the works consulted. The first table concentrates on present-day dictionaries, the second one's going to list reference works that were published in the late c18 and early c19. The accent indicated is General British only.
1 ? = unclear etymology; + = French origin; -- = non-French origin;
2 transcriptions represent various editions of OED;
3 additional comment: "In RP formerly also lɑːntʃ";
4 additional comment: "formerly lɑːnʃ";
5 naunt is a variant of aunt.
The above is not a comprehensive list of <-auNC>-words - for obvious reasons. For example, I left out inflected forms and place names such aus Launceston or Taunton. But, I guess and hope, the list's fairly representative of what one can find in the reference books consulted.
The second table, to be put online later, will list what I found in the following works of reference:
The variation between /ɑː/ and /ɔː/ seems to be restricted predominantly to the letter sequence <-auNC-> in words most of which are of French origin. (N = nasal, C = consonant(s))
I put two tables online that list such words together with their pronunciations as indicated in the works consulted. The first table concentrates on present-day dictionaries, the second one's going to list reference works that were published in the late c18 and early c19. The accent indicated is General British only.
| item | French origin1 | EPD17 | LPD3 | ODP | OED2 online |
| aunt | + | ɑːnt | ɑːnt | ɑːnt | ɑːnt |
| craunch | ? | -- | -- | -- | krɑːnʃ, krɔːnʃ |
| daunt | + | dɔːnt | dɔːnt | dɔːnt | dɔːnt |
| draunt | -- | -- | -- | -- | drɑːnt, drænt |
| flaunt | ? | -- | flɔːnt | -- | flɔːnt |
| gaunt | ? | gɔːnt | gɔːnt | gɔːnt | gɑːnt, gɔːnt |
| gauntlet | + | ˈgɔːntlət, -lɪt | ˈgɔːntlɪt, -lət | ˈgɔːntlɪt | ˈgɔːntlɪt, ˈgɑːntlɪt |
| graunch | -- | -- | -- | grɔːn(t)ʃ | grɔːntʃ |
| haunch | + | hɔːntʃ | hɔːntʃ | hɔːn(t)ʃ | hɔːntʃ, hɑːntʃ |
| haunt | + | hɔːnt | hɔːnt | hɔːnt | hɔːnt, hɑːnt |
| jaunce | ? | -- | -- | -- | ʤɑːns, ʤɔːns |
| jaunder | ? | -- | -- | -- | ˈʤɑːndə(r) |
| jaundice | + | ˈʤɔːndɪs | ˈʤɔːndɪs | ˈʤɔːndɪs | ˈʤɔːndɪs, ˈʤɑːndɪs |
| jaunt | ? | ʤɔːnt | ʤɔːnt | ʤɔːnt | ʤɔːnt, ʤɑːnt |
| launce | + | -- | -- | lɔːns | lɑːns, læns |
| launch | + | lɔːntʃ | lɔːntʃ3 | lɔːn(t)ʃ | lɔːnʃ4 |
| laund | + | -- | -- | -- | lɔːnd |
| laundry | + | ˈlɔːndri | ˈlɔːndri | ˈlɔːndri | ˈlɔːndrɪ, ˈlɑːndrɪ |
| maunch | + | -- | -- | -- | mɔːn(t)ʃ |
| maund | ? | -- | -- | -- | mɔːnd |
| maunge | + | -- | -- | -- | mɔːn(d)ʒ |
| naunt5 | + | -- | -- | -- | nɑːnt |
| paunch | + | pɔːntʃ | pɔːntʃ | pɔːn(t)ʃ | pɔːn(t)ʃ |
| raunce | + | -- | -- | -- | rɔːns |
| raunch | -- | -- | rɔːntʃ | rɔːn(t)ʃ | rɔːn(t)ʃ |
| staunch | + | stɔːntʃ | stɔːntʃ, stɑːntʃ | stɔːn(t)ʃ | stɑːnʃ, stænʃ, stɔːnʃ |
| taunt | -- | tɔːnt | tɔːnt | tɔːnt | tɔːnt |
| vaunt | + | vɔːnt | vɔːnt | vɔːnt | vɔːnt |
2 transcriptions represent various editions of OED;
3 additional comment: "In RP formerly also lɑːntʃ";
4 additional comment: "formerly lɑːnʃ";
5 naunt is a variant of aunt.
The above is not a comprehensive list of <-auNC>-words - for obvious reasons. For example, I left out inflected forms and place names such aus Launceston or Taunton. But, I guess and hope, the list's fairly representative of what one can find in the reference books consulted.
The second table, to be put online later, will list what I found in the following works of reference:
- 1791: Walker, John, A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary and Expositor of the English Language, (London)
- 1845: Beniowski, Bartłomiej (Major), The Anti-Absurd or Phrenotypic English Pronouncing & Orthographical Dictionary, (London)
- 1909: Afzelius, Jan Arvid, Engelsk Uttalsordbok, (Stockholm) (available to me only up to letter 'pa')
- 1913: Michaelis, Hermann & Jones, Daniel, A Phonetic Dictionary of the English Language, (Hannover, Berlin)
- 1926: Palmer, Harold, Martin, J. Victor & Blandford, F.G., A Dictionary of English Pronunciation with American Variants, (Cambridge)
- 1932: Wyld, Henry Cecil, The Universal Dictionary of the English Language, (London)
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Her Majesty's often
In his blog #322 Jack Windsor Lewis published his observations of the Queen's pronunciation of often in her Christmas broadcast of 2010 in which Her Majesty uses the adverb often twice (Jack - where's the third token?) by pronouncing it as /ɔːfən/ in
1957: /ɔːfn̩/
2005: /ɔːfn̩/, /ɔːfn̩/
2006: /ɔːfn̩/
2007: /ɔːfn̩/
2008: /ɔːfn̩/, /ɔːfn̩/
The Queen is very consistent in how she pronounces the adverb, and /ɔːfn̩/ as well as /ɔːfən/ suit her age.
Learners of English as a foreign language who have not yet reached the age of retirement should refrain from adopting this variant.
- "very often, they like each other too"
- "Sportsmen and women often speak of the enormous pride".
1957: /ɔːfn̩/
2005: /ɔːfn̩/, /ɔːfn̩/2006: /ɔːfn̩/
2007: /ɔːfn̩/
2008: /ɔːfn̩/, /ɔːfn̩/
The Queen is very consistent in how she pronounces the adverb, and /ɔːfn̩/ as well as /ɔːfən/ suit her age.
Learners of English as a foreign language who have not yet reached the age of retirement should refrain from adopting this variant.
Tuesday, 28 December 2010
OED and pooh as an interjection
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| credit: Mikey Mets |
Saturday, 25 December 2010
phew ~ pooh
Mankind will considerably be advanced by the results of this study published in the scientific journal Polar Biology 27 (2003), pp. 56-58 with the title "Pressure produced when penguins pooh - calculations on avian defaecation".
Thank you - Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow and Jozsef Gal from Bremen University for this article.
What's it got to do with phonetics? Not much to be honest.
To justify this blog entry I'm going to write about the pronunciations of 'phew'.
The most variegated entry on 'phew' is to be found in ...? (see below)
LPD 3:
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| credit: Polar Biology 27 (2003): 57 |
Thank you - Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow and Jozsef Gal from Bremen University for this article.
What's it got to do with phonetics? Not much to be honest.
To justify this blog entry I'm going to write about the pronunciations of 'phew'.
The most variegated entry on 'phew' is to be found in ...? (see below)
LPD 3:
[ʍ] = voiceless labial velar fricative
[ɸ] = voiceless bilabial fricative
The first entry of 'phew' recorded in OED dates back to 1604 when the poet and playwright John Marsten published his play 'The Malcontent'. In 'acto primo, scena tertia' one of the characters, Giovanni Altofronto, says: "Phew, the Divell, let him possesse thee, [...]".
EPD 17:
"[...] that the speaker is hot"? 'Hot' like 'sexy' or like 'angry'? Or is the ambient temperature likely to make the speaker perspire?
ODP:
Americans don't use the voiceless bilabial fricative in this expression?
OED 3 online:
The most variegated entry on 'phew' is to be found in ...? ... LPD.
The first entry of 'phew' recorded in OED dates back to 1604 when the poet and playwright John Marsten published his play 'The Malcontent'. In 'acto primo, scena tertia' one of the characters, Giovanni Altofronto, says: "Phew, the Divell, let him possesse thee, [...]".
EPD 17:
ODP:
OED 3 online:
The most variegated entry on 'phew' is to be found in ...? ... LPD.
Friday, 24 December 2010
Merry Xmas
Merry Christmas
to all my readers
to all my readers
HO .----.
HO .' ,_ \
_ HO /__ ( \|
/ ( . {___`'-.\{_}
| `|_ /6)6`'-._}
\_.'_} |/_ _7 |
{_.'| |5-.' /(
| \{\ /:'`}
\ /.\__/ _.'`\
\ ; o ``` \
; o \ \_
| o \.'` }
; o_ {__.'\
\==[_]=======|/) |
`; .' /_/
/ `- / /
/ /\ \
{`-._/ \ _.'`}
;-.__} {__.'\
__/ / \_ \
( ` / / /
'.__/ (__.'Christmas compounds
 |
| credit: Osgood Co. |
Is there a rule behind these stress assignments? None if you ask me! And you needn't worry actually; conversation will not collapse if you use the 'wrong' pattern. The whole story contains, I must admit, a highly unusual accumulation of Christmas compounds.
Most of the compounds and all of the stress marks were supplied by John C. Wells. See John's 'old' blog where you can find the original story.
Thursday, 23 December 2010
early c20 /ɑː/ - part 2
First of all - thanks for the comments on my previous post.
If Dobson is right, then we've clarified the matter as far as the situation up to the c18 is concerned. But what about the c19 and (early?) c20? My query was stimulated by a comment made by the 7th Earl of Onslow in an interview with Melvyn Bragg for the BBC series Routes of English:
Michael Onslow was born in 1936, his father William in 1913 and his grandfather Richard in 1876.
Here's the list of words again to which I've added 'haulm':
It seems there's only scant evidence of this variation (a baronet and a squire's widow so far - both not on one of the lower steps of the social ladder, I guess).
Addendum: There's a post by Jack Windsor Lewis in his Phonetiblog #321 (= 'Words Like Launch') of Christmas Eve 2010. In this blog entry he gives some additional information on the topic.
If Dobson is right, then we've clarified the matter as far as the situation up to the c18 is concerned. But what about the c19 and (early?) c20? My query was stimulated by a comment made by the 7th Earl of Onslow in an interview with Melvyn Bragg for the BBC series Routes of English:
What I’d call it is a perfectly natural accent because that was the accent I was brought up with. It’s different slightly to my parents and it’s different to my grandparents. I mean, the only thing I can remember is instead of saying "weekend" they would always say: “come from a Saturday to Monday”. They never used the word “weekend”; it was considered rather awful. My parents would definitely say "larndry", "larnch", "harnch", "Cumton", "Cuventry", "Brumton", lengthen sounds in "orff" and "gorn" and shorten them like "gel". Now I say some of those but not as many as I can sometimes try to remember to if I try to be very snobbish.
Here's the list of words again to which I've added 'haulm':
| item | Afzelius |
| haulm | hɔɔm, haam |
| haunch | hɔɔnʃ, haanʃ |
| haunt | hɔɔnt, haant |
| launch | lɔɔnʃ, laanʃ |
| laundry | lɔɔndrĭ, laandrĭ |
| gauntlet | gɔɔntlĭt, gaantlĭt |
| jaundice | ʤɔɔndĭs, ʤaandĭs |
| paunch | pɔɔnʃ, paanʃ |
Addendum: There's a post by Jack Windsor Lewis in his Phonetiblog #321 (= 'Words Like Launch') of Christmas Eve 2010. In this blog entry he gives some additional information on the topic.
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