Re: Roumania...
| From: | Brian Betty <bbetty@...> |
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| Date: | Tuesday, April 13, 1999, 14:13 |
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On 4/13/99, J. Cowan wrote: "Which reminds me that the traditional
pronunciation of "whore" is [huR], and many New Yorkers still adhere to it,
though [hOR] is standard, and probably a spelling pronunciation."
In my age-group in southern RI, people often referred to whores as
/hu:ha:z/, which I've seen written as houhas. I'm not sure if this is a
reinterpreted /hu:az/ (because that is what the word 'whore' can sound like
in rhotic dialects like in some areas of New England) or from somewhere
else. It's deliberately witty, though.
BB
*********
Ther cam a privee theef men clepeth Deeth,
That in this contree al the peple sleeth,
And with his spere he smoot his herte atwo,
And wente his wey withouten wordes mo.
He hath a thousand slayn this pestilence.
- Geoffrey Chaucer, The Pardoner's Tale
James E Johnson, 1920-1999