Re: CHAT: F.L.O.E.S.

And Rosta scripsit:

> > So you are now tolerating /r\@Ust@/?
>
> I would, with a cringe, if it came from an American.
An American (such as me) would say /r\oust@/, of course, which is the
version of your name I've heard in my head hitherto.  (Odd that we've
never had this conversation).  Since my dialect has no /Q/, I shall switch
to /r\Ost@/ forthwith, and hope you can stand it.  Other varieties of
American do have /Q/, of course.

> As I have said before, I have known a good few aw-Cowans, but
> never an ow-Cowan. Indeed, I would go so far as to assert that
> Cow-an is *the* pronunciation of the name in Britain.
Well, it's a matter of record that my grandfather, the immigrant, was
named John Coen at birth, and almost certain that he made it /koun=/.
If my father's anecdote is to believed (renamed by his high-school
football coach), the spelling must have changed before the pronunciation.

--
Only do what only you can do.               John Cowan <jcowan@...>
  --Edsger W. Dijkstra's advice             http://www.reutershealth.com
    to a student in search of a thesis      http://www.ccil.org/~cowan

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