Re: 9-phoneme IAL (was Re: Chinese-based IAL?)

On Mon, 26 Feb 2001, Raymond Brown wrote:

> At 11:26 pm +0100 25/2/01, Jörg Rhiemeier wrote:
> >> Or is 'Geoff' pronounced differently on each side of the Atlantic?
> >
> >Well, I thought that "Geoff" was pronounced [dZOf], but I might be
> >misled.
>
> Ah - certainly in Britain "Geoff" is pronounced /dZEf/ and is short for
> "Geoffrey" /'dZEfri/.  It's one those traditional English names, retaining
> outdated (usually Norman) spelling.  A more 'modern' Jeff, Jeffrey also
> exists.
>
> I suppose it's not dissimilar to the retention of the spelling _gaol_ for
> /'dZeIl/, which the Americans always write as _jail_ and, indeed, is
> increasingly more commonly used here also.
>
> AFAIK the Americans pronounce Geoff the same way as we Brits do.
...unless they're me *before* they meet someone who can tell them how
it's *supposed* to be pronounced.  =^)

And for the record, I spent a long time pronouncing "gaol" [geI'ol].  :-p

YHL