Re: Fruitful typos (was: Vulgar Latin)

On 19 Jan 00, at 20:02, Nik Taylor wrote:

> John Cowan wrote:
> > English is no exception: for any placename, I can derive an adjective and a
> > noun (usually identical in form) using one of a number of suffixes: -an,
>
> I've noticed an odd tendency for some words that end in -a to change the
> -a to -ian, as in Florida -> Floridian [in fact, when I was a child, I
> thought Florida was spelt "Floridia", with the second _i_ being
> silent!], but America -> American
>
<Grin>

FWIW, I often catch myself saying "Canadia" [*] (stress pattern the same as
'Canadian', ie /k@'neIdi"j@/) instead of "Canada" (/'k&n@d@/).  Oddly, I'm
almost universally understood (by Brits) when I do so.

[*] I'm guessing the pattern is after hibernia, ruritania and arcadia,
unless anyone has a better idea?


---
Pb

Remember, next time you dream that wolverines have chased
you into a movie theater where everyone has only one eye,
it's just your brain going,
"Testing, one, two ... testing ... "