Re: YAEPT:Re: Phonological musings (was: Announcement: New auxlang "Choton")
| From: | Michael Poxon <m.poxon@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Thursday, October 7, 2004, 0:36 |
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It's true that "were" in most varieities of Modern English rhymes with "fur"
but you only have to listen to some of those old
BBC recordings from the fifties and before to hear how posh folks spoke. I
have a video with some of the "Watch with Mother" episodes
on, and in The Flowerpot Men the narrator says, in every episode "There they
all were, lying quietly in the warm sunshine" with a definite
ultra-RP /e/ as above! Bear in mind that the originals of LOTR appeared
round about that time and bob's your uncle.
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Cowan" <jcowan@...>
To: <CONLANG@...>
Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2004 8:43 PM
Subject: Re: YAEPT:Re: Phonological musings (was: Announcement: New auxlang
"Choton")
> Ray Brown scripsit:
>
> > I am certain the problem is a typo in Andreas' original message. It is
> > surely "where", not "were" that JJRT wrote.
>
> No, there can be no reasonable doubt. I have checked several different
> editions, and in Appendix E is written:
>
> As far as can be determined the sounds represented
> by these letters [...] were of normal kind, though
> doubtless many local varieties escape detection. That
> is, the sounds were approximately those represented
> by i, e, a, o, u in English machine, were, father,
> for, brute, irrespective of quantity.
>
> Note also the rhyme were/hair in Bilbo's poem, quoted in my previous
> posting. I'm half tempted (but only half) to change "hair" to "fur"
> when I read this aloud, since were/fur is a perfect rhyme for me.
>
> --
> John Cowan jcowan@reutershealth.com www.reutershealth.com
www.ccil.org/~cowan
> [R]eversing the apostolic precept to be all things to all men, I usually
[before
> Darwin] defended the tenability of the received doctrines, when I had to
do
> with the [evolution]ists; and stood up for the possibility of [evolution]
among
> the orthodox -- thereby, no doubt, increasing an already current, but
quite
> undeserved, reputation for needless combativeness. --T. H. Huxley