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Re: USAGE: [CONLANG] A discourse on Phonemics (was:

From:And Rosta <a-rosta@...>
Date:Wednesday, May 8, 2002, 20:29
John Cowan:
> And Rosta scripsit: > > > There's some confusion here. _wrath_ in RP is /rQT/, [RQT], > > rhymes with _cloth_ (as it does for you, but not, I think, GenAm), > > Not for me either: [R{T], [klOT]. > > > and doesn't rhyme with _bath_, /bA:T/, [bAT], or _Plath_, as, I > > think, it does for most Americans. > > [b{T], [pl{T]. > > > > Hence the joke: the girl says "Mr. Epstein is waxing wroth!", > > > and Groucho replies: "Tell Roth to wax Epstein for a while." > > > > Does the joke work for most Americans? Or only Noo Yawkas? > > I don't know: it depends on how GenAm speakers pronounce "Roth". > My dialect is a little East and a little old.
I'm still a bit flummoxed, because surely if _wrath_ is [R&T], rhyming with _bath, Plath_, it doesn't rhyme with _Roth_ or _cloth_? --And.

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John Cowan <jcowan@...>