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YAEPT Re: Spelling pronunciations (was: rhotic miscellany)

From:Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>
Date:Tuesday, November 9, 2004, 14:44
On Tue, Nov 09, 2004 at 11:54:45PM +1100, Tristan Mc Leay wrote:
> I have the same vowel in both 'wash' and 'watch' (but a different one in > 'water').
Just as another data point: I have the same vowel in all three words.
> (ISTR some American dialects also have /wVt/ for 'what'.
I am under the impression that /wVt/ is actually the standard General American pronunciation, not just a feature of some dialects. I certainly hear it on the TV far more often than any other variety (somewhat distant second place: substituting /a/ for /V/. Far behind either of those are the variants which use /W/ instead of /w/.)
> [I still don't believe anyone puts an /r/ in 'wash'. Not that I don't > trust you [i.e. everyone who claims it exists], just that it seems so > bizarre and unbelievable and plainly _wrong_.]
Well, that description also fits just about everything you've ever said about Australian English, from my perspective. :) And just to add to the hearsay, my West Virginian relatives definitely have an /r/ in 'wash' et al. -Marcos