YAEPT Re: Spelling pronunciations (was: rhotic miscellany)

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