Re: YAEPT: Australian Milo

On 6/30/06, Paul Bennett <paul-bennett@...> wrote:
> On Fri, 30 Jun 2006 16:14:35 -0400, Mark Reed <markjreed@...> wrote:
>
> > This is still YAEPT, but not about Aussies or Clouseau.  On a BBC
> > comedy I heard someone say a certain offensive word for female
> > genitalia, one vowel removed from "twit".  I find it funny that they
> > didn't bleep it out, actually, since they did bleep other similar
> > words.  In any case, the actor pronounced it with an /&/, which I find
> > amusing.  Is that the normal pronunciation over there?
>
> That's the usual pronunciation, but the vowel can also be /Q/
Strange; I thought it would be /Q/ only (which is my vowel in "what",
for example, which presumably influenced my expectation -- something
like "/w/ + |a| + stop in closed syllable makes the |a| into /Q/" or
the like). But then, I don't think I've ever heard the word spoken, so
this is a spelling pronunciation.

I also use /Q/ in "wattle (and daub)" and "WATCOM" and "Wapping";
again, though I don't know whether that's correct or not, since I
don't think I've heard either word pronounced.

Strangely, though, I have /&/ in "whack" and "wacky" and "WAP", so the
rule is apparently not as simple as "/w/ + |a| + stop" -- if there is,
indeed, a rule at all.

Cheers,
--
Philip Newton <philip.newton@...>

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