Re: English diglossia (was Re: retroflex consonants)

John Cowan <cowan@...> wrote:

> Andreas Johansson scripsit:
>
> > What IS the pronunciation is your family name? It just occured to me that
> > I've been thinking of it as ['kOvan] for years, which can't possibly be
> > right. ['kaU@n]?
>
> Yes, since my father's time.  I meant to write that above, but forgot to.
> "Cowan as in cow", is what I tell people who mispronounce it "Cohen", and
> they are legion.
It's quite a fairly name here (Ireland, if ye haven't guessed). One of our
ministers is called Brendan Cowan, but the fact that he's also referred to as
'Biffo' (Big Ignorant Fscker From Offaly) is a bit of a downer. It's exactly
as John pronounces it.

There's also the 'Coen' variant up home in Sligo.

K.

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