Re: English diglossia (was Re: retroflex consonants)

In a message dated 2/2/2003 10:02:50 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
and_yo@HOTMAIL.COM writes:


> >  Coupe, bayou, tabbouleh, nougat, bouquet, boutique, bijou. Joule, while
> >we're at bijou. Ghoul, toupée, ouzo, louvered, through. Let's see . . .
> >we're
> >up to 22. Douche. Crouton. Wound (as in injury, not twisted). (Counts them
> >all up). That gives us safely 25. Only counting words that I'm definitely
> >sure everybody pronounces with the sound, not the words that make for
> >controversial pronunciation threads like "route" . . . or maybe "croup" 
> and
> >words like "croup" that I'm not really sure how to pronounce. I also 
> didn't
> >count proper nouns (which range from Houston to Ouagadougou to the 
> Louvre).
> >I
> >also think the correct spelling for the adjective for people who practice
> >the
> >religion of Voodoo is "Voudoun". And "boulevard" has the same vowel sound
> >as
> >"could" and "would", even though it doesn't have an "ld" after it.
> 
> I don't think I've ever heard an actual native anglophone say "ghoul", but
> my dictionary thinks it's [gaUl].
> 
 WHAT? [gaUl]?!? *[gaUl]*?!!?! As in to rhyme with "owl"? Now I've heard 
everything! (Well, technically, I haven't HEARD that one, but I've sure read 
it!) I've never heard anything but /gul/ all my life. Is there anyone here 
who's actually heard it rhyming with "owl"?

 I thought that had to be a safe example of an "ou" = /u/ word for sure. Now 
am I going to hear someone tell me they put /'krautOnz/ in their salad?

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