Re: English diglossia (was Re: retroflex consonants)

John:
> And Rosta scripsit:
[...]
> > > she wos angry and told him to begon.  At that moment the oener ov the
> >
> > <oener> because mergers that affect both RP & GenAm are carried over
> > into RI?
>
> "ow" in RI represents the sound of "how now brown cow".  I don't
> understand how "own" got to be spelled that way (< OE a:gen) anyhow
> Perhaps to avoid collision with "one" which was formerly a homophone
> Anyway, "ow" in "show" etc. > "oe", as in "hoe".  This means occasional
> chain reforms:  "shoe" > "shoo", "show" > "shoe"
i was thinking of the waning accents that don't rhyme moan/mown,
groan/grown. But you're right: I was perhaps misled by the spelling
into thinking that _own_ was /own/ in Middle English, & I have no
way of checking.

--And.

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