Re: Spelling pronunciations (was: rhotic miscellany)

Tristan Mc Leay scripsit:

> >I was of the impression that 'quh' itself indicated [xw], on analogy
> >with 'ch' = [x] and 'th' = [T]? Seems saner than using it for [kw],
> >for which simply 'qu' should immediate present itself.
>
> That's what I thought too.
Well, all I can say is that in the Scottish Alliterative Revival, quh-
alliterates with c- (and presumably k-).

> I also thought some Scottish dialects pronounced it as some f-like sound
> (probably [P] ... I mean, [p\]), and that this had somehow influenced
> the spelling of Maori so that <wh>=/f/ nowadays (at least by
> English-speakers using Maori words).
In the North of Scotland, it is indeed /f/, although /p\/ may be used too.
I assume that Maori was /p\/ when first written down; it is certainly /f/
today.

--
Here lies the Christian,                        John Cowan
        judge, and poet Peter,                  http://www.reutershealth.com
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