Re: USAGE: syllables
| From: | Tristan <kesuari@...> |
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| Date: | Friday, June 13, 2003, 12:19 |
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On Fri, 2003-06-13 at 22:05, Henrik Theiling wrote:
> > The old pronunciation of "July", viz. ["dZulI], was in use right
> > up through the 19th century, but AFAIK all dialects have now
> > shifted to [dZ@"lai] (or local equivalent),
>
> What a coincidence, isn't it? :-) Only English does not bother to
> change the spelling, of course, which would be unthinkable in German.
How else could you spell /dZ@"lai/ in English than <July>? Well... I
guess you could shove in a silent <e>, maybe change the <y> to an <i>,
and replace the <u> with the vowel or vowel diagraph of the day, but
there's nothing irregular about <July>=/dZ@"lai/ in English.
Though of course, you are right... English, change the spelling of a
word because it's pronunciation's changed? What've you been smoking? :P
/me goes back to trying to remember when it's <then> and when it's
<than>... Irritating pair of homophones (IMD). Derive from the same
word, too.
--
Tristan.
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