Re: Borrowing a word
| From: | John Cowan <cowan@...> |
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| Date: | Monday, August 25, 2003, 0:30 |
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BP Jonsson scripsit:
> At 10:28 22.8.2003 -0400, John Cowan wrote:
>
> >When my father (a first generation Irish-American, born in 1904) was
> >being
> >particularly silly, he would say in mocking tones "/&n'f_wVtIz'pT&t/?"
>
> Can we get an orthographic version?
"And fwhat is pthat?"
Labialized "f", or even plain "f", is a variant of "wh" in some dialects
of Scots, and maybe in some kinds of Hiberno-English as well. I suspect
the [pT] part was my father's own addition.
--
John Cowan jcowan@reutershealth.com http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
O beautiful for patriot's dream that sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law!
-- one of the verses not usually taught in U.S. schools
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