Re: French

Tristan scripsit:

> On the subject of French and lieutenant, where'd the /f/ come from in
> the Commonwealth pronunciation of it?
It's a mystery, though the front rounded vowel may have suggested a
fricative to anglophones.

I wonder how old this distinction is?  "Did lootenants and leftenants
face one another at [the American Revolution battle of] Yorktown?"

Peter Jennings is the Canadian-born anchor of a major U.S. television
news program: supposedly, his prompter spells this word "lootenant"
so as to cue him to (mis)pronounce it.  Ghu forbid the American people
should hear a pronunciation on TV that they don't understand instantly.

--
Said Agatha Christie / To E. Philips Oppenheim  John Cowan
"Who is this Hemingway? / Who is this Proust?   jcowan@reutershealth.com
Who is this Vladimir / Whatchamacallum,         http://www.reutershealth.com
This neopostrealist / Rabble?" she groused.     http://www.ccil.org/cowan
        --author unknown to me; any suggestions?

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