Re: Insult (jara: Weekly Vocab 8)

Joe wrote:

> How odd.  "British short a", to me, sounds exactly the same as "American
> short a".  However, in words such as 'bath', 'grass', and most two-syllable
> words, an American short A becomes a English |ar|-type sound ([A:]).  (in
> southern English).  This means [A:] is a lot more common in  English English
> than American English.
>
> eg. Basketball: StAmE [b&skItbOl](I think) vs. RP [bA:skItbO:l]
>
> However, some short words, such as 'ham', 'cat', and some long ones,
> 'hamster', have [&].  I can't seem to find any particular rule, so I would
> classify them simply as two different sounds.
>
When we pronounce it [A:]
the "a" is followed by ff (and laugh), ft (laughed laughter), nce, nse, nt, ss,
sk, sp, st, th

I read (I can't remember where) that it's a fairly recent sound change
so there are a number exceptions in words that have the above spellings
that have kept [&]

eg
can't but not cant;  pass v lass; rather not gather;  bath v math; staff v gaff

amongst probably many others

I'm not sure you could work out a rule.

David Barrow