Re: another silly phonology question

On Fri, Dec 01, 2000 at 02:35:34PM -0500, John Cowan wrote:
> Keith Alasdair Mylchreest wrote:
>
> > In the English East Midlands we used to say /'s@m@t/ for "something", where
> > does that come from?
>
> "Somewhat"
Good try, but I'm sceptical. /s@m@t/ is a pronoun not an adjective, e.g.

"This box isn't empty, it's got /s@m@t/ in it"

I'd never say *"it's got somewhat in it". Whatever it's final element
/s@m@t/ is used of things exactly as "someone" is used for persons.

Is there ought in Middle English?

Keith