Re: another silly phonology question

On Wed, 29 Nov 2000, Raymond Brown wrote:

> [O]ne comes across hypercorection where [T] is used instead of /f/ when
> someone is trying to sound 'educated'.  I've even come across the spelling
> _enuth_ from one of my 17 year-old students!
This change also exists in AAVE, though only in final positions, and it
is often preserved even in acrolect.  I had a professor whose speech
was entirely GA except for final /T/ -> [f]: he said [m&f] for "math", e.g.

Probably as a consequence, white Southerners often hypercorrectly
say [trOT] instead of [trOf] for "trough", particularly as the
spelling gives no support.

> One also hears /nVfIn/ and /nVfn=/ and, strangely, /nV?n/.
This last is also heard here, and conventionally spelled "nuttin'".
It's "gangsterese".

--
John Cowan                                   cowan@ccil.org
One art/there is/no less/no more/All things/to do/with sparks/galore
        --Douglas Hofstadter