Re: Grammar

On Mon, 1 Dec 2003, Bob LeChevalier wrote:

> Holger Dansk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >>> Many native born African Americans (negroes) don't seem to be able to
> >>> learn how to pronounce English even though negroes have been in this
> >>> country for a couple of hundred years.
> >>>
> >>The operative words there are "don't seem" -- which is merely a statement
> >>regarding your preception, nothing more.
> >
> >Well, what's your perception?  Haven't you noticed how many negroes say,
> >"foh" for four, "poelice" for police, "Presidennnt" for President,
>
> Speaking of which, the current White House occupant and his
> noo-kyu-lar policies must drive you crazy.  Maybe he has some hidden
> "negroes" in his ancestry.
>
> You should listen to a Lancastershire (pronounced "lankasheer") accent
> sometime.
>
> >"Aunt" pronounced to rhyme with "up" and "but" instead of the correct
> >way which rhymes with "cat" and "man", and is pronounced the same as
> >ant;

Both pronounciations are correct.

>
> Many Americans and most British pronounce it to rhyme with "want".
>
> >"incidennnt" for incident, "evidennnce" for evidence, "weck" for
> >work,
>
> The latter sounds like Ted Kennedy.

That's what I thought when I read it. I've certainly never heard a black
in the west or southwest pronounce it that way. Or a white for
that matter. That's a regional thing. How far is Boston from New
Joisey?


> >"acks" for ask, "paymennnt" for payment, "Eyerock" for Iraq.  The
> >"I" in Iraq rhymes with the ones in "in" and "hit", and the "a" in Iraq
> >rhymes with the ones in "cat" and "man".  These are just a few examples.
> >The list is very long.
>

According to Webster's, it's ih-rock, not ih-rack.

> The problem you have is that there is NO "correct pronunciation" of
> English. Each dialect does it differently, and NONE of them are
> "right" or "wrong".

He seems to be focusing on pronounciation. If pronounciation
was the only problem there wouldn't be much of a problem.