Re: Grammar

Bob LeChevalier wrote:
> 
> Holger Dansk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >On Mon, 01 Dec 2003 20:25:40 -0500, Bob LeChevalier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >wrote:
> >
> >>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".
> >
> >If you do not realize that the negro pronunciation of the words that I
> >mentioned above is not correct then you have a problem with perception.
> 
> No.  I have a problem with the notion of "correct" when it comes to
> English pronunciation.  Unlike French, we have no Academie, and there
> is no universal standard of "correct" pronunciation.
> 
There's nothing wrong with thinking that how you say words is the
correct way. It's natural. We have dictionary producers to give us some
idea of how words are being mostly pronounced. If we all sounded exactly
network standard, would that be ideal? (Granted Peter Jennings should
speak American and Brokaw should take the cotton out of his mouth.)



> My wife distinguishes between "can" the noun, and "can" the verb, and
> between "Mary", "merry" and "marry".  They are homonyms to me.  She is
> bothered when the girl's name "Dawn" and "Don" are pronounced the
> same, but "Dawn" pronounces her own name such that my wife hears
> "Don".  You would apparently say that Dawn cannot pronounce her own
> name correctly, which is sheer idiocy.
> 
Are you in Washington state? Many of us are something like network
standard reduced with many vowels reducing to schwa. We are the people
of 'roof' and 'wolf' being pronounced with schwas for the vowels and
sometimes even with the 'l' dropped in 'wolf'. Yiks!