Re: Grammar

On Tue, 2 Dec 2003, Bill Bonde ( the oblique allusion in lieu of the frontal attack ) 
wrote:

>
>
> Bob LeChevalier wrote:
> >
> > "Bill Bonde ( the oblique allusion in lieu of the frontal attack )"
> > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > >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.)
> >
> > So even network standard isn't standard among those on the network.
> >
> If everyone spoke exactly the same, we couldn't tell each other apart by
> voice. In any case, Brokaw and Jennings are *not* network standard in
> that Jennings has a Canadian accent and Brokaw a weird lisp or
> something.
>
>
>
> > >> 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?
> >
> > I'm in Virginia, but raised on the San Francisco peninsula by parents
> > from Michigan and NYC, and I went to college in Michigan; the most
> > common dialect spoken in the bay area is a midwestern derivative.  My
> > wife is from Philadelphia, which is a city with one of the most
> > distinctive and localized accents in the country.
> >
> I would pronounce 'Don' and 'Dawn' the same way. 'Caught' and 'cot' are
> the same as well, I guess for the same reason. I have to be careful to
> say 'roof' with the oo and not a schwa or something close. I hear this
> form of speech all the time around here including on radio ads for
> 'roofers' (called 'r<schwa>ffers' in the ad). I think that eastern
> Washington state is a hotbed of people who say 'w<schwa>f' for 'wolf'.
>

Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon are much alike. Whenever I return
from a visit, I return with the accent (the same accent I assume I
grew up with). I was walking through a casino here in LV one evening
and overhead a man talking not far from me. I walked up to him and
asked, "Are you from Pendleton, Oregon?" (Pen'l-ton with the first n so
soft you can barely hear it.) His eyes got wide and his friends
all hushed. "Why yes," he said. "Do I know you?"

Never saw him before in my life.

I do, uhm, like the Southwest Airlines billboard down here by the airport.
Took me a couple drive-bys to figure it out. Then one night I nearly
scared the kids to death, "Aha! Now I know what they're saying! The
big dumbies!"

"Oregon -- With the wind!!!"

I think Don H wrote a friend who wrote an editorial for the Oregonian
after I shared that incident. I thought for sure SW would take it down
after that, but the silly thing still stands.