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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 289 responses total. |
mynxcat
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response 87 of 289:
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Oct 23 03:04 UTC 2002 |
This response has been erased.
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gelinas
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response 88 of 289:
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Oct 23 03:25 UTC 2002 |
Probably not. My Webster's unabridged has "wha(umlaut)t" /hwot/. However,
if you can find some re-runs of "Welcome Back, Kotter", just wait for
Barbarino to be asked a question.
More easily, listen to the folks around you, carefully. You'll see that the
pronouncication of the word varies by its use in a sentence; the same speaker
will pronounce it several different ways, maybe even in the same sentence.
I think it largely depends upon where and how the stress falls.
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polytarp
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response 89 of 289:
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Oct 23 03:30 UTC 2002 |
Just listen to leland.\
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rcurl
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response 90 of 289:
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Oct 23 05:17 UTC 2002 |
Since what and about qualify...there's a million of them: a (the article),
adopt, adept, address, afraid, against, ahoy, etc
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mdw
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response 91 of 289:
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Oct 23 05:24 UTC 2002 |
France has the french language academy, which has legal force to decree
what words are part of the french language, and (presumably) how to
pronounce and spell them. Most other countries do not go to this length
to enforce language purity, but there are quite a few that do in fact
act on an official basis to define a standardized alphabet and spelling,
- which they revise on a regular basis. That's why spanish, russian,
etc., all have phonetic spelling.
English is of course the world's big exception. There is no English
language academy, and the last time anybody bothered to make spelling
phonetic was sometime back in the middle ages, at least one vowel shift
away from modern english. The people who originally figured out how to
spell fight, bite, feet, meat, etc., would probably be horrified to find
out how we pronouce English today.
Although there is no formal "langauge" academy for English, there is a
standard of sorts, which is usually set by the broadcasting industry.
The BBC, for instance, has strict standards on how its radio and TV
announcers are supposed to pronouce words, and those standards are
deliberately set to be as intelligible as possible to as many brits as
possible, so is a sort of artificial amalgam of all the different
dialects averaging all the differences between them, probably while also
trying to preserve those differences that mark different but easily
confused words. In America, we also have such a broadcast standard,
which is in fact based on the language spoke in Ohio - the "linguistic"
center of the USA. Since we (in Michigan) don't live far from Ohio,
people on American TV usually don't have a noticeable accent (to us).
Broadcast TV and radio tends to level accent - so people in GB and the
USA are losing regional differences and sounding more like "the
standard". If you attend a university with a good
broadcasting/communications/acting/journalism/public-speaking or similar
department, there's a good chance there is in fact some sort of program
or course to teach you how to speak "standard" english without an
accent.
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rcurl
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response 92 of 289:
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Oct 23 05:35 UTC 2002 |
The Dutch adopted (I believe) Rotterdam Dutch as their national standard.
As a result many Dutch speak two Dutch languages - the official dialect
and their local dialect. (I met an Israeli who came to the Netherlands
speaking no Dutch but in six months was speaking both Dutch and Brabants
fluently....but that's another subject.)
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russ
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response 93 of 289:
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Oct 23 09:41 UTC 2002 |
(This is terribly amusing to find this in the *movie* item. Is there
a "pointless bickering" item? Should there be?)
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jmsaul
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response 94 of 289:
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Oct 23 11:01 UTC 2002 |
Re #88: I've never heard an American speaker say "whot".
Re #93: Oh my god! Drift!
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mynxcat
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response 95 of 289:
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Oct 23 12:50 UTC 2002 |
This response has been erased.
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other
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response 96 of 289:
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Oct 23 14:12 UTC 2002 |
Well, it turns out that I am going to have to see 8 Mile, though I wasn't
planning on it. I'll wait for the video/DVD, though. Apparently, the
role of Roy Daroucher is played by the guy with whom I've been sharing a
PO Box for the last eleven years: Adam Brook, proprietor of Cadillac
Luggage in the Penobscot Building, and formerly proprietor of Adam's
Garden of Eden in Ann Arbor.
Weird. VERY weird. He's never been a professional actor. However, I
can easily imagine him in the role...
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gull
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response 97 of 289:
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Oct 23 14:59 UTC 2002 |
Re #94: Could be worse, the "Local News Gap" item turned into a
discussion about cats.
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slynne
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response 98 of 289:
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Oct 23 15:16 UTC 2002 |
Does anyone know if any theaters around here are planning on showing
Bowling for Columbine?
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remmers
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response 99 of 289:
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Oct 23 18:12 UTC 2002 |
It opens at the Michigan Theater November 1, according to their web page.
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edina
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response 100 of 289:
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Oct 23 18:27 UTC 2002 |
I can't wait to see "8 Mile". That's how homesick I am.
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slynne
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response 101 of 289:
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Oct 23 18:38 UTC 2002 |
I used to live very near 8 Mile and Woodward but I'll bet that isnt the
neighborhood where that movie is set.
RE#99 Cool!
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tpryan
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response 102 of 289:
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Oct 23 19:21 UTC 2002 |
re above:
Invite people over for Soup nad a sandwich.
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richard
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response 103 of 289:
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Oct 24 02:46 UTC 2002 |
#93...russ, thats an idea! a pointless bickering item!
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russ
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response 104 of 289:
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Oct 24 05:20 UTC 2002 |
(I find it very amusing that BBC newscasters pronounce Korea to
rhyme with "career". The British are a funny folk, they delete
written u's and add unwritten r's...)
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gelinas
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response 105 of 289:
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Oct 24 05:21 UTC 2002 |
You mean like in "Warsh the cor, Son."
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cmcgee
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response 106 of 289:
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Oct 24 12:15 UTC 2002 |
Isnt that "Worsh the caa, son?".
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janc
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response 107 of 289:
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Oct 24 13:16 UTC 2002 |
I sometimes tell people that it is easier to pronounce my name ("Yon
Walter") if they forget how it is spelled, but I've met some people who
can't. One professor I worked with couldn't get past "Yan". (That
variation is most common with people from England who want to morph my
name into "Ian"). Some of the problem seems to be a paniced attempt to
say anything except "Jan" (as in "Janet"), which causes people to come
up with all sorts of things, like "Juan". Which is, in the end, OK with
me. I'll usually correct a pronounciation once or twice, but if the
person doesn't get it, then let them pronounce it any way they want.
After all, even I don't pronounce it correctly when speaking English. I
only use the correct pronounciation when speaking German. Though
Americans are perfectly capable of saying "Yun" and maybe even "Voilta",
it sounds wrong to me when in American English mode. I kind of like
having my name change when I shift languages. Maybe if I spoke French I
could be "Jean Voltaire". "Ian Walter" would probaby be much more
comfortable in England.
Of course, this causes me some trouble, because a lot of things sound
like my name to me. I'm constantly hearing sounds in the crowd that
sound like some variation of my name. I went to school with a kid named
"Jon Votaw". His name sounded a lot like the German pronounciation of
my name, so I reacted to his name a lot more often than he reacted to mine.
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orinoco
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response 108 of 289:
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Oct 24 14:12 UTC 2002 |
I think I'm going to call you Jean Voltaire from now on.
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mynxcat
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response 109 of 289:
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Oct 24 14:56 UTC 2002 |
This response has been erased.
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lelande
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response 110 of 289:
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Oct 24 19:00 UTC 2002 |
107: i've wondered if your name was pronounced to rhyme with "on" or with
"yawn" only slightly less rounded at the lips. incidentally, the first soundi
n your first name in the international phonetic alphabet is transcribed [j].
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gelinas
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response 111 of 289:
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Oct 24 21:39 UTC 2002 |
Re #106: Ah doan think so; them folks wahsh the caa aftuh they pahk it.
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