Date: Thu, 13 Apr 1995 10:39:49 -0400 From: Wayne Glowka Subject: Robert/Bob Anyone familiar with Monty Python's _The Life of Brian_ will remember (in this season of the Passion, no less) the scene with the crowd in which a Roman official cannot say /r/. Like children everywhere, he substituted /w/ for /r/, much to the delectation of the crowd, which kept hollering out names like "Barabas" and "Roderick," which the official (was it Pilate or Biggus Dickus?) repeated as "Bawabas" and "Woderick." _Saturday Night Live_ parodies of Barbara Walters also come to mind. Thus, "Robert" may get rendered into "Wob" (like "Rob"), which is a short bilabial step to "Bob." The same process seems to happen in the change from "William" to "Bill." However, I still like the duplication argument that I offered in the last posting. Wayne Glowka Professor of English Director of Research and Graduate Student Services Georgia College Milledgeville, GA 31061 912-453-4222 wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]mail.gac.peachnet.edu