Date:  Tue, 7 Nov 1995 18:08:37 -0500

From:  "Suzanne Legault: English" <E7E4LEG[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]TOE.TOWSON.EDU>

Subject: Re: supervisor/coupon



On Tue, 7 Nov 1995, Natalie Maynor wrote:



> I'm a /ju/ (/yu/) user in words like "news," "Tuesday," "coupon" but would

> not use it in "supervisor." I can't think of any words I would have the

> /sju/ combination in.

>  --Natalie (maynor[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ra.msstate.edu)





Natalie:



How about "assume"? I think I have it there, as a general rule. But as for

"suture," it's a puzzlement, if not a bona fide vexed question.



How about a "serious" thread on such minutiae, starting with whatever evidence

we can find in Early Mod. English, and ending with some spiffy late-twentieth

century sociolinguistic insights.



One thing's for sure: Old-time New Yorkers of ANY class distinguish between the

"dew" and the "doo" on their shoes. What it's due to is the question to which

I hope our potential thread will suggest an answer.



Suzanne