Date:  Fri, 6 Oct 1995 11:25:20 EDT

From:  Larry Horn <LHORN[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]YALEVM.CIS.YALE.EDU>

Subject: Re: Mondegreens -Reply



Vicki writes:



>          ...Which leads me to wonder how widespread

>"green" is for a public area at the center of town, possibly with

>a building or two (such as a church or town hall). I know that

>New Haven, Connecticut has a town green (with _three_ churches

>on it, and university and government buildings around the edges,

>as well as bars, banks, delis and the like), and that in much

>of Massachusetts this area is called the Common.



It's not just New Haven, but virtually every self-respecting Connecticut town

that has a green. In Massachusetts, as far as I know, they are indeed

commons, but I'm not sure whether there's an established isogloss to mark the

boundary, or what they call them in Rhode Island. (I'm sure it's all in

DARE, but I don't have a copy handy.) I suspect that 'green' may be more wide-

spread throughout New England than 'common', but that may be my Connecticut

chauvinism showing.



--Larry

vr%acmcr.uucp[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]murphy.com

New York, NY