Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 09:10:59 -0400
From: Wayne Glowka wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MAIL.GAC.PEACHNET.EDU
Subject: Re: Consonant Cluster Reduction/Busleft
While we are on the subject of various pronciations (e.g., jewelry), I
thought I'd mention some English words with difficult to pronounce final
consonants. In the following, I commonly hear one or more of the final
consonants dropped:
twelfth, pron'd TWELF ("th" dropped)
sixth, pron'd SIKST ("h" dropped)
months, pron'd MUNTS ("h" dropped)
wreaths, pron'd REEZ ("th" dropped)
Have other people noticed this? Maybe pronchick Rima Mc has.
This kind of final consonant cluster reduction is quite common in much of
spoken American English. Various scholars have pointed to it as a feature
of African American English Vernacular. It is a function of the basic
tendency in language to move toward ease of articulation.
Terry Irons
Yes, my favorite white Central Georgian locution is "fifty cents," which
comes out [fIti + sInt]. (Read nasalization for [n]. I don't think I can
send a tilde)
Speaking of Central Georgian: one of the history professors from Ohio was
waylaid when his eight-year-old son exclaimed the other day, "I was
busleft!" Did an earlier discussion establish that this guiltless
expression for missing the bus was also used in North Georgia?
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