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