tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post9024098129192773932..comments2024-03-27T03:19:11.216-04:00Comments on Assistant Village Idiot: Pecans and AuntsAssistant Village Idiothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-47994651052310527612020-11-14T22:22:18.524-05:002020-11-14T22:22:18.524-05:00Southerners are sometimes accused of adding a syll...Southerners are sometimes accused of adding a syllable to some words... mo-tay-el for motel... and gosh does my granddaughter sound cute saying that... BUT<br /><br />Garage is only one syllable - groj. That's it. Donna B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16771075314473811594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-33111790979352870392020-11-14T18:24:43.191-05:002020-11-14T18:24:43.191-05:00@ T99 - Awnt is universal in five of six New Engla...@ T99 - Awnt is universal in five of six New England states, and half of Connecticut, except among those who have moved in. It is even dominant in the African-American and Hispanic populations. It is standard in the Canadian Maritimes and in Britain. It was a tell when I heard it in college in Virginia that the speaker was from my area. I have heard that it is used dotted across the northern border all the way to Washington State, which makes sense, as those areas were settled by New Englanders. Portland Oregon's name was decided on a coin flip, the other choice being Boston. Yet awnt disappears fast going SW. Even in New Haven, as I noted, it is rare. GA-rajh is preferred in Great Britain, rare in the US.Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-44115197056643989702020-11-14T17:01:43.598-05:002020-11-14T17:01:43.598-05:00I never say anything but puh-CAHN in any context a...I never say anything but puh-CAHN in any context and never imagined doing so. "Route" is slipperier. I don't seem to have a strong preference built in. I hear it both ways so often that neither feels indisputably right. Maybe it's "rowte" when routing a wire around an obstacle, but "root" when choosing one to get to the store.<br /><br />I wasn't brought up to say "AWWNT." If I said it I'd be joking or imitating someone's else's accent, most likely a Brit, as I've never figured out who in the U.S. talks that way. Ditto vahhhhze for vase. If I said anything but "vaice," it would be like the Monthy Python character making fun of the aviation student wanting to learn to fly an aeroplane: "No more buttered scones for me, mater, I'm off to play the GRAAHHHHND PIAAAAAHNO."<br /><br />I say "gaRAZHE" for garage (certainly not GAIR-age), but I hear the harder soft-g sound a lot. I think I may have been taught to say fwah-yay instead of foy-yer, but I so rarely hear anything but foy-yer now that I'm never quite sure what will pop out when I use the word.<br /><br />I hear in-SUR-ance about as often as IN-surance, even here in the South. If you let people move around too much or listen to too much TV, you can really mess up dialects.Texan99https://www.blogger.com/profile/10479561573903660086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-67877184468705283292020-11-13T17:34:46.945-05:002020-11-13T17:34:46.945-05:00pah, peh, puh... p-CAHN works. I've never hear...pah, peh, puh... p-CAHN works. I've never heard 'PEE' before 'can' or 'cahn' regardless the accented syllable, except when someone was trying to be "cute". <br /><br />I have 17 aunts (6 from Mom's side, 11 from Dad's) and knew quite a few of my great-aunts. The variance in pronunciation also holds up in my generation (Aint Jan, Ant Lori, Aint Marilyn, Ant Cathy, Aint Brenda).<br /><br />Families with more than two children today barring the younger being twins? Yes, not that common. Donna B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16771075314473811594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-51701582567900144702020-11-13T16:47:37.763-05:002020-11-13T16:47:37.763-05:00@ Donne B. I think it's the same as my puh-CA...@ Donne B. I think it's the same as my puh-CAHN, as I debated putting an "e" in there instead. It is quick and almost vowel-less, just the plosive "p" sound followed by CAHN. If a vowel must be assigned, it is the schwa, that black hole of vowels in the center of the mouth that can be represented by almost any other vowel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwa It is especially noticeable when pair with "r," and thus third, word, curd, herd, Byrd. Only the "a" escapes.<br /><br />Your thought that it matters whether it is an initial consonant or initial vowel on the name of the aunt in question does not quite hold, but there does seem to be something there. There's a glimmer of a pattern there. I wonder if it has something to do with the pronunciation of the first vowel in the name, whatever it begins with, and whether it is a high vowel like "ee" or not. I suspect you are on to something, though I don't know if it's worth your time. That's the sort of sideways thinking this blog is all about.<br /><br />We are moving to a world where we may not have the data (pronounced "datter" in NH, BTW) to know. Not many people have had multiple children in the last generation to give a good base for discussion, and that is only getting worse. Though they are all moving around more, so that may compensate. <br /><br />Anecdote: When I am walking on the local Rail Trails and see a couple or a woman with three or more children, I am tempted to ask "Catholic, Evangelical, or Mormon?" I have not had the effrontery yet, but because I am getting old, I might risk it, thinking that any offense might be dismissed as just something from an ignorant old guy.<br /><br />Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-9794579216668249722020-11-13T16:45:24.776-05:002020-11-13T16:45:24.776-05:00I always say “aunt” with the “au-“ unless, as you ...I always say “aunt” with the “au-“ unless, as you say, I’m naming a particular Ant. But we say PUH-khan, I think. Grimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07543082562999855432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-39828419319547357522020-11-13T16:14:29.561-05:002020-11-13T16:14:29.561-05:00Southern "aunts" get their name dependin...Southern "aunts" get their name depending on... who knows? I was going to comment that it made a difference if their first name began with a consonant or vowel as to whether it would be "aint" or "ant" but that didn't quite hold up. I'm Aint Donna, my sister is Ant Carol, and we have an Ant Delane and an Ant Annie and an Aint Evelyn. Aint Wilma, Ant Wanda, Aint Vea, Ant Muriel, Aint Julie, Ant Eunice, Aint Bennie, Aints Mary and Margaret. Also an Ant Juanita and an Aint Juanita. These are scattered over both sides of my family. There are no "awnts". <br /><br />One thing all my ants and aints would agree on is that its' "pehCAHN". You didn't even mention that one.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Donna B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16771075314473811594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-46214917708528728572020-11-13T14:48:41.894-05:002020-11-13T14:48:41.894-05:00Our old friend: NYT Dialect Quiz.Our old friend: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/dialect-quiz-map.html" rel="nofollow">NYT Dialect Quiz.</a> RichardJohnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07490819511630683969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-90183778018172498072020-11-13T14:45:38.205-05:002020-11-13T14:45:38.205-05:00Born and raised in New England, of flyover parents...Born and raised in New England, of flyover parents. Aunt: my aunt is not an ant. Pecan: pu-CAHN. Either from my mother, or from living in TX. I vote for my mother, as she or her mother made the first pecan pies I ate. <br /><br />I was made aware of regional differences when a childhood friend pronounced "route" differently from me: raut(your rout) instead of my rute (your root). While both our parents were from flyover country, he didn't come to New England until he was 7, whereas I had, at that point, spent all my life there. I tend to keep my old pronunciation when the route is numbered: Route 1, Route 101, etc. However, when I talk about "take that route," with no number, I often pronounce it "raut." <br /><br />One difference, for which I can make no regional claims, is "roof." I grew up pronouncing it as in "put" or "woof." When at State U, I and another from my high school found out that a mutual friend, who was from 30 miles away, pronounced it "rufe." Or did the mutual friend point it out? (I also pronounce "root" as in "put." I don't know if that came from childhood or from all my math courses in college.)<br /><br />Another pronunciation tale from college days at State U is that a friend said that I and 2 others from the same high school- call it Alma Mater High- spoke with an "Alma Mater accent."<br /><br />RichardJohnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07490819511630683969noreply@blogger.com