ellis@spar.UUCP (Michael Ellis) (11/17/85)
> Our father, who Art in heaven, Harold be thy name {whuxl!stu16}
Or is it: ... Howard ... ?
This critical question was decided after an extensive and heated debate
some 2 years ago according to the traditional scholarly standards in
net.misc; unfortunately, I do not recall for certain whether the
decision was "Harold" or "Howard"!
At the risk of offending our Haroldist and Howardist brethren, this
issue clearly shows how poorly spelling conveys the phonetic reality of
English (in the below, /ae/ is used to stand for the sound of `a' in
`cat'. Since we have to use ascii, and because /a/+/e/ never occurs in any
English word I can think of, this device, fortunately):
hallowed /hael0wd/
Howard /haew0rd/
Harold /haer0ld/
Which immediately suggests other glide (r,l,w) subsitutions:
howled /haew0ld/
*hallard /hael0rd/ (rhymes with `mallard', as duck)
*harrowed /haer0wd/ (rhymes with `narrowed')
halleled /hael0ld/ praised in the fashion of Psalms cxii-cxviii
*harord /haer0rd/ say `Harold' with /l/ => /r/
*how-oed /haew0wd/ ({Elmer Fudd/BabaWawa}-ism of all 8 above)
*these do not exist in English, but they `could'
(BTW, ignore the /0/ in the above according to taste)
These words (or pseudo-words) all have an amazingly similar effect
on my ear, at least for most american english speakers I've heard.
Speakers who use unusual (to my american ear) initial sounds in the `ow'
of {cow, house} will probably not hear the same similarity, of course.
Many non-americans, easterners and limeys open this diphthong with a
sound that is sometimes more like `u' in `cut', sometimes like `a' in
`car', sometimes like `e' in `get', and occasionally even vaguely like a
very open Polish or Welsh`y' (Russian hard-i). The `a' in `cat' is what
I usually here in california and on american TV.
American English seems to be most particular about the vowels it allows
to precede glides (in the below, /aa/=u in cut, /ae/=a in cat, are used
in the leftmost column to represent what should be single characters --
ascii sucks!):
no glide +y +w +r +l +[yw]r +[yw]l
u+ put - boot - bull [w] sewer pool
o+ bought boy boat boar ball [w] mower bowl
o+ [y] lawyer boil
a+ pot buy - bar doll [y] liar bile
aa+ but - - burr dull - -
ae+ bat - abOUt * pal [w] owl bowel
e+ bet bear - bear bell [y] player bail
i+ bit bee - beer pill [y] seer peel
0+ yabbA abbEY fellOW blabbER purpLE - -
0+ happIER filIAL
0+ follOWER ritUAL
* occurs only when another syllable follows, as in bArrow
The number of syllables created by sequences of glides seems to be a
matter of spelling-created religion:
1,2 +[yw]r pyre /payr/ or /pay0r/ likewise, flour vs flower
1,2 +[yw]l pile /payl/ or /pay0l/ likewise, owl vs dowel
1,2 +rl pearl /paarl/ or /paar0l/ likewise, pearl vs squirrel
1-3 +[yw]rl fire'll /fayrl/, /fay0rl/, /fayr0l/ or /fay0r0l/ ?
1,2 +lr dollar /dal0r/ or /dalr/ ?
1-3 +[yw]lr dialer /dayl0r/, /dayl0r/, /day0lr/ or /day0l0r/ ?
Tyler /tayl0r/...
The number of syllables in the above varies subtly according to speaker
and one's faith in spelling. I hear numbers indicated. Actually, every
phonetic transcription scheme I know seems to imply more certainty than
really exists in the spoken language.
Schwas before glides feel more `real' in words like:
2 seer /siy0r/ or /siyr/ `one who sees' (different from `sear')
2 mower /mow0r/ or /mowr/ as in `lawn mower' (different from `more')
..and, in particular:
2 knawer /no0r/ `one who knaws' (different from `nor' /nor/)
2 sawer /so0r/ `one who saws' (different from `soar' /sor/
also different `sow-er' /sowr/ or /sow0r/)
Admittedly, words rhyming with `thaw' (not to mention `bra' and `yeah')
are oddballs.
-michaelellis@spar.UUCP (Michael Ellis) (11/17/85)
This is probably not interesting to most people, but here are corrections to a table of english `polyphthongs' that I snafu'd: > no glide +y +w +r +l +[yw]r +[yw]l > u+ put - boot - bull [w] sewer pool > o+ bought boy boat boar ball [w] mower bowl > o+ [y] lawyer boil > a+ pot buy - bar doll [y] pyre bile > aa+ but - - burr dull - - > ae+ bat - abOUt * pal [w] power bowel > e+ bet bear - bear bell [y] player bail > i+ bit bee - beer pill [y] seer peel > 0+ yabbA abbEY fellOW blabbER purpLE - - > 0+ [y] happIER filIAL > 0+ [w] follOWER ritUAL > >* occurs only when another syllable follows, as in bArrow Sorry! "Hence, it is not possible to obey a rule privately; otherwise, thinking one was obeying a rule would be the same thing as obeying it" - Wittgenstein -michael
jcp@osiris.UUCP (Jody Patilla) (11/20/85)
> *harrowed /haer0wd/ (rhymes with `narrowed') > > *these do not exist in English, but they `could' > Harrowed is in fact a real word, though you city boys might not know it. A harrow is a farm implement with discs or sharp spikes on it, used to break up clods and lumpy grounds after plowing but before planting. To harrow is the act of pulling this implement over the field, and a field which has had this done to it has been harrowed. (It's in the dictionary, by the way) -- jcpatilla Mountain View is paid a diplomatic visit by giant Lunar reptiles that want our hot tubs but can't find any so they leave.