bobvan (11/25/82)
I recently heard a local radio announcer read a commercial for a sale of oriental rugs: "... We can offer you the lowest prices on fine oriental rugs because we deal directly with the talented artesians who make them". First our beer, now our oriental rugs! Who knows what those artesians will start making next! The announcer didn't catch her mistake, so I couldn't tell if it was due to a slip of the tongue or just plain ignorance of the word "artisan". I suppose it could have been a typo in the copy too. For those who are interested, it was Wendy Rice on WXRT, Chicago. Bob Van Valzah (...!decvax!ittvax!tpdcvax!bobvan)
hardie (11/25/82)
The problem could easily have been the announcer did not know how to pronounce the word 'artisan'. I have noticed a curious mis-pronouncement (!?) that seems indigenous to only a small area of Saskatchewan. The word 'height' is pronounced as if it was spelled 'height-th' i.e. there is a terminating soft 'th' sound after the 't'. As I was typing this followup, I had to consult a dictionary to be sure of the spelling of 'height' (shame!) and asked the secretary how it was spelled. She pronounces the word 'height-th' as well so I asked her if she grew up in the area around Prince Albert (Sask) and sure enough she did! My wife and her side of the family all come from that area and they all pronounce it wrong (!) too. So does my boss and he also comes from that area (hope you aren't reading this Bob!). Anyone any ideas about how such a localized pronunciation can come about? Not afraid to sign my name even if the boss is reading this! Pete Hardie Operations Manager (still - I hope) U. of Sask. (utah-cs!sask!hardie)
dce (11/27/82)
In response to the last article saying that pronouncing 'height' as 'height-th' is wrong, stuff it! Not that I say it with a 'th' at the end of the word, but you can't say a pronunciation is wrong. You can say that it's different, but not wrong. Ask any linguist about Grimm's Law. He (or she) won't say that the Great Vowel Shift was wrong. Face up to it. Languages change in different ways and to different degrees and you can't do anything about it, though many have tried. Did you know that the Russian government once outlawed some of the languages in order to attemt to force all of the people to use the same language? Linguists don't try to tell people how to speak, but describe how they speak. If you think you're so smart, say spurious. If it doesn't come out with a y sound after the p, you aren't saying it like in the dictionary. I could look up more frequently 'mispronounced' words if you like, but I think you get my point. David Elliott