Re: "I'm coffee and he's espresso." -- facially nonsensical

From: Mike Barnes (june2004_at_mikebarnes.fsnet.co.uk)
Date: 06/11/04 

Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 08:44:50 +0100

In alt.usage.english, Brian {Hamilton Kelly} wrote:
>On Thursday, in article <2iq5dlFphuhrU1@uni-berlin.de>
> wizofaus@hotmail.com "Dylan Nicholson" wrote:
>
>> "Tony Cooper" <tony_cooper213@earthlink.net> wrote in message
>> news:12jfc0d9q1rjrg9jlaen13uahbjnc2j8u6@4ax.com...
>> > Frankly, I don't know how an Italian would pronounce the word.
>>
>> I would assume LAH-teh. But English speakers don't like ending words with a
>> straight -e or -o. Hence lah-tay, for-tay, pron-toh-oo* etc. etc.
>
>Then you assume wrongly; the 'a' is short, and the 'e' is a schwa;
>therefore the word sounds almost exactly like the English "latter".

Really? I'm amazed. To me the "e" is short, as in "ten", and has slight
stress. The two "t"s are separately pronounced. Imagine "lat TEN" but
don't say the "N". No English word ends with that short "e" sound, hence
the English-speaker's tendency to add the "ee" sound that Dylan quite
correctly referred to. 

-- 
Mike Barnes
Cheshire, England

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