Re: Orthography supporting sound changes?

Prai Jei wrote:
>
> Harlan Messinger (or somebody else of the same name) wrote thusly in message
> <427m8hF1hor4hU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>
> > Barbara Need wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> Well, there are _after_ and _often_. Both othe these had lost the [t] in
> >> pronunciation. _after_ now has it again; _often_ is getting it. (I had a
> >> student say once, when asked which she said and which was "right", "Well
> >> I say [OfIn], but I know it's wrong"!)
> >
> > I had wondered whether [OftIn] was gaining, because the first time I
> > noticed anyone say it was when I was 20 already. As odd--as bizarre!--as
> > it struck me *then* I can't imagine that I'd heard it earlier than that
> > without noticing it. So I chalked it up to one person's idiolect, and
> > only later began to hear it over the years with greater and greater
> > frequency.
>
> I've always pronounced the /t/ in "often" so I took any pronunciation that
> skipped the sound as simply sloppy. It was therefore rather confusing to me
> (and I couldn't see the joke) that part of the plot of Gilbert & Sullivan's
> "The Pirates of Penzance" turns on the identical (then) pronunciation of
> "often" and "orphan".

Indeed. One of them has an /r/, the other doesn't. You'll orften hear
American productions insert an /r/ into "often" to try to make the joke
work.
--
Peter T. Daniels grammatim@xxxxxxx
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Orthography supporting sound changes?
    ... Harlan Messinger wrote thusly in message ... > Barbara Need wrote: ... > I had wondered whether [OftIn] was gaining, ... It was therefore rather confusing to me ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: Orthography supporting sound changes?
    ... > Prai Jei wrote: ... >> Harlan Messinger wrote thusly in message ... >>> without noticing it. ... That's odd, becuase my understanding is that, at the time, neither was ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: Orthography supporting sound changes?
    ... Barbara Need wrote: ... >> Harlan Messinger wrote: ... >>> without noticing it. ... Prev by Date: ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: Orthography supporting sound changes?
    ... > Harlan Messinger wrote: ... >> Barbara Need wrote: ... >>> had a student say once, when asked which she said and which was ... > Would "forehead" be another example of what the OP was wondering about? ...
    (sci.lang)