Date:    Mon, 18 May 1998 09:47:34 +0000
<br>From:    Peter McGraw <pmcgraw[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]LINFIELD.EDU>
<br>Subject: Re: nativisms
<br>
<br>On Fri, 15 May 1998 13:46:58 -0400 Larry Horn <laurence.horn[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]YALE.EDU>
<br>wrote:
<br>
<br>> At 10:15 AM -0700 5/15/98, A. Vine wrote:
<br>> >Larry Horn wrote:
<br>> >> Upstate New Yorkers go nativist with a vengeance.  The Chili that's a
<br>> >> suburb of Rochester is [CHAI lai], as in "jai alai"
<br>> >>
<br>> >> Larry
<br>> >
<br>> >"Jai alai" is regional.  Folks who haven't been in the Northeast
<br>> >probably haven't heard of it.
<br>> >
<br>> >Andrea
<br>>
<br>> Well, I suspect those who've been to the Basque Country have.  But it's
<br>> "the fastest game on Earth", and a good excuse for public gambling in
<br>> these parts (before the more recent reservation casino trend).  The
<br>> local pronunication is bi-, rather than tri-, syllabic, essentially
<br>> High Life without the f.
<br>> I know, I know, folks who don't drink beer haven't heard of THAT.
<br>>
<br>> Larry
<br>
<br>Folks who grew up in Southern California (at least, folks of my
<br>vintage) have certainly heard of it.  When I was a kid, we had a book
<br>of matches around our house (in San Diego) for what seemed like years
<br>that had a picture of a stadium, I think in Tijuana, and said, "JAI
<br>ALAI...hili [or highligh?] games."  I took this to mean that there was
<br>a stadium in Tijuana named [dzhe [AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]le] (excuse the bastardized IPA)
<br>where they played a game called [hailai].  If I'd thought much about
<br>it, I probably would have figured the stadium also had something to do
<br>with a city called "Allay" that people were always mentioning.
<br>
<br>Peter
<br>
<br>----------------------
<br>Peter A. McGraw
<br>Linfield College
<br>McMinnville, Oregon
<br>pmcgraw[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]linfield.edu
<br>