Date: Wed, 13 Apr 1994 05:32:11 -0500 From: Natalie Maynor Subject: Re: ink pen > No need to dispair totally. Synchrony can be separated from > Diachrony. A few Missouri folk did wander up to the Dakotas, and though Speaking of diachrony, I started to mention yesterday that "ink pen" seems to be fading away. I remember hearing it fairly often as a child -- mainly from other children in school. I don't think I hear it much anymore. And I still think there may be a connection between "ink pen" and the pin/pen homophony. I've thought that for many years. The kinds of [pInz] are "safety pins," "straight pins," and "ink pens." It's just that some of us let context make clear which kind of [pIn] we're talking about. --Natalie (maynor[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ra.msstate.edu)