Date:  Sun, 17 Apr 1994 12:43:13 -0700

From:  Rudy Troike <RTROIKE[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ARIZVMS.BITNET>

Subject: Loss of /th/ vs assimilation of /ng/ in <lengths>



David Johns' great homonym of <lengths>:<links> in Georgia brings to attention

the opposite assimilation, namely the change of /ng/ to /n/ in <length>, which

I first noticed hearing from James Alatis, who grew up in a Greek family in

Ohio. For a long time I thought it was idiosyncratic, but in recent years I

have been hearing it from a number of speakers, primarily northeastern, but

also from some African Americans (mostly Ph.D.s) not from that area. I wonder

if there is any Atlas survey data on this, or any other information. The same

change of velar to alveolar nasal also affects <strength>.

    --Rudy Troike (rtroike[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ccit.arizona.edu)