Date:  Wed, 13 Dec 1995 08:23:44 -0500

From:  "Dennis R. Preston" <preston[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]PILOT.MSU.EDU>

Subject: Re: pop and soda



Good shot Rudy! Your comment awakened in me the memory (but see below for

its possible sociolinguistic inaccuracy) that the geminate pronunciation

was the one that I used (in the 40's in Louisville) and the open syllable

form was the one I associated with older (and, sad to say) 'hickish'

speakers. In fact, the nongeminate pronunciation was one I (and

schoolmates) used (along with 'hep' for 'help,' 'a'-prefixing, etc...) as a

stereotypical imitation. This raises the spectre of the possibility of our

exaggerating our own pronunciation as a stereotype of the aways farther-off

'dialect' speakers. Perhaps the open syllable form exists ohnly there -- in

dialect 'performances.' (I think that is not the case here, but it is

always something to watch out for. Remember there are two great

sociolinguistic laws [unless you are after attitudes, not accuracy of

linguistic detail itself: Law #1: Never claim to know what you say. Law#2:

Never claim to know what anybody else says either. I guess if we all

followed these laws we'd have to shut this list down, huh?)

Dennis

<preston[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]pilot.msu.edu>



>    Before we go around the circle again on "Co-cola", any latecomers

>might want to consult the ADS-L archives, where various communicants have

>previously weighed in on the topic (was it about a year ago?).

>    Though my earlier reaction to the reported form was that I had not

>heard it, I realized that, on consulting my inner speaker, that [pace the

>claim that English lacks geminate consonants] I would informally say

>/kowk.kowl[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]/, with the dot representing the syllable boundary. I wonder how

>many of those represented ORTHOGRAPHICALLY with "co-cola" may actually

>say/have said /kowk.kowl[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]/ rather than the indicated /kow.kowl[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]/?

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