Date:  Wed, 23 Feb 1994 14:03:54 EST

From:  Wayne Glowka <wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MAIL.GAC.PEACHNET.EDU>

Subject: Re: [u]/[ju] in Houston



Dear Don,



    I can't make any systematic pronouncements, but around here I hear

[dju:] for 'dew' and occasionally [nju:+stju:dInt] for 'new student'--but

more from old folks and less from young. The distribution seems as crazy

as the distribution of [a] and open-o in 'log,' 'frog,' 'dog,' etc.



    Students make fun of my [yu:mr] for their [hjumr] 'humor.' They

also distinguish between 'which' and 'witch,' which I don't.



    You're not trying to say that someone says [hu:stn] for [ju:stn]

are you? Houston County, which is just south of Macon, is pronounced as

[hawstn]. Figure that as a Texas boy.



    Off the subject completely: Buena Vista, Alabama, is pronounced

[bju:na], read schwa for [a] here. I thought the disc jockey was joking,

but he wasn't.