End of ADS-L Digest - 1 Jan 1994 to 2 Jan 1994

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There is one message totalling 31 lines in this issue.



Topics of the day:



 1. Headache



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Date:  Mon, 3 Jan 1994 15:04:14 +0700

From:  Gwyn Williams <gwyn[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]IPIED.TU.AC.TH>

Subject: Re: Headache



 Many thanks for Rudy's detailed reply to my query on the origin of the

Thai and Hong Kong pronunciations of "ache" as [tS]. I likewise dug up and

dusted off the main library's (1965!) OED. Cough! Splutter! Imagine a

university library without air-conditioning in the world's worst polluted

city, Bangkok :-( One of the unannounced dangers of linguistics :-)



 So we know that "ache" is derived from two crossed lineages:

pronunciation from a non-palatalized verb form and spelling from a

palatalized noun form. Most interesting.



> by OED times, the palatalized pronunciation was reported as highly marginalized

> and had become voiced, with <head-ache> becoming "eddage". It is possible,

> of course, that some early British expatriate who had this idiosyncratic usage

> was, like Anna, the founder of a tradition that has been passed down in the

> system. Such things do happen.



 Yes, it is indeed very possible, considering the very limited spread of

English in Thailand until recent times. There are many

such "institutionalized" pronunciations in Thai English. The next step is

to ascertain the point of entry into Thailand.



Thanks,



Gwyn