Date:  Mon, 9 Jan 1995 17:31:53 CST

From:  Mike Picone <MPICONE[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UA1VM.UA.EDU>

Subject: Re: Euphonizing (?) proper names



Concerning Brett Favre, pronounced `farv', I don't know if it is a

case of metathesis or not. In many new world dialects of French, the

syllable final -re is never pronounced: the leading Cajun filmmaker,

for example, Glenn Pitre ("Belizaire le Cajun"), pronounces his last

name `pete'. This is pretty much the case everywhere in Louisiana,

as far as I know. That still dosn't explain the `r', however. But there

is also a lot of intrusive -r- out there. In other cases, like that of

Isiah Thomas, it's probably just a case of nonstandard spelling. There's

a lot of that here in the South. Our departmental secretary, for example,

spells her name Earnestine.



On humoristic `euphonism': As most everyone probably knows already,

a very inventive use of names figures in Car Talk's credits. My all-time

favorite is the firm cited for legal consultations: Dewey, Cheatum & Howe.



Mike Picone

University of Alabama

MPICONE[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UA1VM.UA.EDU