Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 09:09:03 -0400 From: "Dennis R. Preston" Subject: Re: "Atlanta" Wayne's tale of Atlanta pronunciation reminds me of an old Hawai'i one. Two tourists who have frequently been in Hawai'i argue if the correct pronunciation is Ha[w]ai'i or Ha[v]ai'i. (I actually doubt if they dealt with the glottal, but it's just the [v]-[w] possibility which is at stake here.) They agree to resolve the argument by an appeal to authority and confront the first local-looking fellow they see and ask their question. He responds with Ha[v]ai'i, They say 'Thanks.' He says 'You're velcome.' Dennis >>[Sorry--I sent that last message before I was done] >> >>Bethany Dumas writes: >> >When I moved to Knoxville (1974), my >> >UT students told me that I could say >> >either /[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]lanta/ or /[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]tlana? -- I could >> >say either "t" but not both. >> >>It seems to me that the alternatives are [aetlaen(t)uh] or >>[uh?laen(t)uh]--where [uh] = schwa, [?] = glottal stop, and the second [t] >>is optional in either case. > > >There is some joking about a pronunciation that would be spelled >"Atalanta," but I've never actually heard anyone say the word this way >outside of a joking context. > >For example: There was a church group on a bus going to Atlanta arguing >about whether the name of the city was pronounced as spelled or as >"Atalanta." To solve the dispute, the bus pulled into a Burger King where >representatives of the church group asked the person at the cash register, >"What's the name of this place?" The cashier replied, "Burger King." > > >Wayne Glowka >Professor of English >Director of Research and Graduate Student Services >Georgia College & State University >Milledgeville, GA 31061 >912-453-4222 >FAX: 912-454-0873 >Office: Arts & Sciences 3-04 >wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]mail.gac.peachnet.edu Dennis R. Preston Department of Linguistics and Languages Michigan State University East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA preston[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]pilot.msu.edu Office: (517)432-1235 Fax: (517)432-2736