Date: Tue, 23 Jul 1996 05:38:42 -0500

From: Natalie Maynor maynor[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]RA.MSSTATE.EDU

Subject: Re: waft



several literary words, and am finding that waft is overwhelmingly pronounced

WAHFT, but in the South (speakers raised and still living there) it seems to

be the vowel of RAFT. Can anyone from the South speak to this?



I'm way behind in mail and probably sound like a distant echo of old

topics. But in answer to your question, yes -- "waft" and "raft" rhyme.

--Natalie (maynor[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ra.msstate.edu)

back in the land of grits, interstates without toll booths, and

normal-sounding speech, after several weeks of wandering among

strange accents, where "waft" would probably have been unrecognizable

to these Southern ears if it didn't rhyme with "raft"...



PS: The list archives are up to date now and back on their regular

daily schedule.