Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 15:42:57 -0500

From: Katherine Catmull kate[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]BGA.COM

Subject: Re: WAFT and the Principle of Linguistic Entropy



Just to throw my confusion into the mix: both "waeft" & "wahft" sound

perfectly correct to me, and after some agonizing about it I still can't

decide which I use. I suspect that I mix them -- say "waeft" for example,

but "wahfting." So sue me. I say "quaeff" & "quahff" too.



Perhaps you would call me a southerner, since (except for my undergrad

years) I have lived in Georgia, Florida and Texas since I was 5. But my

parents are northerners and if you had to hazard a guess at my accent you

would probably say "Minnesota," which is where my mother is from --

unless, that is, I gave myself away with a "y'all" or "fixin' to," as I

very well might.



Do you find it is increasingly difficult to pin down a speaker's

"region", even if they give you their life histories? Just curious.



Kate Catmull kate[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]bga.com