Date:    Mon, 2 Mar 1998 15:46:00 -0500
<br>From:    "Dennis R. Preston"  preston[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]PILOT.MSU.EDU 
<br>Subject: Re: Semantic distinc. betw. "crick" and "creek"?
<br>
<br>Nope Pat,
<br>
<br>dInIs has only 'creek.' I think you are remembering the fact that I have
<br>native 'greazy' and a later-learned 'greasy' for which I have the semantic
<br>distinction 'dirty, big-time grease' for the first and light delicate stuff
<br>for the latter. But, in fact, I don't like 'greasy' (or the verb 'grease')
<br>for the lighter stuff. Instead of the incorrect 's' pronunciations of these
<br>words, I would usually say 'oily' (and 'oil'). (By the way, I have 'all'
<br>for 'oil' but no such change in the diphthong for 'oily' I just realized. I
<br>am sure the vocalized 'l' in the former is to blame.)
<br>
<br>dInIs
<br>
<br> Most of the student I teach from rural areas (Western NY and Central NY)
<br> distinguish the difference in size between the smaller "crick" and larger
<br> "creek"; many also use different pronunciations for each.  Some of folks I
<br> knew from Southeastern Ohio also distinguished both semantically and
<br> phonetically.  dInIs does, don't you dInIs?
<br> 
<br> At 11:32 AM 3/2/98 -0500, you wrote:
<br>  A correspondent wrote in about an alleged semantic distinction
<br>  between "crick" and "creek." This writer, who is from an unspecified
<br>  but "rural" part of the country, claims that he uses both pronunciations,
<br>  but that a "crick" was smaller than a "creek." He states that he has
<br>  had a long-running disagreement with his wife about this, and he recently
<br>  found someone else who makes this distinction. DARE doesn't show any
<br>  semantic distinction, and Joan Hall isn't otherwise aware of any.
<br>  
<br>  Is this distinction familiar to anyone on the list?
<br>  
<br>  Jesse Sheidlower
<br>  Random House Reference
<br>   jester[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]panix.com 
<br>  
<br>
<br>Dennis R. Preston
<br>Department of Linguistics and Languages
<br>Michigan State University
<br>East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
<br>preston[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]pilot.msu.edu
<br>Office: (517)353-0740
<br>Fax: (517)432-2736
<br>