Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 20:28:27 -0400

From: Robert Howren howren[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]EMAIL.UNC.EDU

Subject: Re: Consonant Cluster Reduction



On Thu, 14 Sep 1995, Terry Lynn Irons wrote:



Subject: Consonant Cluster Reduction



While we are on the subject of various pronciations (e.g., jewelry), I

thought I'd mention some English words with difficult to pronounce final

consonants. In the following, I commonly hear one or more of the final

consonants dropped:



twelfth, pron'd TWELF ("th" dropped)

sixth, pron'd SIKST ("h" dropped)

months, pron'd MUNTS ("h" dropped)

wreaths, pron'd REEZ ("th" dropped)





It should be pointed out that while the first and fourth of these

words do indeed illustrate "dropped" consonants, the second and third

don't. "h" is dropped in these two only in an orthographic sense. The

dental fricative in "sixth" pronounced as SIKST and in "months" pronounced

as MUNTS is replaced by a different consonant, not deleted.



--rh



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| Robert Howren howren[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]email.unc.edu |

| Hillsborough, NC |

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