Date: Wed, 11 Sep 1996 14:57:28 EDT

From: Michael Montgomery N270053[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]VM.SC.EDU

Subject: Greasy et al.



We were talking about the "greasy line" the other day in class and the

questions came up of whether the same /s/ vs. /z/ contrast occurs medially

in other words and whether this might be regionally patterned as for

_greasy_. The following words were suggested as possibilities:



visa/Visa. I tend to hear the voiced fricative here in South

Carolina; is the voiceless alternative common in the North? Does

the Romance pronunciation with s influence its English pronunciation

anywhere?



Syracuse. Many folks I knew growing up (in Tennessee) and other

Southerners used the voiced fricate here. Network sportscasters

seem all to use the s.



breezy. I wouldn't have thought there was any variation here, but

I've noticed the pronunciation with s on national weather forecases,

as on the Weather Channel. Is this pronounced with s in the North,

perhaps by analogy with _greasy_?



I remember being told in graduate school that the greasy line pertained

to a once-off feature, but am not now so sure.



Michael Montgomery