Date: Wed, 11 Sep 1996 15:25:00 -0400

From: "M. Lynne Murphy" 104LYN[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MUSE.ARTS.WITS.AC.ZA

Subject: Re: Greasy et al.



as a northerner:



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?



i use [s], but sometimes it gets a bit voicy.



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.



definitely 's' (and i'm from thereabouts). the other thing to know

about local pronunciation of syracuse is that the first syllable

rhymes with hair: saracuse.



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_?



definitely z for me. breesy is weird. maybe sound-symbolic?



incidentally, i know people in upstate new york who say "greazy", but

i think this is meant to be sound-symbolic. pizza can be greazy, but

your hands after doing car work are greasy.



lynne