Date: Wed, 11 Sep 1996 17:43:20 EDT

From: "David A. Johns" daj000[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]FOX.WAY.PEACHNET.EDU

Subject: Re: Greasy et al.



At 03:05 PM 9/11/96 -0500, you wrote:

Personally, I had never heard of "Visa" pronounced with a voiced

fricative, but some of my colleagues have. (I was so intrigued, I asked

them.) Here in the Midland, (MO), from my own experience, I would judged

voiced fricatives to be both less common than s, and somewhat considered

a lower class dialect. For instance, my pizza is never "greazy". Greasy,

maybe, but that seems to make it taste just a little bit better.



I always thought that "visa" (= entry authorization) had [s], while "Visa" (card) had [z]. I also seem to remember some vacillation when the card first came out (wasn't it originally BankAmericard?). But not being a traveler, I use "Visa" so much more often than "visa" that I think I normally pronounce visa with [z] today.



David Johns

Waycross, GA