Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 09:10:59 -0400 From: Wayne Glowka Subject: Re: Consonant Cluster Reduction/Busleft >> >> 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) >> >> Have other people noticed this? Maybe pronchick Rima Mc has. >> > >This kind of final consonant cluster reduction is quite common in much of >spoken American English. Various scholars have pointed to it as a feature >of African American English Vernacular. It is a function of the basic >tendency in language to move toward ease of articulation. > > >Terry Irons Yes, my favorite white Central Georgian locution is "fifty cents," which comes out [fIti + sInt]. (Read nasalization for [n]. I don't think I can send a tilde) Speaking of Central Georgian: one of the history professors from Ohio was waylaid when his eight-year-old son exclaimed the other day, "I was busleft!" Did an earlier discussion establish that this guiltless expression for missing the bus was also used in North Georgia? Wayne Glowka Professor of English Director of Research and Graduate Student Services Georgia College Milledgeville, GA 31061 912-453-4222 wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]mail.gac.peachnet.edu