[Sca-cooks] Reptilian Pronunciation (was Drive up ATM's OT, OOP (was Languages)

[Jane Williams]

Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com> wrote :

> Also sprach Jane Williams:
>>I know Americans tend to turn "e" into "oo"
> >at times (hence "noos" for "news"),
>
> No, they turn "ew" into "oo", and not into "yew".

Even more confused... I thought that's what I said? So "news" becomes "noos". Not "n-yew-s" (which is vaguely how we'd say it, but only vaguely). At least, I think that's what I've heard American newsreaders saying: did I mis-hear?

>I don't see either as being especially
> more defensibly correct than the other.

Does "correct" have any meaning in this context? Different dialects pronouce things different ways. "Different" does not mean "wrong", after all, it's just a source of interest (and confusion).


> The way it is pronounced by the South American cultures that have
> Jag-yew-ars living there, and who named them. You know.

No, I don't. That's why I'm asking.

> Just like the four-syllable alloominum. ;-)

??
The metal? The one I'd spell aluminium? (And, come to think of it, the initial "u" *would* sound like "oo" in this case. Consistency: don't you just love it?)


> Jag (very soft "g") oo-ar, or simply jag-war, with the "ar" as in
> "Arthur", and not as in "war".

Ah, right. Thanks.

> I think in this case the people that
> named and live with jaguars have a bit more authority as to proper
> pronunciation.

Only if we're using their language... what language is that from, anyway? Not Spanish, presumably, or the initial J would turn into an H?

> Now, in the U.K., how about words like "flute", "flue", "sprue",
> "Rumania", etc. Are those words pronounced as if they had a "y" in
> the first syllable? How about "flu" or "influenza?" "Screw"? "True"?
> If not, why not?
>
> I suspect there's very little logic left to the process...

Logic? In language? I doubt it! Works sometimes, but not often.

My *guess* would be that it's based on what language they originally came from (Norman French, Saxon, Norse, Welsh...), but I'm no linguist. I seem to remember being told that the apparent inconsistencies of "rough" and "through" are due to differences between Norse and Saxon: maybe this is something similar?

Though there must be *some* useful consistencies left to us. I find when reading a cookery book (ye gods, back on topic!) in Middle English, it makes more sense if I read it aloud. Their pronounciation must have been at least vaguely similar to mine?