Re: Taking the bass

We have a pop musician called "James Blash" (should be Blush).
You have a president called "George Bash".
We can even have a "cap av cafe" (although I drink tea).

I don't recognize any of these pronunciations.

"Bass" instead of "bus".
"Cap" instead of "cup".
"Tap" instead of "top".
"Batter" instead of "butter".

An initial consonant followed immediately by a "o" or "u" vower is
frequently spoken as an "a". In England this only seems to occur from
North-London to Peterborough. Above and below this, and down the West coast
speech is far more normal. But if you goto Biggleswade, Cambridge,
stevenage, or any of the "Nortons", then you hear a most definite "A" vowel,
usually extra-emphasised when the little finger sticks out during public
tea-drinking.

That whach I object to is teaching this people struggling to lear English.
Perhaps it is a local thing, but I have heard it to a minor degree in the
Middle-East and Far-East, but here in Sweden It is extremely pronounced. It
is as though English language teachers must be educated in the Cambridge
(UK) area.

Is it not unfair to inflict this accent on to new beginners to the
language?

Are you perhaps encountering a clash between American and British
pronunciation standards?

Absolutely not! I think that the "American Twang" places a totally different
effect on the speech, and in many cases makes the speech more
understandable.

Although I originated in England, I prefer to use "antenna" instead of
"aerial", "motor vehicle" instead of "motor-car(riage)", etc. I do, however,
prefer to use a "spanner" instead of a wrench, mainly because a spanner does
not mean "A violent twisting motion, eg. to wrench a door off it's hinges."
But this is getting off the subject.




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