Re: OT: Americans and the English language

In article <1hc0ewz.8fn9ri1xvjqr6N%innatesharp@xxxxxxxxxxx>, Michael
Haslam <innatesharp@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
David <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I'm constantly amazed that folks can pronounce "ate" as "eight"; to
me, the long "a" in "ate" isn't a diphthong and "ate" rhymes with
such words as "bait" and "late", whilst "eight" is very much like
the "et" pronunciation with an inserted, quite strongly aspirated
"i".

(Dare I add that it can rhyme with "right" and "meat"?)

Am I the only person here who's no idea what you're on about? Perhaps
you should tell us where you were brought up or where you now live.
Could it be Yorkshire? How do you "aspirate" an "i", either strongly
or weakly?

I am assured that many folks say the word "raise" with a diphthong
(approximately "e-i") but a non-diphthong for such words as "eight" and
"weight" - hence the "ate" or "8" equivalence. In my part of the world,
"raise" has the long "a" but "eight" and "weight" have the "e-i" sound.

Southerners use the "a-i" diphthong in "right"; we use the "e-i"
diphthong.

The "e-i" diphthong in "meat" probably comes from Old English
pronunciation using the broad "e", "meh-at", with a transitional "y",
"meh-y-at", finally superseding the "a".

The aspiration is the remnant of the "gh" sound.

My location is in my headers.

--
David - toro-danyo atcost uku fullstop co fullstop uk
http://www.toro-danyo.uku.co.uk/
.

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