Ralph wrote; > >I think there may be a problem with the syllable criterion. Syllablic >phrasing varies by region. For example, a Northerner would say the name >Sam in one syllable. A Southerner would turn the name into at least >three!! :-) Y'all Yankees just don't spell to good. Sam is spelled Sayum. :-) This morning my wife and I were discussing this very thing. Patrick Roy (pronounced Waugh) used to play goal for Montreal. Not being a hockey fan my wife pronounced it as Roy (as in Roy Rodgers) to great guffaws from the students in her school. So a lot of such things came up. Up here some people pronounce Palm as if it were spelled Pam. This reminded me of a story my brother told me about a friend who took the census down in the Guinea Neck of Virginia. She asked a mother about the names of her children and one of them was named "Gooey". Slightly perplexed the census taker asked how it was spelled and got the answer "Guy". The mother said she saw it and liked the look of it. What's in a name? Probably nothing until you know the background. When Pam (not pronounced Palm) and I were on our walking tour in England we had a lot of trouble with the names and our insistence on pronouncing every written syllable clearly identified us as North Americans. Cheers, John Winters Redwing Designs Specialists in Human Powered Watercraft http://home.ican.net/~735769/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
> What's in a name? Probably nothing until you know the background. When Pam > (not pronounced Palm) and I were on our walking tour in England we had a > lot of trouble with the names and our insistence on pronouncing every > written syllable clearly identified us as North Americans. Someone wrote me off-line in defense of Southerners and my comment about how they would pronounced Sam said: <<The "proper" pronounciation of "Sam" is "SSSSSsss-aiu-uuuuuuu-MMmmm-ss" Rule number one! Always add an "S" whether a word needs it or not! Four syllables! Damned! That's almost a whole sentence!>> Looking at John Winters comment above, I wonder about the place word Cholmondeley, which is pronounced Chumley over there. A Southerner would probably have to stop for lunch before he finished saying it. :-) ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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