Re: Grammar

[Dick Eney <dickeney@access.digex.net>]

Poster: Dick Eney <dickeney@access.digex.net>


On Tue, 18 Mar 1997, Heather Swann wrote:
> Poster: "Heather Swann" <swannh@psi.com>
> 
> >  Poster: Mark Schuldenfrei <schuldy@abel.MATH.HARVARD.EDU> 
> >  
> >   I think a good example of this is the way speakers of "Good English" 
> >   say it's "lazy" to leave off the "ng" sound in a word like 
> >   "grillin'" when they themselve leave off the "t" sound in "often". 

Gentles, IIRC the "t" was _added_ to the perfectly correct English word
"ofen"  by some idiot back when spelling was just being regularized,
because the fool thought the poetic form "oft" was the source of the word.
(IIRC, it's related but not the source.)
Naturally, the speakers of English mostly refused to change their
pronunciation.  Since then, some people have begun to pronounce the "t"
as a result of this old misspelling that has become entrenched.  This is
further proof that spelling words correctly is very important.

=Tamar the Gypsy (sharing account dickeney@access.digex.net)

> > Alfredo, I am shocked and amazed, that you would repeat the notion 
> > that elision of sounds smacks of ignorance...  But then again, my 
> > email account is at Hahvahd.... (:-) 
> >  
> > 	Tibor 
> > ======================================================================= 
> But I DO sound the 't' in 'often'...
> 
> Miri

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