John Mazor    626926 Tue, 21 Sep 04 05:56 AM I'm no Professor 'Iggens, but I have a lifelong interest in, and sensitivity for local dialect pronunciations. I'm particularly fascinated with the persistence of Elizabethan dialectic pronunciations that have been documented in various backwater areas of the eastern United States. I personally observed this in the 1970s when a local resident on the Eastern Shore of Maryland essayed the following phrase describing a job offer that paid "noine thewsand dawlers". It made an instant believer of me. Anyway, years ago I noted that native residents of the Maryland area around Washington, D.C. would pronounce the "u" in words such as bush as the oo in "whoosh" (the oo drawn out as a long o-o-o). I figured it was some kind of local colonial corruption, until I started hearing British news presenters on BBC doing the same thing with "President Bush" as in "who-o-osh". Can anyone comment on the British origins of this pronunciation? John Mazor "The search for wisdom is asymptotic." "Except for Internet newsgroups, where it is divergent..." R J Carpenter John Mazor Dialects, Pronunciation, Speaking, United States, Countries, Online

	David    626933 Tue, 21 Sep 04 08:45 AM "I'm no Professor 'Iggens, but I have a lifelong interest in, and sensitivity for local dialect pronunciations. I'm particularly fascinated ... essayed the following phrase describing a job offer that paid "noine thewsand dawlers". It made an instant believer of me." Yes, I've heard the "oi" pronunciation of "i" by characters pretending to be English in US TV shows. It originally took me several episodes to realise that these characters were supposed to be English and that that particular strange accent wasn't just another of the many strange US accents. "Anyway, years ago I noted that native residents of the Maryland area around Washington, D.C. would pronounce the "u" in ... corruption, until I started hearing British news presenters on BBC doing the same thing with "President Bush" as in "who-o-osh"." British news presenters on the Beeb exhibit different accents; many of them aren't even English. "Can anyone comment on the British origins of this pronunciation?" Something I've never heard. I have, however, heard "Colin" pronounced as "Cohlin". http://www.dacha.freeuk.com/colour/2g-0.htm Green Magic Left Nostril of Ishtar Genitals in the Clay of Death David Accents, Dialects, Pronunciation, Speaking, United States, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Colours, Languages

	Andy    626945 Tue, 21 Sep 04 11:22 AM I have never thought about it (the reason for it might be that I'm Swedish) but they are interesting questions and I will certainly listen more carefully in the future when watching Fox News and BBC (which are the only two TV channels my cable company delivers.) However, can the same pattern be seen in TV shows or Drama productions? Here in Sweden they broadcast a lot of both American shows (mainly these louse reality shows) and British productions (most often Mrs Marple-like stories). //Andy Andy United States, Countries, American, Languages

	Wanderer    626959 Tue, 21 Sep 04 03:08 PM "British news presenters on the Beeb exhibit different accents; many of them aren't even English." That's a rather sweeping, and possibly quite incorrect, statement to make. And why the distinction between British and English? wanderer at tesco dot net Wanderer Accents, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Languages

	David    626976 Tue, 21 Sep 04 04:09 PM [nq:1][/nq] "British news presenters on the Beeb exhibit different accents; many of them aren't even English." "That's a rather sweeping, and possibly quite incorrect, statement to make. And why the distinction between British and English?" How is it sweeping, and how possibly quite incorrect? What distinction? http://www.dacha.freeuk.com/colour/3c-0.htm Cyan Magic Left Eye of Sin Left Foot in the Depth of the Earth David Accents, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Colours, Languages

	Rob Kerr    626983 Tue, 21 Sep 04 05:50 PM "That's a rather sweeping, and possibly quite incorrect, statement to make. And why the distinction between British and English?" "How is it sweeping, and how possibly quite incorrect?" I can't think of a single non-British presenter (though there are a few Irish presenters, Terry Wogan springing immediately to mind). "What distinction?" Between the Britishness of the presenters and the Englishness of their accents the antecedent to "them" in your last statement is unclear, and could refer to the accents or the presenters themselves. Rob Kerr Rob Kerr Accents, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Languages, Ireland

	Wanderer    626990 Tue, 21 Sep 04 08:34 PM "That's a rather sweeping, and possibly quite incorrect, statement to make. And why the distinction between British and English?" "How is it sweeping, and how possibly quite incorrect?" Are you talking about the presenters or their accents? It certainly isn't clear from your comments. If you are talking about presenters, how are you able to assert that 'many of them aren't even English'? "What distinction?" You talk about 'British' news presenters but 'English' accents. What is, what defines an 'English' accent? Is a Tyneside accent any less English than a Brummie accent or an Estuary accent? Every news (and weather) presenter I can bring to mind speaks in very clear and easily understood English, that is far more important than the accent they use. wanderer at tesco dot net Wanderer Accents, Chat, Friendships, Speaking, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Languages

	David    626996 Tue, 21 Sep 04 08:37 PM "How is it sweeping, and how possibly quite incorrect?" "I can't think of a single non-British presenter (though there are a few Irish presenters, Terry Wogan springing immediately to mind)." Did I make reference to non-British presenters? I don't think so. "What distinction?" "Between the Britishness of the presenters and the Englishness of their accents the antecedent to "them" in your last statement is unclear, and could refer to the accents or the presenters themselves." How true. As to why I emphasised English? Well, Mr Mazor asked about American British pronunciations but I believe most sincerely that he wasn't too concerned with British Welsh, Gaelic, Manx, Cornish, (and any others I've forgotten about,) but with English. http://www.dacha.freeuk.com/free/ Free Software: !Jcut - JPEG Cut & Paste, Transform, Contrast & Colour Tweaking David Accents, Business, United States, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Colours, American, References, Career, Languages, Ireland