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Re: pronunciation question



On 11/13/06, Nancy Hall <nhall@essex.ac.uk> wrote:

This will sound like an incredibly random question, but I recently came across a posting in an online discussion which you wrote, "I'm willing to bet you drop the first "r" in _Jaxartosaurus_". (http://dml.cmnh.org/2006Jun/msg00103.html)

Is 'Jaxatosaurus', without the r, the usual pronunciation? The reason I
ask is that I'm a linguist doing a study of words where people omit r's,
like 'the(r)mometer' and 'Feb(r)uary'. This would be an interesting example.

In that particular instance, I guessed that Mike Taylor wouldn't pronounce that "r" because he is a Londoner, and the London variations of English (as well as British "received pronunciation") are nonrhotic. (I've never talked to him in person, though, so I could be off base.) For the record, I'm American (from the D.C. area) and I do pronounce that "r".

(Hmm ... thermometer ... thermometer ... well I'll be danged!)
--
T. Michael Keesey
The Dinosauricon: http://dino.lm.com
Parry & Carney: http://parryandcarney.com