> From: suzmccarth [mailto:suzmccarth@...]


> > My hypothesis regarding this has been that spelling has (in this
> > respect) remained stable while pronunciation has not. So, the vowel
> gets
> > dropped, but the spelling isn't changed to reflect it.
>
> Yes, of course, but is it possible that the stress patterns, among
> other things, have caused pronunciation to change? Wouldn't some
> unstressed vowels disappear over time but remain in the spelling?
> What about "achever" in French?

Of course. I was differentiating, however, between a diachronic cause
versus a synchronic context. I suspect that no teacher in India has
taught their students that halant / pulli is optional on unstressed
inherent vowels.


Peter Constable