Re: [tied] Re: Pronunciation of "r" - again?

tgpedersen <tgpedersen@...> wrote:

> >

In those continental languages that have (dialectal) /w/, that sound
is the "low" variant of proper /v/. I suspect the French introduced
this fashion, which is why it was resisted in england.

-- Funny that English would adopt everything French (words,  institutions, royalty) except the habit of changing /w/ to /v/.  But you know, this idea that /v/ is superior to /w/ is not dead in English:  today, Sony Wega TV's are pronounced as though spelled Vega, which I think can only be explained by the idea that /v/ sounds more refined than /w/ and is associated with technologically advanced economies like Germany's where written "w" is pronounced /v/.  I even have a friend of German parents here in Canada who speaks no German, but has switched from pronouncing his name, Werner, from the English way with /w/ to the German way with /v/ because he finds the English way sounds like words like "wiener" (with English pronunciation) and "worm".  Formerly people with German or Polish surnames with "w" regularly had them pronounced with English "w" in North America or England, but nowadays many celebrities and media people are insisting on pronouncing their names with German or Polish "w" (e.g. Rachel Weisz, Terry Milewski in Canada) - helped no doubt by the increasing knowledge of names like (Richard) Wagner which people are very careful to pronounce with German "w" so as not to sound uneducated.  Thus the change of /w/ to /v/ occurs, if only in names, even in English.  Perhaps it's an inevitable death of /w/, and English will eventually give in and join the other Indo-European languages in this phenomenon, someday.

Andrew