tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33159158.post757829561119184399..comments2024-02-25T20:07:56.114-06:00Comments on Mr. Verb: Pronunciation note: seagullMr. Verbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04048931596146402872noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33159158.post-9436871763076678722007-06-16T06:14:00.000-05:002007-06-16T06:14:00.000-05:00Compounds typically start out with that fuller pro...Compounds typically start out with that fuller pronunciation of both element but in lots of cases, like the nautical terms, the second half just become a reduced schwa-like syllable ('schwallable', as many phonologists say). For me, the second element of seagull is still like gull, for present purposes, whlle people like Bob Uecker say it like the name Segal.Mr. Verbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04048931596146402872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33159158.post-20190903468621118142007-06-16T06:02:00.000-05:002007-06-16T06:02:00.000-05:00I read the original post over and over again think...I read the original post over and over again thinking, "Yeah, and?" Sat at my laptop pronouncing them both and trying to find any difference, and failing miserably. Must be my west coast dialect?<BR/><BR/>Granted, English stress isn't my specialty, but wouldn't it be strange for a two-syllable word to have secondary stress in any case? Or at least not surprising?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33159158.post-27552710942640563622007-06-15T07:45:00.000-05:002007-06-15T07:45:00.000-05:00Oh, that's easy: The second syllable is prounounce...Oh, that's easy: The second syllable is prounounced like the independent word 'gull'. In the compound, as the Ridger hints, it's the loss of secondary stress on 'gull' that's the change. <BR/><BR/>Anyway, it sounds like this is much more common than I would have figured. Odd that I didn't find it as a pronunciation anywhere.Mr. Verbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04048931596146402872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33159158.post-13964325429771376022007-06-14T22:10:00.000-05:002007-06-14T22:10:00.000-05:00Pardon me for being obtuse, but what other pronunc...Pardon me for being obtuse, but what other pronunciation would there be?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33159158.post-3785857892614031692007-06-14T12:50:00.000-05:002007-06-14T12:50:00.000-05:00Yeah, that's surely what's going on historically, ...Yeah, that's surely what's going on historically, like in those sailing examples.Mr. Verbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04048931596146402872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33159158.post-6071515577786676052007-06-14T10:44:00.000-05:002007-06-14T10:44:00.000-05:00I know quite a few people who pronounce seagull th...I know quite a few people who pronounce seagull that way. I've always figured it to be the last stage in the compounding first-syllable-stress phenomenon.The Ridger, FCDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01538111197270563075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33159158.post-19622993812314384662007-06-14T08:23:00.000-05:002007-06-14T08:23:00.000-05:00Yeah, that might be the best example, since the wr...Yeah, that might be the best example, since the written form is so obvious.Mr. Verbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04048931596146402872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33159158.post-32911120474383106632007-06-14T08:19:00.000-05:002007-06-14T08:19:00.000-05:00For another nautical term showing this pattern, 'm...For another nautical term showing this pattern, 'mainsail' (the big sail on the boat) is commonly pronounced [meynsəl] which always baffled me... but then again, there's that whole nautical line vs. rope thingy too...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com