tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446682073857250843.post8550248891596177930..comments2024-03-27T23:42:36.619-05:00Comments on Mock Ramblings: My brain is weird (Linguistic Association)Michael Mockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233321050691782148noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446682073857250843.post-27640820168004562032011-09-05T13:05:49.411-05:002011-09-05T13:05:49.411-05:00It's kind of reassuring that other people'...It's kind of reassuring that other people's brains do the same weird thing(s) as mine. :)perversecowgirlhttp://www.perversecowgirl.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446682073857250843.post-59384507512164223062011-09-05T09:02:41.821-05:002011-09-05T09:02:41.821-05:00Might've been me who made the Mary/marry/merry...Might've been me who made the Mary/marry/merry comment - I know I've used that example to people before, online and off. <br /><br />On topic, there was a poster on a board I hung out on years ago whose screen name was Array. It emerged, during a discussion of names, that her name was Rae and the SN was a pun - "array", "a Rae". All that time, though, I'd been pronouncing it in my head as "A-ray" (rather than uh-RAY), having completely blanked on the fact that "array" was a word that already existed and had an accepted pronunciation. So pretty much the reverse of what happened to you with Professor Pizza.<br /><br />perversecowgirl, I have a complicated Welsh first name which (to an English speaker) is spelt nothing like it sounds, and I've noticed people doing something like what you describe. I'll pronounce it for someone, they repeat it back to me, then later they see it written down and *then* start pronouncing it differently (and wrongly). I always wondered why that happened.This Wicked Dayhttp://wickedday.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446682073857250843.post-7916782385762080812011-09-02T10:03:16.213-05:002011-09-02T10:03:16.213-05:00Yeah, I'm a visual person, too. My Dad's e...Yeah, I'm a visual person, too. My Dad's extremely auditory, but apparently I inherited almost none of that.Michael Mockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06233321050691782148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446682073857250843.post-71312695426628727912011-09-02T08:44:36.626-05:002011-09-02T08:44:36.626-05:00Nope, seeing it written out makes it difficult for...Nope, seeing it written out makes it difficult for me, too. If I haven't practiced different pronunciations of the same spellings, my brain will try to revert to the one it's comfortable with. I suspect it's a memory-saving "feature" which is occasionally very irritating. And it's not unusual at all. Beginning ESL students I've worked with have trouble holding onto the different vowel sounds of English in words that are identically or similarly spelled: car vs. carrot, for example.Davnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446682073857250843.post-67419426290412363532011-09-02T03:24:24.106-05:002011-09-02T03:24:24.106-05:00I'm a visual person, and when someone introduc...I'm a visual person, and when someone introduces themselves I remember their name by picturing how it's spelled.<br /><br />But if I later see their name in writing and it's spelled differently than I'd pictured, my brain tries to override the <i>actual way the person pronounced their own name to me</i> and make me say it the way it's spelled.<br /><br />Example: I knew a woman named Alyssa. She pronounced it "a-LEE-sa" (which my brain parsed as Elisa). But once I saw the name in writing I had to fight not to pronounce it "a-LISS-a", as in Alyssa Milano. I suspect that this is not normal; I suspect other people pronounce a name exactly the way it was said to them, and spelling doesn't make a difference. But I always knew I was a weirdo.perversecowgirlhttp://www.perversecowgirl.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446682073857250843.post-60041048681885730752011-09-01T20:45:56.995-05:002011-09-01T20:45:56.995-05:00Texas is strange to talk about. There are actually...Texas is strange to talk about. There are actually about five major geological/climatic regions, but the main social division is between the very large cities and the small rural towns. You're likely to get closer to a Texas accent in one of the small towns, but the cities are something else altogether.Michael Mockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06233321050691782148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446682073857250843.post-71328834900618371642011-09-01T19:08:23.593-05:002011-09-01T19:08:23.593-05:00I know some ex-Texans who get really annoyed with ...I know some ex-Texans who get <i>really</i> annoyed with depictions of the stereotypical Texan accent. They've got one, but it's very slight. No idea how most of you talk, though.<br /> <br />They're homophones in Michigan, too. We've got a strange accent-- you know how people joke about Canadians saying "aboot"? My state's right up against the border, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_raising" rel="nofollow">Canadian raising</a> has seeped in. It's really more like "ah-BAHoot." Too bad we also have the pin-pen merger.emilypersonhttp://from1angle.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446682073857250843.post-5327508060111534372011-09-01T16:19:27.129-05:002011-09-01T16:19:27.129-05:00Too, there's a running cultural gag where the ...Too, there's a running cultural gag where the nouveau riche (or pretentious of any class) change the pronunciation of their last names to something more upper class - Keeping Up Appearances has Mrs. Bucket (Boo-kay), and the Young Dr. Frankenstein (Frahnk-enst-ein) leap to mind, but there's lots more. We make fun of people with funny spellings/pronunciations of first names, too, but it's not as pointed.<br /><br />Besides, Professor Pizza is hi-LAR-ious.Davnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446682073857250843.post-37030608523109366882011-09-01T13:59:14.513-05:002011-09-01T13:59:14.513-05:00I seem to recall a similar comment from someone in...I seem to recall a similar comment from someone in England about the clear differences in pronunciation between "Mary", "marry", and "merry." Here in Texas, they're homophones.Michael Mockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06233321050691782148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446682073857250843.post-49303218382757335852011-09-01T11:10:29.587-05:002011-09-01T11:10:29.587-05:00I have trouble with the word ally— which I don'...I have trouble with the word ally— which I don't pronounce like owl-eye; I've always heard the first syllable pronounced as a short a, like in the word dad— because my brain thinks it should be pronounced like alley. And I get irritated when people pronounce "Parmesan" like "parmezhan" instead of thre way it's spelled. Brains are weird with pronunciation and spelling— when I talk, I can <i>hear</i> the difference between "there," "they're," and "their," and my mind boggles at the thought that there are people who get them mixed up.emilypersonhttp://from1angle.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com