Tim May wrote:
> Stephen Mulraney wrote at 2003-11-28 00:05:32 (+0000)

>  > And even English people don't seem to be able to agree on what
>  > "Warning: Adverse camber" means on a road sign :)

> I don't drive, but I'm pretty sure I know this.  Normally, when
> there's a curve in the road, the road surface slopes down toward the
> inside of the curve, to help prevent the cars toppling over if they go
> round it too fast (I can't think of a concise way to express the
> physics of the situation, but it should be fairly obvious).  An
> adverse camber slopes the other way, so you have to be particularly
> careful.

Right, ok. I had thought it was something similar, but also involving
the road going *up* or *down* too. :) I don't drive either.

>  >
>  > One further example, in pronunciation. The county-name _Berkshire_
>  > presents some difficulties for me: it's said it should be
>  > pronounced _Barkshire_, but that's no good to me, since I speak
>  > rhotic English, and the vowel mutation seems inextricably bound up
>  > with the flavour imparted by the non-rhotic 'r'. Basically, I can
>  > pronounce it like it's spelt, in my own accent /bEr`kSIr`/ which is
>  > definitely wrong, or I can go the whole hog with ~ /bA:kS@/, which
>  > sounds absurd coming from my mouth, and that's not even thinking
>  > about the oddness of adopting an English accent for a single
>  > word. The compromise form, /bar`kSIr`/ (note the front _a_) seems
>  > equally bizarre. Sigh.
>  >
>
> I'd go with /bar`kSIr`/.  No-one will object if you insert an /r/ -
> most non-rhotic thinkers think they pronounce one anyway.

Ah, good point. Yes, in that case, your suggestion works!

(non-rhotic thinkers? that's a good one :)

 >  You'll just
> be pronouncing it with an accent, whereas /bEr`kSIr`/ would be
> pronouncing it _wrong_.
That is, you should try to map the phonemes
> from one dialect to the other... actually, wait a minute, how do you
> pronounce "bark"?

/bar`k/. Actually, most (all?) of the /a/s in my dialect. might be /{/s.


>  > Ah, I think _stop-cock_ *might* also refer to the "floating hollow
..
> No, no, that's a ballcock.

Ah, yes. Thanks for the threefold enlightenment.

--
"Socialism plus electrification equals communism"   Stephen Mulraney
   -- Vladimir Il'ich Lenin, after a demonstration   [log in to unmask]
      of the Theremin by its inventor.