Penni:
I think we're saying the same thing. Our nomenclature or orthography may be different. I used capital letters to stress the accented syllable uh-DULT whereas you used the dictionary method of placing the accent mark in front of the syllable to be stressed. Anyway, we do agree that adult is stressed on the second syllable, don't we?
As far as the schwa sound goes, I still think uh is pretty close. It's supposed to be the sound in the first and last syllables of America, uh-MAIR-i-cuh.
That first syllable ADD-uhlt may indeed have originated as a regional variant, perhaps like DEE-fense, but who knows.
Regarding foul, I think we have some other definition differences. For me a "broad a" is the way Brits (and our own Bostonians) say "half", whereas the "a" in "cat", I call a "flat a". This is probably my own terminology, so take it FWIW. The "broad" part of your Virginian pronunciation of "foul", I take as a typical southern prolongation of the vowel sound, a drawl if you will. As you know this may be drawled out to the point where an extra syllable comes into play. "I haven't seen you in YEEEEE-uhs!"
Bye, Penni..
Jack |
