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Pastimes : SI Grammar and Spelling Lab
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To: Janice Shell who wrote (101)1/2/1998 2:35:00 PM
From: Jack Clarke  Read Replies (1) of 4710
 
Janice:

Thanks. That makes sense (the British pronunciation of harass). It also explains why my subconscious impression of pomposity was valid, i.e., American congressmen affecting a British pronunciation. I'd get laughed out of the hospital if I started saying (ser-VIGH-cal for cervical, or in-tes-TIGH-nal for intestinal).

I agree with you about some archaic forms persisting in American English which have long since disappeared in the Mother Country. This is especially noted in the rural south and hill country. The past tense of help may come out as hoped, reflecting a persistent middle English form, c.f., Chaucer: "that hem hath holpen whan that they were seke." I've heard it used, particularly in the Black English dialect, thus: "That medicine ain't hoped me none." The double negative, by the way, has ample precedence in English prior to the 20th century.

Jack
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