3-yo is doing interesting things to process the different accent.
She goes once a week to a Mom's Day Out (we don't really have these in the UK, but you can imagine what it is). She came back saying "li'l" instead of "little", and clearly rather pleased with herself, dropping it into the conversation rather as you or I would a word like "mellifluous" or "plethora". Then with impeccable logic, she applied the rule (ie, slide over a t/d in the middle of the word) to "playdough" and now calls it "play-oh" - in spite of my best efforts to persuade her otherwise.
In a similar way, she has learnt to sound the "r" at the end of words such as car, beaker, bigger, but has also added it onto other words like sofa, pizza,
Mama (sofrr, pizzrr, Mumrr). Fascinating.
I don't mind being Mumrr, and it is better than Mom, although in all honesty I think I did prefer Mummy.
Oh My God (in perfectly British accent) - how in the name of heaven did you end up in Kansas? There is A Tale there, I'm sure. And how on earth did you find my blog? I sometimes wander around blogland in a vague daze but usually only find technogeeks in Japan or porn bores. And how do you know the Poltimore if you came from Scotland? See, I am SO nosey!
ReplyDeleteLoved reading your UK take on US. I lived in the US for a year - but mainly in 'nearly-UK' Mass so not so much culture shock. Field day? Is it prizes for all?
Laughed out loud at your daughter wanting to sit on the dead bird.
But would find the accent shift slightly alarming. Not sure I could handle being 'mom' or losing the aitch in herb.
Janex
Pronouncing the 'r' on the end of the words is what the 'olde English' used to do, no doubt why its use has been retained in the US, along with words like 'gotten', as in "I've gotten used to the way things are done here now" - olden English but still in use in former colonies, like Australia, where I was educated, and the US.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you tell your kids that the 'o' in Mom is pronounced like the 'o' in some, you might even get Mummy back. But then again, there's such a plethora of things to learn.