Cynthia,

 

I suspect the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) would tell
you a good bit about the distribution of pronunciations, but I don't
have access to that, so I went to the old reliable OED.  The earliest
occurrence of "ornery" in print is 1692, but there and in other uses up
to the mid-19th c. it simply means the word it's derived from,
"ordinary."  The negative meaning develops mid-19th c.  What's
interesting is that in 1887 the spelling "onery" shows up, without the
/r/ in the first syllable, so that pronunciation apparently goes back at
least a century and a half.  Here in central Indiana I generally hear
"onry," like your husband's version, but it's used in an almost
affectionate manner.  Like you, I think, I say it with three syllables
and both /r/.

 

Herb

 

From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cynthia Baird
Sent: 2008-02-14 22:34
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: ATEG Digest - 9 Feb 2008 to 10 Feb 2008 (#2008-31)

 

Since we were on the subject of geographical pronunciations, would
anyone like to take on the pronunciation of "ornery"?  I am from the
southern Midwest and always heard the word pronounced as or-nry.  My
husband is from the South and hates my pronunciation--he says ah-nry.  I
confess, that I can't (yet) find a dictionary that lists my
pronunciation, but since I do teach high school English, I want to model
correct pronunciation or at least give a plausible explanation for my
idiosyncrasies.

I realize this may be trivial compared to the recents posts analyzing
speeches of political candidates, but my query is a lot less volatile!


Scott <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

	More than one linguist has been shocked to find that the
educated Deep
	South,including the 'genteel' poor, do not consider {thin} and
{thin}
	to be a minimal pair. The famed linguist Harold Gleason was
shocked to 
	find almost an entire audience of attendees at his lecture in
Spartanburg,
	SC pronounced 'poinsettia' with four syllables. He agreed to
remove
	'poinsettia' from his list of hypercorrections. 
	Scott
	
----------------------------------------------------------------------
	
	Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 08:39:05 -0500
	From: "STAHLKE, HERBERT F" 
	Subject: Re: Pronunciation of 'been'
	
	
	Carol,
	
	=20
	
	Here's the OED entry for the past participle "been":
	
	=20
	
	8. pa. pple.: been (bin, bn). Forms: Southern ? 1-2 eb=E9on, 2-3
ibeon, =
	ibon, iben, ibi, 3-4 ibeo, beo, 3-5 ibe, ybe, 4 yben, by, 4-6
be. =
	Northern ? 2-3 beon, 3-7 ben, 4 beyn, buen, 4-7 bene, 5-6
byn(ne, 6-8 =
	bin, 7- beene, 5- been. Not known in OE., where no pa. pple. of
any of =
	these verbs (am, was, be) appears. The common literary form in
14-15th =
	c. was be, before the general acceptance of the northern ben,
bene. =
	South-western dialects have still a-be =3D ibe. (In U.S. often =
	pronounced ben.)
	
	=20
	
	When the OED uses geographical references, they are to England,
but note =
	that the northern British form has the alternate "ben," perhaps
=
	reflecting a pronunciation rhyming with "pen." American English
has =
	been heavily influenced by northern British, especially Scots
English, =
	and this influence is particularly strong in Northern Midlands =
	(American) English. Southern Midlands probably wouldn't have it
because =
	they merge short /i/ and short /e/ to short /i/ before nasal
consonants, =
	as in the pin/pen merger. As the OED entry indicates, the "ben"
=
	spelling was attested 1300-1800. "Bin" is the Northern US =
	pronunciation. As with a lot of pronunciations, which one is
right =
	depends on where you are. =20
	
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