Herb,

Is it true that in Missippi, the linguist there have designated Febuary as
Haplogy Month?

Dick

On Wed, Apr 25, 2012 at 10:39 PM, Stahlke, Herbert <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Gerald refers to a common and commonly overlooked phonological process
> that contributes to both the spelling and the pronunciation problem of
> possessives with nouns ending in –s or –z.  The process is called haplology
> and is the simplification of two identical or very similar sequential
> syllables to one.  For example, linguists sometimes call the process
> “haplogy,” a slightly lame pun that illustrates the process.  (There’s a
> whole set of such linguistic puns but that’s a different source of pain.)*
> ***
>
> ** **
>
> We don’t like to say “Jesus’s robe” or “the Andrewses’ house” because of
> the sequence of sibilant syllables, and so these are frequently said as
> “Jesus’ robe” and “the Andrews’ house.”  I don’t think we can say with any
> certainty that the problem today is simply phonological or simply
> orthographic; those two domains tend to interact in complex, messy ways,
> and so judgments of careful writers and speakers will be similarly complex
> and messy.****
>
> ** **
>
> Herb
>

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