At 09:06 PM 29-10-00 +0000, you wrote:
>Jennifer wrote:
>
> > Are you suggesting that discover and hover don't
> > currently rhyme?
Isn't this lovely? : ) It seems the prime definition, if there is any,
is that poetry is rhythmic. So for my own clarification it's
metrical, visual and/or rhymes. That means for me that when I
get a song or poem that's obviously not of my cultural
stress or pronunciation, I can have a good chuckle first and
then proceed to do what I wish with it, without fear of
criticism. The Warlock/Heseltine, Balulalow springs to mind.
"O my deir hert young Jesus sweit," and finishes with
" The knees of my hert sall I bow,
And sing that richt Balulalow."
As the 'bow' is obviously not a hair bow, it's pronunciation
decreed the form of the last sound in Balulalow but I noticed
that some, having alighted on the title first, stuck with the
"oh" vowel. What would you have done?
Handel's " i..ron " has always seemed stronger to me than
any assimilation and then of course there's the authentication
contained in the word "irony." Try saying that with your
standard assimilation.
Of course there's no way discover, and hover, would
rhyme in Australia unless we adopted the usual American
pronunciation of "huver," but I'd suggest this is not the
intended American form either, on the basis that American
English has been very swift in changing the spelling of words
that don't fit the local usage.
Tho', as a personal favour to me, I would appreciate
it very much if someone could point out to news readers in
particular, and the general population of the US, that it is NOT
necessary to make such a big production of sounding the
last part of the word, "thorough." I feel sure the "ough" can be
legitimately assimilated into something less than chewing
up the "gh" sound. Besides, (God forbid,) one day someone
might try to rhyme it with something. ; )
Reg
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