pycyn@aol.com wrote:
The London situation reported by And seems to be that of fading r caught inthe peculiar habit of ls to become ws? Can someone fill me in on this habit(Walensa in Lodz, talk, a le, etc.)
Lateral consonants come in two flavors, front (as in German) and back (as in AmE). Sometimes the terms "light" and "dark" are used. The back/dark "l" has some degree of lip-rounding as a redundant feature. It's fairly easy for the tongue-movement to get lost and just the lip-rounding remain, hence l > w. -- Not to perambulate || John Cowan <jcowan@reutershealth.com> the corridors || http://www.reutershealth.com during the hours of repose || http://www.ccil.org/~cowan in the boots of ascension. \\ Sign in Austrian ski-resort hotel