On Thu, 28 Aug 1997 16:55:47 EDT "Carolyn L. Richey" <[log in to unmask]>
writes:
>As a "native Missourian" I'm aware of all the discrepancies between
>spelling and pronunciation.  Twain even prefaces Huck Finn with an
>explanation of the different dialects used.  However, he does not
>always spell a word the way it is pronounced; nor does he always spell
>it according to the dictionary.  For example, in Pudd'nhead Wilson, he
>spells St. Louis, Sent Louis--the way it is pronounced by many in the
>region.  However, in Huck Finn, he spells Cairo according to the
>dictionary spelling when it is pronounced by natives as "Kayroh"--like
>the syrup.  Even Missouri is pronounced in two ways, depending upon
>where the Missourian is from.   Around the turn of the century
>(according to the book _Down in the Holler_ by Randolph and Wilson)
>"Missourians were wrangling about the pronunciation.  'Nobody says
>MISS-SOU-RY but the puritans and softheads,' wrote a prominent
>newspaperman.  'The correct pronunciation is MIZ-ZOU-RAH.'"
>
>So, to get back to "smouch," according to the above quoted book, "The
>ou of "snout" is pronounced so that the word rhymes with "shoot."   A
>"snout" is pronounced "snoot."  This is the closest reference I could
>find to "smouch."  My MIZZOURAH guess would therefore be that it was
>pronounced "smooch."   Twain had, after all, a "Mizzourah aksint"
>rather than a  Southern drawl.
>
Someone just informed me that I forgot to sign this email to the Forum.

So, I reiterate all of the above.

Carolyn L. Richey