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