Dear John,
I beg to differ with your conclusion that " all of you are right".
Right and wrong, I feel, are not the correct terms for a discussion of
pronunciation because of some of the factors you mentioned in your
posting.
I feel that the appropriate terms are correct and incorrect, a subtle
difference, but one which should serve to lay this issue to rest. In
this case, if Mr. Willys, a product of upper class American upbringing
in the USA of the 19th century, chose to pronounce his name "Willis",
and we have posters to the list who state that that is how he pronounced
it, then that pronunciation is the CORRECT one when we are discussing
him. Perhaps his great grandson, growing up in another part of the
country, currently pronounces his name "Willeez". In that case, then
that pronunciation is CORRECT when we are discussing the great grandson.
The bottom line is that pronunciation is situational and geographical
and changes over time, but it remains that, however a person pronounced
his name is the CORRECT way to pronounce it when referring to that
particular person.
Thanks,
Mel Miller
M725
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Jan 05 2000 - 22:42:08 PST