Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Why did they decide to spell 'opossum' with an 'o' if the 'o' is not pronounced?

pos路sum Audio Help (p艔s'蓹m) Pronunciation Key


n. Chiefly Southern U.S.


An opossum.








[Short for opossum.]





Since English is a language that stresses some syllables and not others, weakly stressed syllables, especially those preceding strong stresses, are dropped at times. This process, called aphesis when it occurs at the beginning of a word, is more common in regional American dialects than in the more conservative Standard English, which tends to retain in pronunciation anything reflected in spelling. Although many American dialects feature aphesis, it is most famous in the dialects of the South, where it yields pronunciations such as count of for (on) account of, tater for potato, possum for opossum, and skeeter for mosquito.Why did they decide to spell 'opossum' with an 'o' if the 'o' is not pronounced?
Opossum seems an odd word so I am going to assume it is of Native American origin. Then along came the white man who had no word for the animal so had to use their name, but they were too lazy to say it correctly. Am I right?Why did they decide to spell 'opossum' with an 'o' if the 'o' is not pronounced?
Good question. English is just funky.

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