[Magdalen] Calvary is the New Cavalry.

[Scott Knitter]

On Sat, Mar 14, 2015 at 9:35 AM, ME Michaud <michaudme at gmail.com> wrote:
> It's called epenthesis, the addition of a vowel or consonant to make
> pronunciation easier. Epenthesis is so common (and so old) that
> there's a word in sanskrit for it (which I can't remember).

Interesting that there are languages that have mechanisms for making
things easier to pronounce. In English, we have our "an" instead of
"a" before words starting with a vowel. In Welsh, initial consonants
of some words are "mutated" in particular situations. "Mawr," for
example, means "big" or "great," as in Bryn Mawr, or "big hill." But
if it follows an l, the m goes to an f, which is pronounced as a v
unless doubled: "Hwyl fawr" is a common goodbye meaning literally
something like "big fun." Even proper nouns can mutate, as "Paris"
becomes "Maris" after particular consonants.

This seems kind, although it does seem a bit forward to rename a major
city just to facilitate pronunciation. :) And that's everything I
think I know about Welsh. Hwyl fawr! ("Hoo-eel vow-er")


-- 
Scott R. Knitter
Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA