I have a Speech Pathology colleague (of many years standing) who I have
heard several times recently pronounce 'obstruent' as /@b'str.../
I was wondering whether this is just because it is a word she had not heard
said often (though in this same meeting I had used it several times*), or
whether this is a recognized US variant (not in John Wells 2nd ed though). Is
this another example of stress shift as in 'debris'?
*In this connection, in my current doctoral seminar I have notied on several
occasions that students ask me for the correct pronunciation of a name or
technical term, say thanks, and then use it consistently with a different
pronunciation than I just gave...
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