English questions

[bradrn]

Does anyone else have the impression that in British English, "Robin" is more likely to be seen as a men's given name, while in US English, it's more likely to be seen as a women's given name?

I don’t know, but for me ‘Robin’ is a male name. (I have a relative called Robin.)

[Lērisama]

Does anyone else have the impression that in British English, "Robin" is more likely to be seen as a men's given name, while in US English, it's more likely to be seen as a women's given name?

For me, it is also a men's given name.

[Travis B.]

To me it can be either.

[Raphael]

So so far, it's a bit like I suspected.

[alice]

Male for me too; one of my father's friends had a son of that name, and I've met quite a few other male Robins, but never a female one.

Robyn, however, strikes me as more female.

[jcb]

How do people pronounce "while"? I've realized that when it's a preposition, I always pronounce it /wAl/, identical to "wall", but when it's a noun ("I'll be gone a while."), it's /wAjl/, rhyming with "tile" /tAjl/ (which is distinct from "tall" /tAl/).

[jal]

Does anyone else have the impression that in British English, "Robin" is more likely to be seen as a men's given name, while in US English, it's more likely to be seen as a women's given name?

Noone:

The US:



JAL

[WeepingElf]

Male for me too; one of my father's friends had a son of that name, and I've met quite a few other male Robins, but never a female one.

Robyn, however, strikes me as more female.

Concurred (as a non-native speaker).

[jal]

Male for me too; one of my father's friends had a son of that name, and I've met quite a few other male Robins, but never a female one.
Robyn, however, strikes me as more female.

Concurred (as a non-native speaker).

Got you covered.


JAL

[Travis B.]

How do people pronounce "while"? I've realized that when it's a preposition, I always pronounce it /wAl/, identical to "wall", but when it's a noun ("I'll be gone a while."), it's /wAjl/, rhyming with "tile" /tAjl/ (which is distinct from "tall" /tAl/).

It might be stress at work, because at least in the dialect here /aɪ/ has an allophone [a(ː)] (which here is a true open front vowel) that may show up before /l u oʊ w/ (and I bet /ʊ/ even though I can't think of any examples off the top of my head), particularly when more weakly stressed. Note that it still contrasts with /ɑ/ in the same position, which I would narrowly transcribe as [ä(ː)]. Hence while when used as a preposition is more likely to be realized with [a(ː)] than when used as a noun, even though for me [a(ː)] is still not infrequent when used as a noun. Note that this allophony does show up in other similar words like mile and in forms like I don't (as it is applied here after flap elision).

[alice]

How do people pronounce "while"? I've realized that when it's a preposition, I always pronounce it /wAl/, identical to "wall", but when it's a noun ("I'll be gone a while."), it's /wAjl/, rhyming with "tile" /tAjl/ (which is distinct from "tall" /tAl/).

Always /ʍail/ for me, rhyming with "tile".

[bradrn]

How do people pronounce "while"? I've realized that when it's a preposition, I always pronounce it /wAl/, identical to "wall", but when it's a noun ("I'll be gone a while."), it's /wAjl/, rhyming with "tile" /tAjl/ (which is distinct from "tall" /tAl/).

Always /ʍail/ for me, rhyming with "tile".

Huh, so you also lack the WINE-WHINE merger. For me that’s been one of the more surprising things about Scottish English.

[Raphael]

Huh, so you also lack the WINE-WHINE merger.

Today I learned that WINE and WHINE used to be unmerged.

[bradrn]

Huh, so you also lack the WINE-WHINE merger.

Today I learned that WINE and WHINE used to be unmerged.

Still are, in Scotland! (And a few other places.)

[Travis B.]

Huh, so you also lack the WINE-WHINE merger.

Today I learned that WINE and WHINE used to be unmerged.

Still are, in Scotland! (And a few other places.)

You can find older people scattered across North America who don't merge the two, even though just about everyone my age or younger has them merged here (even though I went through a phase where I unmerged them just because).

[Raphael]

But how are they different in the first place?

[Travis B.]

But how are they different in the first place?

WINE is plain old [w]. WHINE is a voiceless labiovelar fricative.

[Raphael]

But how are they different in the first place?

WINE is plain old [w]. WHINE is a voiceless labiovelar fricative.

Thank you! (I guess.)

[jcb]

Today I learned that WINE and WHINE used to be unmerged.

Still are, in Scotland! (And a few other places.)

You can find older people scattered across North America who don't merge the two, even though just about everyone my age or younger has them merged here (even though I went through a phase where I unmerged them just because).

I merge them. My parents merge them. (My father is about 60.) But at least one of my grandparents don't.

[jcb]

Huh, so you also lack the WINE-WHINE merger.

Today I learned that WINE and WHINE used to be unmerged.

Of course they used to be! "w" descends from PIE *w, and "wh" from PIE *kʷ (or sometimes *kw).