Tonight on my drive home I saw a cat in my neighborhood.
That got me thinking about the cat we used to have.
We called her "Kitty" (original name, I know, but there's a story behind it), and she also had a variety of nicknames, one of which was "Kissy". Although it is obviously related to the generic nickname "kitty", I have noticed that it doesn't feel right to use "Kissy" with other cats; that name belongs more to her.
Then I started thinking about the phonological derivation of "Kissy" from "Kitty".
By the time I got home, I had realized that it was a simple change of manner of articulation, changing the alveolar flap in "Kitty" to an alveolar fricative.
You know you're a linguist when you discover the phonological rule by which you made your cat's nickname.
By the way, we also used to call the cat "Kiss", which is obviously just a deleted version of "Kissy"...
4 comments:
HAHAHA! You are so funny! After taking voice and speech, I know exactly what you are talking about with the "alveolar fricative..." I love it.
I guess there's also devoicing going on...
You are awesome. I love this post! I'm so glad I have a linguist as a friend. Thanks for setting my mind at ease with your comment on my blog. I was hoping you'd come through for me! I take your advice as gospel truth. Thanks, pal.
Wow. AWESOME.
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