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Musket Origins: pronunciation of RIO (46) RE: Origins: pronunciation of RIO 11 Jun 15


Bad enough Spanish to English, without putting Yorksheer into the melting pot.

In one of his books concerning English language and American differences to Blighty, Bill Bryson pointed out that sailors tended to pick up foreign words when away and anglicise them, conversely using the Foreign accentuation of similar words when in port to impress people with their worldly knowledge, hence two or more pronunciations of the same word.

It fits I suppose, and could be the case with some words, especially those that appear in shanty.

In Tudor times, there was an aversion to anything Spanish for a time, so Spanish words such as Rio would not, if used by traders and diplomats, be pronounced in a way that shows you can speak Spanish, unless of course you were a privateer...


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