Metrolingua

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10.07.2007

Clark

Tonight I was watching the always-enjoyable Inspector Lynley, and noticed that they said "clark" for the word "clerk".

Actually, I first noticed such "odd" British pronunciation last year, when I saw the episode The Seed of Cunning. I didn't think about it until last week, when that episode was re-broadcast. They kept saying "clark" so often, that I had to look at the plot to make sure that it was indeed the word "clerk."

Why do Brits pronounce a word that has an obvious "e" sound with an "a" sound? It's not "clark", it's "clerk." The spelling obviously demonstrates how it "should" sound.

I'm going to ask my British neighbor to say the word. And if he pronounces it like the folks on Lynley, then I'm going to ask him what is wrong with his English ;)

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2 Comments:

At 11:11 PM, Anonymous Cristina said...

You're right, I was intrigued about that, too! That's why I watch these shoes with closed captioning on--I have little chance otherwise to keep up with the plot!

 
At 11:35 PM, Blogger mj said...

Sometimes I watch the shows with the closed captioning on too because I put them on in the background in certain work situations.

 

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