The Great Ant Ant Dilemma

Pronunciation in spelling books written at the time give us a pik into what was at least considered the prevailing norm in prestigious southern british speech. A number of these books mention the hemophany, a fancy way of saying same sound of the words, ant, a u n t and aunt a n. The pronunciation we consider fancy to day, was looked down on in such words back then. Well, ah in ant was the shiny new upstart making its way from the mouths of the commoners into the mouth of the upper crust. Once it became popular in prominent london social circles, it started to take on all the allure it still carries.

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