Waugh: 'M I late?

[Marius Hancu]

Hello:

This
"'M I late?"
indicates only a contraction, or also a different pronunciation, as in
"M," as opposed of "am?"

Was it supposedly lower-class?

-----
[Hooper is a lower-class officer, it seems; Ryder has trouble finding
him;]

"I want to speak to Mr Hooper, sergeant-major ... well, where the
devil have you been? I told you to inspect the lines."

"'M I late? Sorry. Had a rush getting my gear together."

Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited, p. 673
----
--
Thanks.
Marius Hancu

[Derek Turner]

On Thu, 07 Jan 2010 02:14:22 -0800, Marius Hancu wrote:

> Hello:
>
> This
> "'M I late?"
> indicates only a contraction, or also a different pronunciation, as in
> "M," as opposed of "am?"

Both. I mean also.
>
> Was it supposedly lower-class?
>
Not really, no. Just a contraction in hurried speech.

[Andrew Taylor]

Hooper seems to stand for everything that Ryder (aka
Waugh) despises in the "modern world", so I suspect
this *is* a dig at his "common" accent. He also uses
the expression "righty-o", to Ryder's annoyance.

[Donna Richoux]

Marius Hancu <marius...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello:
>
> This
> "'M I late?"
> indicates only a contraction, or also a different pronunciation, as in
> "M," as opposed of "am?"

A contraction always means "a different pronunciation," doesn't it?

I looked up the Google Books text and it shows the marks more clearly
than does the Usenet post -- a single quote mark for dialog, and an
apostrophe that changes "am" to "m".

The only way I can imagine pronoucing "'M I" is like "my".

> "I want to speak to Mr Hooper, sergeant-major ... well, where the
> devil have you been? I told you to inspect the lines."
>
> "'M I late? Sorry. Had a rush getting my gear together."
>
> Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited, p. 673

--
Best -- Donna Richoux

[Evan Kirshenbaum]

tr...@euronet.nl (Donna Richoux) writes:

> Marius Hancu <marius...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hello:
>>
>> This "'M I late?" indicates only a contraction, or also a
>> different pronunciation, as in "M," as opposed of "am?"
>
> A contraction always means "a different pronunciation," doesn't it?
>
> I looked up the Google Books text and it shows the marks more clearly
> than does the Usenet post -- a single quote mark for dialog, and an
> apostrophe that changes "am" to "m".
>
> The only way I can imagine pronoucing "'M I" is like "my".

Think of it as a syllabic /m-/, as in the affirmative /m- hm-/. So
"'m I" would be two syllables, /m- aI/.

--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |It's not coherent, it's merely
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |focused.
Palo Alto, CA 94304 | Keith Moore

kirsh...@hpl.hp.com
(650)857-7572

http://www.kirshenbaum.net/

[franzi]

On Jan 7, 10:15 pm, Evan Kirshenbaum <kirshenb...@hpl.hp.com> wrote:
> t...@euronet.nl (Donna Richoux) writes:

> > Marius Hancu <marius.ha...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> Hello:
>
> >> This "'M I late?"  indicates only a contraction, or also a
> >> different pronunciation, as in "M," as opposed of "am?"
>
> > A contraction always means "a different pronunciation," doesn't it?
>
> > I looked up the Google Books text and it shows the marks more clearly
> > than does the Usenet post -- a single quote mark for dialog, and an
> > apostrophe that changes "am" to "m".
>
> > The only way I can imagine pronoucing "'M I" is like "my".
>
> Think of it as a syllabic /m-/, as in the affirmative /m- hm-/.  So
> "'m I" would be two syllables, /m- aI/.
>

I think that's right, if I understand it correctly. The 'M' is
pronounced with the lips closed; they are then opened in preparation
for the next word 'I', though there's no clear pause between the two
sounds.
--
franzi

[John Dean]

Although he says "The troops did not like Hooper ... but I had a feeling
which almost amounted to affection for him."
He notes Hooper's "flat, Midland accent".
--
John Dean
Oxford