Waaaalll, my Big Book of Words (a Merriam Webster lunker) lists the "pluh-ver" pronunciation first, indicating that this is the currently preferred pronunciation, with "ploh-ver" as an alternate. Plover is from Middle English and derived fm the "Frenshe" of that era. In both cases, the pronunciation of that troublesome little "o" was supposed to be somewhere between "uh" and "oh," similar to "o" in modern French (quite truncated, not our looooonnnng, triphthongal, Southern "o"). Liz Singley Kingston TN -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [TN-Bird] "Plover" Pronunciation Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2003 15:27:48 -0400 From: John Devereux Joslin <jdjoslin@xxxxxxxxx> Reply-To: jdjoslin@xxxxxxxxx To: TN-Bird <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Well, I know many of you have wondered and vacillated and worried about the correct pronunciation of "plover." Is it "ploh-ver" as in stove, drove, Rover, and Grover OR is it "pluh-ver" as in lover, cover, hover, and glove? So I went to my trusty dictionary to find out. At first, I realized that it couldn't decide either since it accepted either pronunciation. Then I realized we've all been wrong all this time. The word is derived from the Latin "pluvia," meaning rain (as in the Spanish "lluvia" for rain). Seems at some point these birds were know as "rain-birds." Well, accepting the Latin "pluvia"--pronounced "ploo-vee-uh"--I naturally realized that all this time we should have been saying "ploo-ver," as in mover and prove. So next time you see a Semipalmated Ploover, let's get the pronunciation right! Dev Joslin Oak Ridge, Roane Co., East TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ======================================================== =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================