Subject
Prounciation of "Lolita"
Date
Body
EDITOR's NOTE. AS a note to Brian Boyd's observation below, Humbert is not
a native speaker of English in which the pronunciation of the phoneme /t/
is normally an "alveolar-dental," i.e., the tip of the tongue touchs to
ridge just IN BACK of the upper front teeth. In most European languages
(including VN's native Russian), /t/ is a true dental.
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Dear List,
Just a brief response to Patrick Nolan's query: see VN--The American
Years, pp. 228-29 and footnote for an indication of Christopher
Ricks's and Julian Barnes's mistake in pointing out VN's mistake.
> Julian Barnes wrote in Flaubert's Parrot that "Vladimir Nabokov was
> wrong--rather surprising, this--about the phonetics of the name
> Lolita." We are under no obligation to trust Barnes, of course, but it
> would be surprising indeed if it were true.
>
> Patrick Nolan
>
From: Brian Boyd
English Department
University of Auckland
Private Bag 92019 Auckland New Zealand
Fax (64 9) 373 7429 Tel (64 9) 373 7599 ext 7480
Home fax: (64 9) 620 6520 Home tel: (64 9) 620 6597
e-mail: b.boyd@auckland.ac.nz
a native speaker of English in which the pronunciation of the phoneme /t/
is normally an "alveolar-dental," i.e., the tip of the tongue touchs to
ridge just IN BACK of the upper front teeth. In most European languages
(including VN's native Russian), /t/ is a true dental.
--------------------------------------------------
Dear List,
Just a brief response to Patrick Nolan's query: see VN--The American
Years, pp. 228-29 and footnote for an indication of Christopher
Ricks's and Julian Barnes's mistake in pointing out VN's mistake.
> Julian Barnes wrote in Flaubert's Parrot that "Vladimir Nabokov was
> wrong--rather surprising, this--about the phonetics of the name
> Lolita." We are under no obligation to trust Barnes, of course, but it
> would be surprising indeed if it were true.
>
> Patrick Nolan
>
From: Brian Boyd
English Department
University of Auckland
Private Bag 92019 Auckland New Zealand
Fax (64 9) 373 7429 Tel (64 9) 373 7599 ext 7480
Home fax: (64 9) 620 6520 Home tel: (64 9) 620 6597
e-mail: b.boyd@auckland.ac.nz