When some weeks ago, the proud Grandfather of our honorary "talkshoper in waiting" informed us of his Grandson Noah's progress in school, it did not suprise me one bit. Afterall, the young lad had in his backgroung, a direct ancestral lineage on both sides of his family that remained predominantly at the forefront of our intelligencia contribution that predates over seven decades, right on up to his birth. Furthermore, the level of Omega 3 Fatty Acid which can be traced right back to the French Quarters over Pont de L'anse meant that he had a predisposition to some of "the best stuff" known to man.
This had prompted me some years ago to incourage his Granpa to "bottle that stuff " and with the right promotion, he would have been able to make millions!.
And when I read how at such a young age,
little Noah had already begun to show all the qualities of a gifted and fertile mind, I was astonished that with surroundings that include an army of professionals (including his parents and grand parents)Doctors and Lawyers, combined with the wittiness of Great Grandmas and Grandpas, none of them were able to comprehend the unspoken witt of little Noah. Afterall, they should have recognized that as a begotten Gouyaveman, with genes that stretched over Pont de L'anse, there would be obvious signs of deviousness in the things he does and particularly later, in the things he would say.
So with his vocabulary still in its developmental stages and lagging behind the processies of his mind, "Prince Noah" had decided to tease his parents and relatives by inexplicable repeating what was his advent to the English Language; the Vowels " a,e,"ah",o,u and sometimes y. But much to the astonishment of his parents, his pronunciation of the letter "I" was heard to be "ah" and with no defense coming from them, he was humbled with a correction from his Mum and no doubt, Grandad also.
It must have been then, that little Noah's subconscious must have taken over. And with his still limited vocabulary to bring his words forward in a defense of his character, he must have said to himself, ......" ah see I am going to have trouble with this group. I dun leave this "vowels thing" a long time ago and have already advanced to understanding the nuances in influencing and creating sound in pronunciation. Now they are "flattening me" for what they heard; the subtle "ah" precident sound being made by the letter "a" in pronouncing the letter "I"....Lol
Imagine then, what little Noah would say when he grows up and is face with one of the rules of pronunciation that says:
" if the "I" is followed by a single consonant and a vowel, it is pronounced as long /ai/, and if followed by two consonants, or a single consonant at the end of the word, it is pronounced as short /i/"
"Poor jab Prince Noah, we?"
I am taking bets that the Gouyave in him would also take precident over his fine English broughtupsie and Grandpa, Mum and Grandma would be there to correct him .....again!.
