Two paralinguistic observations about Ariel Levy’s endless feature on Caster Semenya (New Yorker, 2009.11.30):
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On the New Yorker podcast, host Blake Eskin deployed Northeastern Elite American English, in which any and every word that could use the vowel [æ] in a stressed syllable instead uses [ɑː]. The standard examples are Mazda, plaza, pasta, and names like Tanya and Julianna. Canadians use [æ] on the whole, as do lower-class Americans and Americans with accents (e.g., from Buffalo). But that sounds twangy and uneducated to the northeastern elite, which prefers [ɑː].
Eskin consistently called Caster Semenya [ˈkʰɑːˌstɘɹ] Semenya. In other words, Kahhhster. (Actually Kʰahhhster, with a strongly aspirated K.) If we are to believe Old Farmer’s Wikipedia, the only ah in Sesotho languages is in fact [ɑː]. But in American (and Canadian) English, the only rational pronunciation of Caster is just like the word “caster” (as in caster sugar or broadcaster) – with an [æ].
But that’s not the interesting thing. The interesting thing is how Levy’s pronunciation drifted from [æ] to [ɑː] until, at interview’s end, there she was calling the athlete she’d actually met and talked to [ˈkʰɑːˌstɘɹ] Semenya. Using that pronunciation won’t gussy Semenya up any more than that “painfully uncomfortable… garish” makeover did.
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Here are all the proper names of South Africans appearing in the article (when full names are given):
- Jeremiah Mokaba
- Phineas Sako
- Caster Semenya
- Zola Budd (pseudonym)
- Johanna Lamola
- Nelson Mandela
- Makhenkesi Stofile
- Jacob Zuma
- Phat Joe (pseudonym)
- Lolly Jackson
- Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
- Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya
- Saartjie Baartman
- Leonard Chuene
- Harold Adams
- Debora Patta
- Molatelo Malehopo
- Dorcus Semenya
- Funeka Soldaat
- Julius Malema
- Benedict Phiri
- Maphela Semenya
- Wilfred “Wilfie” Daniels
- Kobus van der Walt
Are these names indicative of a flourishing and integrated multicultural society or of an ungovernable nation of competing ethnic groups?