summary : vowel deletion between two like consonants quite some time ago , i wrote requesting information concerning instances of proper names where the pronunciation reflects a deletion of a vowel occuring between two like consonants in the spelling of the name . i cited such names as farrer [ fer ] worcester [ wust ^ r ] and leicester [ lest ^ r ] and had hoped to find a whole slew of other names exhibiting this phenomenon . unfortunately , i got no responses which dealt with proper nouns . however , i did get some interesting responses discussing how this occurs in hungarian , arabic , and english outside the realm of proper nouns . thanks to all who responded . sorry i did n't post sooner . it 's just that i had hoped to get something on proper nouns before replying . sincerely , david harris david harris david @ las-inc . com language analysis systems voice : ( 703 ) 834-6200 ext . 242 2214 rock hill road , suite 201 fax : ( 703 ) 834-6230 herndon , va 22070 original query : > i ' ve been thinking about names like worcester , leicester , and > gloucester which , though perhaps viewed by most of my fellow americans > as strange relics of british eccentricity , really do follow a simple > and straightforward phonological process where two like consonantal > continuants separated by a weak vowel ( in this case schwa ) are merged > into one by the deletion of this weak vowel . the same phenomenon > occurs with the name of a school in provo , utah which i attended as an > adolescent : > > farrer junior high school > this is pronounced " fair " ( or " ferr " if your accent makes a > difference between [ er ] and [ eir ] which mine does n't ) > > anyway , using a regular expression , i searched the 1990 us census > list of 80 , 000 surnames available on the web in order to find names > in which like consonants were separated by one vowel and came across > a few more from various language groups that may or may not be > examples of this . ( it 's hard to know when you can't have the names > pronounced for you as well as see them written . ) my question , then , > is this : > i would be interested in knowing in what other languages this > phenomenon occurs and with what other sounds . judging from some of > the names i encountered in my search , i suspect that it may occur in > japanese where [ i ] and [ u ] deletion causes two like consonants to be > connected together . also , in languages where word-internal gemination > is phonemic , i ' m curious as to whether simplification occurs as it > does in english or if the gemination retains its full phonological > value . please include as many examples as you can with your comments > and i will post a complete summary to the list . any other > observations about this phenomenon are also welcome . beginning of responses : * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 1 - subject : worcester here is a hungarian example : _ ko2zta1rsasa1g _ / ko / starsasa : g / fast / casual [ ko / stassa : g ] ` republic ' and another lexicalized one : _ azt hiszem _ / ast hisem / > [ asisem ] > [ assem ] ` that - acc believe - i ' i cannot think of examples with non-coronals , but that - i think _ has to do with statistics . symbols : o / = ipa slashed o ( round front mid vowel ) , s = eng sh a = round back low vowel e = ipa epsilon best , peter szigetvari szigetva @ osiris . elte . hu * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 2 - from : russell @ ukraine . corp . mot . com ( dale russell ) to : dharris @ las-inc . com phonological process - - worcester / gloucester / leicester > also , in languages where word-internal gemination is phonemic , i ' m > curious as to whether simplification occurs as it does in english > or if the gemination retains its full phonological value . does such simplification always occur in english ? does " meanness " rhyme exactly with " venus " ? i ' ve heard this example used to argue that english does make at least limited use of the concept of the mora , claiming that both / n / s in " meanness " get pronounced . dale russell russell @ ukraine . corp . mot . com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 3 - subject : deleted vowel in response to your linguist posting : note that am . eng . speakers often delete the schwa between the / d / 's , so that " where did he go " becomes " where 'd he go " , and " how did she do that " becomes " how 'd she do that " . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - dan loehr " wherever you go , there you are . " georgetown university loehrd @ gusun . acc . georgetown . edu - buckaroo bonzai http : / / www . geocities . com / athens / 4944 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4 - from : " robert port " < port @ cs . indiana . edu > deleted vs in eng to : dharris @ las-inc . com first syllable of farrer ? ? content - length : 503 vowel elision x - confirm - reading - to : cpeust @ gwdg . de x - pmrqc : 1 priority : normal look into arabic : the 3rd person singular of the perfect tense of verbs is most commonly formed cacaca ( c being the root consonants ) , e . g . kataba " he wrote " the first person of this verb is katabtu " i wrote " now verbs with two identical consonants behave irregularly : while the 1st person sg . of the verb " to pass " is marartu " i passed " , the 3rd person is marra " he passed " instead of the expected * marara . the same is true for many other semitic languages ( hebrew etc . ) . carsten peust seminar of egyptology and coptology goettingen cpeust @ gwdu20 . gwdg . de or cpeust @ gwdg . de