PEACE: oh wabe!

Dan'l Danehy-Oakes · 30 Oct 2002, 17:14 · from urth-v0210.mbox · original

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From: "Dan'l Danehy-Oakes" <ddanehy at siebel.com>
Subject: RE: (urth) PEACE: oh wabe!
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 2002 09:14:26 -0800
Message-ID: <urth-v0210-1990 at digest.urth.net>
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> >Hey, does this mean it is pronounced "WAY-bee," to rhyme=20
> with "baby"? =20
> >I thought it was "WAYB" to rhyme with "babe"!
>=20
> "WAYB" is, of course, the canonical pronunciation. Considering that I=20
> made a special effort to phrase my explanation above in such a way as=20
> to prevent anyone reading it from arriving at "WAY-bee," the depth of=20
> my failure is all the more humiliating. <g>

Two points in support of the estimable Ansley's prescribed=20
prounciation:

a) "Wabe" needs to rhyme with "outgrabe," whose origin (if it can
be called that - past tense of "to outgribe") does not in any way
suggest it should be pronounced "out-GRAY-bee."

b) Rhythmically, "Jabberwocky" is structured:
        baDA baDA baDA baDA
        baDA baDA baDA baDA
        baDA baDA baDA baDA
        baDA baDA baDA
The rhythm is _extremely_ regular. Ignoring "wabe," the only=20
possible exception occurs the final line of stanza 2, "the=20
frumious Bandersnatch;" however, as the adjective can be=20
pronounced "FROOM-yuss," there is no real irregularity. For
"wabe" to be pronounced bisyllabically, then, and especially
with an unstressed second syllable, would create a lone=20
irregularity in a pome whose rhythm is otherwise extremely,=20
almost obsessively, regular.

--The Pedantic Blattid


--=20

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