Editing 1697: Intervocalic Fortition

{{comic
| number    = 1697
| date      = June 22, 2016
| title     = Intervocalic Fortition
| image     = intervocalic_fortition.png
| titletext = These pranks happen all the time. English doesn't allow one-syllable words to end in a lax vowel, so writers on The Simpsons decided to mess with future linguists by introducing the word "meh."
}}

==Explanation==
The linguistic processes of {{w|lenition}} ("weakening") and {{w|fortition}} ("strengthening") refer to a sound becoming, respectively, either more or less vowel-like. {{w|Intervocalic}} means "between two vowels." An unvoiced consonant like ''f'' in between two vowels (which are {{w|Voicelessness#Voiceless_vowels_and_other_sonorants|almost always}} voiced) is more noticeable and takes more effort to pronounce than the voiced version ''v'' of the same sound in that position, so a change from ''v'' to ''f'' in this context would be an example of fortition. As a rule, however, lenition is much more common, and in fact one of the most common regular changes observed across languages is the kind of lenition that is the precise opposite of Cueball's prank: An unvoiced consonant between two vowels comes to be spoken, over time, as a voiced consonant, such as the middle consonant in the word "butter" that in American English is now pronounced as a brief {{w|alveolar tap}} [ɾ] rather than [t]. Observing a pattern of fortition rather than lenition in that position (especially for just one particular consonant) would be a very puzzling phenomenon to future linguists.

'''Examples for the suggested change are:'''
*''"Beafer"'' instead of ''beaver''
*''"Nofember"'' instead of ''November''
*''"Luffing"'' instead of ''loving''
*''"Aardfark"'' instead of ''aardvark''

In some languages, like German and Dutch, V is often pronounced like F. But it is not always the case.

The title text refers to the fact that English {{w|phonotactics}} [http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/169429/are-there-any-words-in-english-pronounced-with-e-at-the-end tend to discourage final or unstressed /ɛ/]. Exceptions tend to be monosyllabic interjections, such as:
*meh
*heh
*eh
*yeh

The word 'meh', is an interjection used to express boredom or indifference. The suggestion that it was originated by the writers of the animated TV show, {{w|The Simpsons}}, [http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2013/09/06/meh_etymology_tracing_the_yiddish_word_from_leo_rosten_to_auden_to_the_simpsons.html is incorrect]. However, its use surged in popularity following its use in various episodes of the show, beginning with the 1994 episode "Sideshow Bob Roberts".

This is the second time in 2016 that [[Randall]] tries to spread linguistic misinformation, the first being [[1677: Contrails]], but since both are in the My Hobby series it is not so strange.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball holding his hands in front of his mouth is whispering into a Cueball-like person's ear. The second Cueball turns his head towards the first Cueball.]
:Cueball: Psst&ndash;teach your kids to pronounce V's in the middle of words as F's, but don't write down why you're doing it.
:Cueball: Pass it on.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:My hobby: Playing pranks on future linguists

{{comic discussion}}
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