Interesting exception to the rule

User   Sat Dec 30, 2006 3:45 pm GMT
Interesting exception

"anything" vs "something"

I just found an interesting exception in my dialect. While most two syllable words that end in -ing, I pronounce as [in], the word "anything" always has the -ing.

IPA XSAMPA
so: anything [ɛniθɪŋ] [EniTIN]
but: something [sʌin] [sVin] (rather than sump'n) (and in careful speech: [sʌmθin] [sVmTin])
or: thinking [θɪŋkin] [TINkin] (never *[θɪŋkɪŋ] *[TINkIN] or *[θɪŋkɪn] *[TINkIn])


can anyone explain why this might be?
Uriel   Sun Dec 31, 2006 8:58 am GMT
I never shorten anything to anythin' either, although it occasionally happens to other -ing words. No idea why.

What has always struck me as weird is the English tendency to say "ennathing" instead of "enneething". Explain that one to me!