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ArchivesRe: Villikins
in reply to a message by The Flying Dutchman
This contains a questionw ith in a question - but first, your answer!
If your language or dialect does not contain a W sound but does have a V, then you'll be likely to use a V sound for words starting with or containing a W. The French do that, for instance - Arsene Wenger! So, Willie gives you Villie; both short for William. And if you add on another diminutive ending, you get Villikins quite comfortably (think catkins or lambkins). It would work in German as well, or Dutch.
Now for the question within the question. When Dickens was writing, he used this W-V confusion to typify his Cockney characters; other writers as well, of course, but he's the best-known. Sam Weller, in Pickwick Papers, calls himself Veller. Lots more. So, given that (a) there's a European tradition of using a W for a V sound, and (b) it used to be typical of the London working class - and that's a lot of people - then where did it go? I've certainly never heard it done in London by a Londoner. What happened to this once-typical pronunciation, and why?
Anyeay, it helps to date your ballad!
If your language or dialect does not contain a W sound but does have a V, then you'll be likely to use a V sound for words starting with or containing a W. The French do that, for instance - Arsene Wenger! So, Willie gives you Villie; both short for William. And if you add on another diminutive ending, you get Villikins quite comfortably (think catkins or lambkins). It would work in German as well, or Dutch.
Now for the question within the question. When Dickens was writing, he used this W-V confusion to typify his Cockney characters; other writers as well, of course, but he's the best-known. Sam Weller, in Pickwick Papers, calls himself Veller. Lots more. So, given that (a) there's a European tradition of using a W for a V sound, and (b) it used to be typical of the London working class - and that's a lot of people - then where did it go? I've certainly never heard it done in London by a Londoner. What happened to this once-typical pronunciation, and why?
Anyeay, it helps to date your ballad!
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