Pronunciation of 'Shrimp,' 'Shrub,' and Similar Words

Abstract

FROM childhood I have been familiar with the pronunciation in Virginia of srimp for 'shrimp,' srub for 'shrub,' and so on. I have heard it used by people from widely separated parts of Virginia and by people from other southern states, particularly Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia. This suggests that the pronunciation of initial shras [sr-] instead of the standard [fr-] is probably a regionalism current in some degree throughout the southern states, and perhaps (although I have no direct evidence) throughout the Atlantic coastal region. A few guides to good English, listed below, point out the 'error' of saying srimp for 'shrimp' and so on, but I have found no mention of the matter in any scholarly work on American English. The pronunciation of shras [sr-] in certain dialects of British English has been known of for a number of years, although the statements of the variation have been inadequate. I have tried to gather here all accessible material on the srimp, srub pronunciation in both British and American dialects, and to suggest the significance of the distribution of pronunciation of shras [sr-] in Great Britain and the United States.