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khaki
DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
adj. — historical pronunciation, originally World War I, Military
a light-brownish colour.
Type: 5. Frequency — Until recently, many Canadians pronounced this word as if there were an [r] before the second K. Canadian soldiers heard this unfamiliar word (of Hindi origin) from English speakers who normally drop [r]-sounds after a vowel, for example, in words like "hard" and "cork". The Canadian hearers assumed the word should have an [r]-sound and added it in. Walter S. Avis states that the pronunciation of the term as a "pertinent example [...] which the great majority of Canadians [in the early 1970s, SD] at all social levels pronounce /'karki'/, as opposed to British /'ka:ki'/ and American /'kæki'/" (Avis 1973: 65, see also Avis 1956: 44). The 1916 quotation from a WWI soldier shows evidence of the spelling with [r], which makes sense in the Canadian context: hearing British soldiers pronounce /ka:ki/, Canadians assumed that they applied [r]-deletion, just as they would in "car": so British /ka:/, rather than Canadian /kar/. By that principle, Private Elmo Sully's spelling is perfectly logical and phonetically consistent. The 2013 quotation, by an septagenarian writer, confirms the long endurance of the form.
Today, the earlier Canadian pronunciation seems to have given way to international R-less [ka:ki] except in the older generations and in less educated contexts. The 2009 quotation shows that the variant, while rare in print, still seems to be in use in Canadian rural regions. The frequency argument made here is based on Avis' and others' observations and is not based on our frequency charts.
Cork book, from caulk boot, is another example of confusion between (Canadian) speakers of rhotic English and (British) non-rhotic speakers.
Today, the earlier Canadian pronunciation seems to have given way to international R-less [ka:ki] except in the older generations and in less educated contexts. The 2009 quotation shows that the variant, while rare in print, still seems to be in use in Canadian rural regions. The frequency argument made here is based on Avis' and others' observations and is not based on our frequency charts.
Cork book, from caulk boot, is another example of confusion between (Canadian) speakers of rhotic English and (British) non-rhotic speakers.
See: cork boot
Quotations
1900
The kits have been served to the men, the gins, gun carriages, and even spades and mattocks have been painted khaki color, and the Exhibition grounds have been turned into a camp.
1901
Looking behind as we stand easy we see the cavalry ride far off to the right: then the guns bump over the open ditches, the three leading batteries of the khaki color that tells the service in a far-away land.
1910
The . . . khaki pants, brown leather shoe packs, and short Mackinaw coat contrasted with the elaborate tourist gear that his companion had evidently acquired of a London outfitter.
1916
Instead, many of Sully's letters focus on town gossip and events, including how much he'll miss the now-defunct Ottawa Exhibition. "Do you remember a certain day of the Ottawa ex. last year; my suggestion, that I might be in kharki by exhibition time this year came quite true. ... I hope you are able to 'take it in' this year," he wrote to Fannie on Sept. 16, 1916.
1954
I had on good winter clothes: over these I had pulled a pair of khaki "bib" overalls as windbreak, and on top of all came a heavy mackinaw stag jacket with double shoulders.
1956
We walked along the street, . . . I in canoe moccasins and khaki slacks. . . .
1968
A shoulder flash on the khaki battle dress read Cadet Organization Police School -- COPS for short.
1991
And about 2 per cent of those stung by Metro Toronto's Green Hornets - as the parking control officers are commonly known because of their khaki-green uniforms - demand a day in court.
1992
Clusters of men talk and spit gobs of tobacco, crouching over checklists of who is to be stationed at which point around the parliament. Some have been issued khaki uniforms and caps, lending an air of authority to urban vigilantes at ever-changing street checkpoints where people are randomly frisked and ordered to use certain paths.
2009
Planted a row of tall sunflowers along the picket fence that Adeline Sarver had painted a deep kharki colour that blended in with the tone and color of the surrounding greens beautifully.
2013
I recently unearthed a small khaki sewing kit, about a foot long and three to four inches wide. Made of strong cotton, it’s divided into three pockets that fold up and tie with the attached heavy string — a small flat bundle assigned to soldiers, part of their army gear. We used to call it “kharki” when I was a kid — don’t know where the r came from, but I remember it clearly.
References
- Avis (1973)
- Avis (1956)