[Dixielandjazz] Louis Armstrong pronounced his name "Lewis"

[Bill Gunter]

Hi Steve and Listmates,

Steve correctly straightened me out on the intent of his post regarding the 
pronunciation of Armstrong's first name.

I should have picked up on it right away but there are times when I'm really 
more dense than usual.

Steve used "Lewis" as a rough phonetic rendition of "Louis" as pronounced by 
Armstrong. This is so elementary that I failed to grasp it right off.

My confusion partly stems from the point that "Lewis" can be pronounced 
"Louie" for the same reason "Louis" can be pronounced "Louie."

Steve might have indicated "loo' us", as opposed to "loo' ee" which I would 
have understood right off.

Computer keyboards are limited in that there is no key or combination of 
keys I know of to produce the symbol for the schwa. Any of you computer 
literate dudes out there familiar with extended special characters?

Respectfully submitted,

Bill Gunter
jazzboard at hotmail.com


>From: Steve barbone <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
>To: Bill Gunter <jazzboard at hotmail.com>,<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
>Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Louis Armstrong pronounced his name "Lewis"
>Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 10:32:12 -0400
>
>Dear Bill . . .
>
>Ha, Ha. A subtle distinction? Nah, the distinction couldn't be plainer. All
>of us old folks who went through schools when they taught "English"
>understand that perfectly. And as an accomplished writer, you know the
>difference. However, the urge to obfuscate seems to have triumphed. VBG.
>
>"Louis" and "Louis" have at least two different pronunciations. The "Louis"
>in Louis XIV, and/or Crab Louis are pronounced quite differently from the"
>Louis" in St. Louis Missouri. (Louie and Lewis in case you missed the 
>point) . . .

>Cheers,
>Steve