The Pumpkin Eater

I am currently reading The Pumpkin Eater by Penelope Mortimer. An excellent Christmas present from my very good bumblebee companion. It is not about pumpkins at all albeit the Pumpkin themed title, insinuating a pumpkin is to be consumed.There is an amazing nursery rhyme about pumpkins, oh and the cover is mostly orange. The story is about a women who is addicted to having children, and her coping mechanisms with dealing with a philandering husband. Maybe it is called The Pumpkin Eater, as eating pumpkins is a metaphor for addiction as her addiction to children is like my addiction to eating pumpkins!
The simply suggestive poetic lines really capture Mrs Armitage's collapsing world and fragility. The book has also been converted to screen by Harold Pinter.

Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater,
Had a wife and couldn't keep her.
He put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well.

I love this poem, I like the light rhythm echoing a limerick style soft beat. Such a dainty metaphor for being entrapped inside a pumpkin!
Although I wouldn't complain!

Pumpkin Purchase

Oh where would you be without some pumpkin cut glasses to see?

Pumpkins: A lingustic comment

First of all the name of the Pumpkin is quite curious don't you think? It sounds ever so sweet :) Not only does it combine two words it rhymes with munchkin! :) The combination of the voiced bilabial plosives of /p/ and unvoiced plosive of /k/ create a distinct velar sound and pronuciation. (Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). It almost tingles your lips as you speak. When we say the word Pumpkin, we may be tempted to leave the second "p" out pronoucing it "pumkin" This is called an epenthetic sound which historically has no phonemic quality, but is pronounced anyway due to easy fludity when speaking. When referring to pumpkins people may even pronounce it "Punkin" How odd. But really people don't have time to pronounce all those breathtaking plosives, which stop the air flow completly from one's lungs. How tiring!By removing the bilabial plosive of /p/ to the veral nasal of /n/ it creates an easier spoken word but not as aesthetic don't you think? At university in a lingustic class I realised how hard it is actually to speak sometimes when we had to do an hour seminar on voicing out certain words, many with bilabial plosives! I was most exhausted afterwards and had to have a sit down and cup of tea to catch my breath from all that speaking.
So next time you say Pumpkin, please take your time and appreciate the quality of this fantastic word and dont miss out the second /p/!

Pumpkins

I daresay you may be wondering why I am devoting a whole blog to Pumpkins, but why ever not? This versatile fruit (yes fruit) can be used in many a dish either sweet or savoury in pie or not pie.
I am hoping to learn a lot more about this delectable fruit through this blog and tell you pumpkin munchkins all about it's amazing qualities and intriquing history. Whilst also I shall be presenting all the crazy and wonderful things you can make and do with pumpkins!
Fab, hey?
xx