[gpt3]
You are a senior technology reporter writing for TechScoop Canada, a Canadian technology and startup news publication.
You cover:
– Canadian startups and scale-ups
– Funding rounds and acquisitions
– AI, fintech, enterprise software, mobility, and policy
– Market competition and industry trends
You write for a North American audience.
Your role:
– Write like an experienced newsroom journalist
– Prioritise facts, clarity, and relevance
– Avoid hype, marketing language, or personal opinion
– Where appropriate, explain what the development suggests about industry trends or competition
Your task:
– Write a fully original 400–500 word news article using:
American English Dialects
|
The Map
1. Click on the
2. Click
3. Click
|
|
|
Western dialects:
7. North Central
8. The West
|
Dialects that start from the eastern seaboard:
1. Canada
2. Northern New England
3. The North
4. Greater New York City
5. The Midland
6. The South
|
Web-Based Survey now completed
A group of linguists had been gathering data on
North American English dialects using a web-based survey. They asked for our
help, and some of you helped with this survey. This survey is now closed,
with 3903 total responses in December 2012. You can see some preliminary
results at: pantheon.yale.edu/~clb3/NorthAmericanDialects.
However, I find that some of their samples
definitely do not represent the local dialect! 26-Dec.-2012
This is just a hobby of mine, that I thought might be interesting to
a lot of people. Some people collect stamps. Others collect coins. I collect
dialects. – Rick Aschmann. (Page last
updated: May 2, 2018.
Thanks to all of you who have written expressing
appreciation for the page! I don’t promise to respond to every e-mail, but I
am still trying to answer all those who sent in a sample or other
information, or even a complaint. Unfortunately, my life is always very busy,
and I can only dedicate a small portion of my time to this, so I have trouble
even keeping up with current correspondence about this page. Worse yet, from
time to time this page gets posted to another popular blog, and I get a new
surge of e-mail, so I have doubts of ever being able to answer it all. But
I’ll keep working at it! 12-Aug.-2014
There are 8 major
English dialect areas in North America, listed below the map at left. These
are shown in blue, each with its number, on the map and in the Dialect Description Chart below, and are
also outlined with blue lines on the map. The first 6 of these begin at the eastern seaboard and proceed west,
reflecting western settlement patterns.
The many subdialects are
shown in red on the map and in the chart, and are outlined with red lines on
the map. All of these are listed in the margins of the map as well.
In the Dialect Description Chart additional
features not shown on the map are provided for distinguishing the dialects.
Recent additions
• I
did quite a bit of cosmetic adjustment to place name positioning and other
things to make the map more readable. New!
5-Oct.-2017
• I
adjusted the name of the Mat-Su Valley dialect in Alaska from Mat-Su Valley to Mat-Su Valley (North Central)
to better clarify its status, as an Island of North Central in Alaska.
New! 4-Oct.-2017
• Because
native French speakers do not typically have the Canadian raising, I have now
explicitly shown the pink Canadian-raising line as excluding the
French-speaking area in Canada. (Earlier I had simply not shown it in this
area, but the result was confusing even to me, so I put it in.) I also
adjusted a few lines running across Hudson Bay. Adj.
4-Oct.-2017
• I
adjusted the main map to match the New Orleans inset in its southeast corner
and added St. Bernard Parish, reflecting the fact that apparently all of St.
Bernard Parish has the same dialect. New!
13-Sep.-2017
• I
have now finished reducing the size of the dots for cities and towns, except
for the larger population centers, to reduce the clutter on the map. I have
now completed this for all U.S. states and Canadian provinces. Adj. 13-Sep.-2017
• Oops!
At some point I accidentally changed the color of the El Paso dialect from
white to pink. It is now fixed. New! 13-Sep.-2017
• I
made a number of cosmetic adjustments to the dialect descriptions and lines
on the right side of the map (in the Atlantic Ocean), none of which affect
the content of the map. New! 13-Sep.-2017
• Continuing
survey: I only discovered in 2011 that many if not most Americans
pronounce the “l” in words like “calm” and other words ending in “-alm”, which surprised me very much, since I
don’t. Some also pronounce the “l” in “folk”, and even a few may pronounce
the “l” in “talk”. See The Pronunciation of “-alm” and “-olk”
and “-alk” for more details. I would love to know if you do or do not
pronounce the “l” in such words, and where you grew up! Yes, I know many of
you have sent in data, and I am still trying to get it all compiled. One
thing that has discouraged me is that so far no very discernible pattern is
emerging! 8-Dec.-2014
What’s New? All additions or changes within the
last few months are marked with “ New! ” and the date, or with “ Adj. ”
(for “Adjusted”.) To see this new information, simply search for these words.
Map Format
I have made a number of
adjustments to the map format based on comments and suggestions from people
who write in. However, the main complaint, that the map is too complicated
and confusing, I can’t really fix: the subject is complicated, and I am well
aware that I have tried to include too many features. However, if people have
ideas on how to make the map or web page less confusing, I am all ears! 8-May-2013
One thing that may help is
that you can now view the file in layers. 16-Sep.-2014
Dialect Survey of Individual Words
(27-June-2013)
Many of you have written in to ask, “What about
such-and-such a word? What is its distribution across North America?” And my
answer has always been, “That’s not what this map is about, it’s about sound
patterns affecting many words at once, it’s about phonemic
patterns.” Not that I’m not interested, I am, it’s just that there is no
place for this sort of information on my map. (The only such word that does
appear on the map is the “on” line.) 17-Dec.-2015
However, finally someone has done just what many of
you have wanted, they have mapped the distribution of lots of these
individual words, as well as some grammatical constructions, and you can
enjoy browsing through them here.
If you don’t want to struggle through the whole list, a selection of some of
the most interesting with whimsical comments can be found here. 21-Aug.-2013
The link for this site was
sent in by Joshua Katz. Thanks! Also, Joshua has redone the
maps to make a lot of them more readable, as for example his map of words
for carbonated
beverage. (Oops, these links seem to be obsolete. He still has this
page, but most of the links on it do not work, though the one for the
poster does, and this does have the carbonated beverage map and a few others.
The last link in the previous paragraph shows several more, though some of
the links don’t work there either.) 17-Dec.-2015
Sadly, they still don’t have
some of the ones I’m interested in, like “greasy/greazy”,
which has a north-south distribution similar to “on”! Does anyone know of a
map of this? 11-Nov.-2015
I have found a
description of the line at the American Heritage Dictionary entry for greasy
(copied from the Dictionary
of American Regional English), which simply shows that it largely follows
the “on” line (or perhaps runs slightly to the south of it), except of course
that it continues across areas with the cot-caught merger, such as
Allegheny Midland or the West, where the “on” line is undefined, and the
description specifically states that the “greazy”
region includes all of New Mexico.
17-Dec.-2015
This site says that the use of “greazy” extends as far as southern California, and specifically
says that “about 1/5 of all So. Cal. residents, but half of rural
Riversiders, used greazy rather
than greasy.” 17-Dec.-2015
Based on the comment in
the AHD entry, I suspect that the subscription-only Dictionary of American
Regional English has a map of this, but since I presently live in South
America I can’t go to a library and check it out.
11-Nov.-2015
The small map below is the same as
the Full-Scale Dialect Map that follows, but
shows the entire width of the map (on most monitors). 24-Aug.-2010
Click on
any part of this map to move to the equivalent part of the Full-Scale Dialect
Map. (For now this only moves to the far
left or the far right of the Full-Scale Dialect Map, so unfortunately it
doesn’t work well for the middle portions, and you will just have to scroll
over.) 24-Aug.-2010
For many of the cities or towns on
this map, you can listen to an audio or video sample of speech of a native
(more specifically, someone who was raised there, though not necessarily born
there, and whose dialect clearly represents that place). All of the cities or
towns with a green center have such an audio or
video sample that can be listened to (and a few of the ones with pink centers do also). I will continue adding new
audio and video samples, so check back from time to time. So far there are over
900 samples listed, more and more of which are from contributors! Thanks! 1-Sep.-2014
The cities and towns with a large
dot are those which are larger or more important in each state or province. New! 13-Sep.-2017
Use the scroll bars to move around
on this map, or, even simpler, start at the tiny map above
and click the country (U.S. or Canada) that you want to look at. This will take
you to the Small-Scale
Dialect Map. Click
again to zoom in further on your
location. (For now this only moves
to the far left or the far right of the Full-Scale Dialect Map, so unfortunately
it doesn’t work well for the middle portions, and you will just have to scroll
over.) 24-Aug.-2010
The entire map is clickable, taking
you to the list of samples for that state or province. Only those locations
with green centers, and a few with pink centers, have a sample so far. There will be
a few areas of the oceans and the legends that are not clickable, but all of
the states and provinces now are. Place the mouse over a particular state or
province to see its name. (The map
guides, showing the meaning of all the colors, are on the top right and bottom left of the map.) 25-Sep.-2013
Help! For many places I
haven’t found an audio sample yet. If you know of an audio or video sample
on the Internet that features a speaker who was raised in a particular place,
and whose dialect clearly represents that place, please let me know, whether that place is
currently listed or not! Although many of the people in these samples are prominent
people, I actually prefer ordinary local people, but anyone at all will do, as
long as their pronunciation represents the local dialect. (The
ones I especially need, and cannot find, are those with an orange-yellow
center.) Also, if you think that one of the audio examples does not truly
represent the local dialect, please let me
know in the same way. (Oh, but please keep the samples clean. I have a
policy of not using a sample if it uses a word you can’t say on TV in the
U.S.!) I will normally list your name as the contributor, to make this more of
a community project, unless you’d rather I didn’t, in which case I will use
initials. However, I will not publish anyone’s e-mail address. 10-May-2011
Numbered Locations: A number
of states (17 so far) now have so many locations mapped that there was no
longer room for all the names, so I was forced to go to a numbering system for such areas, since the scale of
the map is already big enough! I put the key to the numbers off the east coast of Canada. The area with the most
numbers is much of Kentucky and Tennessee and
neighboring areas, which are about as thoroughly mapped as they possibly
can be, thanks in part to enthusiastic contributor Eli K. in 2010. That’s the
kind of help needed to really fill out this map! Adj.
2-Oct.-2017
I am grateful to the Atlas of North American English
(ANAE) by William Labov, Sharon Ash, and Charles Boberg, for a
good part of the data on which this map was based. Specifically, much of the
information on the map above and in the Dialect
Description Chart below was obtained from ANAE chapter 11 (a draft version available on the
Internet), as well as from many other chapters of the same work, with a few
ideas from a much older version of the same: ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/home.html.
(The Table of Contents of the draft version of the atlas can be seen at: www.ling.upenn.edu/phonoatlas/ANAE_ToC.pdf,
but this does not link directly to the chapters. Links to each chapter are: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23.) 11-Nov.-2015
However, the names of a number of the dialects are my
own, and I have made many adjustments to their borders (especially Inland and Lowland South, West Midland, and Allegheny
Midland). Also, a lot of the data is from my own research and analysis. -
Rick Aschmann
I discovered in late 2011 that much or all of the audio data
upon which the atlas was based is now available on the Internet, on this website (select North American English Dialects). (Replaced bad link.) I will be adding samples
from this site as I have time, marked as “ANAE info and audio”. 26-Jan.-2013
The following notes refer to numbers on the map, and show
the corresponding section of the ANAE:
2: Long /ō/ [oʊ] fronting:
See Map 20.2 in ANAE chapter 20. 2: The boundary between central-back and
central-front (the yellow dots) was used by the ANAE to define the boundary
between North and Midland, but this line then extends into the West. The deep
dip that it takes southwards in Utah and Nevada would seem to indicate
settlement of these areas by Northerners, probably represented by the Mormon settlement. Thus this dip corresponds to a large
degree to the “Mormon Corridor”. Many of these settlers were originally from the Palmyra, New York, area and from Kirtland,
Ohio. Another northern contribution may have been the early
northeastern organized crime influence in Las Vegas. Now I’m not saying
that people in these areas sound like northeasterners: they don’t, they sound
like westerners, with this one feature being dragged south because of this
origin. 20-Jan.-2010
3: R-dropping:
See Map 7.1 in ANAE chapter 7. R-droppers are also called non-rhotic English speakers, though I find this term rather
obscure and academic, and prefer not to use it on a site like this, which is
not for academics. There are two types of r-droppers, which I call Systematic
R-droppers and Simple R-droppers. 11-May-2015
Systematic R-droppers are found in the northeastern
U. S., in much of England, and in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India,
much of the Caribbean, and other places. Systematic R-droppers have linking and intrusive
r’s. John F. Kennedy
is an excellent example of a Systematic r-dropper. In a speech he
gave prior to being elected, he says “The hungry children I sawr in West Vaginia.” This quote has one intrusive r, and one
dropped r, both highlighted in red. In another speech during
the Cuban missile crisis he says, starting at 4:55: “…Soviet foreign minista Gromyko
told me in my office that he was instructed to make it cleah once again, as he said his govament had
already done, Soviet assistance to Cubar, and I quote, …”, which again has one
intrusive r, and three dropped r’s, again highlighted in red. 11-May-2015
Simple R-droppers are found in parts of the Lowland South. As a general rule, they do not have linking and
intrusive r’s. All of the areas in
the South marked as r-droppers on my map are Simple R-dropper areas, though New
Orleans shows some tendency to retain final r’s before a vowel, though not
enough to make it systematic. (It turns out that Hawai’i
Creole English is also of this type.)
11-Mar.-2016
Numerous examples of both kinds of r-droppers are given in
the audio samples below. This pattern is receding, so occasionally only much
older speakers retain the r-dropping in a given location. These are surrounded
on the map by a dotted green circle, and in the chart below will be indicated
with the phrase “Older r-dropper”. 3-Apr.-2010
4: Canadian
and Tidewater raising: See Map 15.5
in ANAE chapter 15, noting only the info for the /ou/ [aʊ] vowel (which
he writes /aw/), not the /ī/
[aɪ] vowel (which he writes /ay/). The ANAE does not show this information on
any map for the Tidewater South, so I have gleaned the info from various
sources, including stray comments in ANAE. This is also found in one, and
apparently only one, of the New Orleans subdialects,
St. Bernard Parish, which is far away from either Canada or the Tidewater
South! Why this should be the case is a mystery. Adj.
16-Sep.-2017
6: “On” line: See Map 14.2
in ANAE chapter 14. This is the only lexical item included in
this analysis, but it seems to correlate with the phonological data, and as the
ANAE points out, largely follows the North-Midland boundary. Why it turns north
at its western end in the Dakotas and does some contortions is unclear. (The
ANAE did not have Mitchell, SD or Ashley, ND, which are the surprises. I had
earlier thought Mitchell was north of the line, but actually it is south of
it.) Miles City, Montana, an outlier of Western North, is also below the line.
In San Francisco the pattern seems to be reversed, with the “Don” group
possibly representing a later influx of some type.
17-Dec.-2015
vowel
of “lot”
/ŏ/ [a]
almost
as much
as vowel
of “let”
/ĕ/ [ɛ]
vowel
of “cot”
/ŏ/ [a]
more
fronted
than
vowel
of “cut”
/ŭ/ [ʌ]
vowel
of “too”
/ōō/ [ᵿʉ]
much
more
fronted
than
vowel
of “toe”
/ō/ [o(ʊ)]
Vowel
of “far”
/är/ [aɹ]
fronted
Vowel
of
“caught”
/ô/ [oə]
strongly
raised
“hoarse”
=
“horse”,
“mourning”
=
“morning”,
“four”
=
“for”
Unique
Features
Chapter
and
map in
ANAE
Chapter and map in ANAE
yes
Like Western
North, but “cot”=“caught”.
yes
Subtle differences from the
rest of the North Central, particularly /ŧħ/
[ð] becomes /d/ [d].
Mat-Su Valley, Alaska *
yes
yes
Strongly like North Central, but with some admixture from
the main Alaska dialect. (See Sarah Palin.)
yes
yes
Vowel of “too” significantly more fronted than vowel of
“toe”, “cot”=“caught”.
Alaska
yes
yes
Same as West
(ANAE chapter 11 says there are significant differences,
but does not make clear what they are.)
Silver City, NM
yes
yes
Same as West,
but “cot”≠“caught”.
yes
very little
yes
Same as West,
plus Canadian vowel shift, vowel of “cat” central, raising of “bite”, “bout”, Canadian raising. Adj. 2-Oct.-2017
Atlantic Provinces
mixed?
yes
yes
Vowel of “far” fronted (but not “father”). Canadian
raising only partial. Adj. 2-Oct.-2017
yes
yes
yes
Like the Atlantic Provinces, but with a strong Irish
component.
Eastern New England (ENE)
yes
no
“far” & “father”
fronted to [a], systematic
r-dropping, “cot”=“caught”, “father” [a] &
“bother” [ɒə] don’t rhyme.
NW New England
very little
very little
yes
yes
Vowel of “far” fronted (but not “father”), “cot”=“caught”.
mixed
mixed
mostly
almost all
Western North
mixed
mixed
mostly
yes
Inland North
yes
yes
mostly
almost all
Northern Cities Shift: /ă/ in “bat” strongly
raised to [eə], most short vowels shifted.
St. Louis Corridor
yes
yes
Mixed
mixed
Northern Cities Shift: /ă/ in “bat” strongly raised to [eə],
most short vowels shifted, but many other vowels like Midland.
Indiana North[3]
no
no
yes
Very similar to Western North, but separated from it
geographically[4].
Eastern North
yes
yes
very little
mixed
yes
Mostly like Western
North, but some similarities to Greater New York City.
Albany
yes
yes
very little
yes
yes
Many vowels like Greater New York City, but no r-dropping.
Providence
yes
no
/ă/
in “cat” central [a], systematic
r-dropping, “cart”=“cot”, which is not seen anywhere else in the world!
4. Greater New York City
(GNYC)
yes
yes
Various unusual vowels, systematic
r-dropping, “bad” [eə] & “had” [æ] don’t rhyme, and “father” [ɑə]
& “bother” [a] don’t rhyme for many speakers. For
more details, see New
York City and Its Offspring.
11-Mar.-2016
The Hamptons
yes
A lot like Greater New York City, but more research needed!
Downtown New Orleans
no?
More like Greater New York City than anything else,
although “bad” & “had” probably rhyme, and “on” rhymes with “Dawn”. For
more details, see New Orleans.
11-Mar.-2016
almost all
In many ways is intermediate between Northern and Southern[5].
Central Midland
almost all
Least distinctive dialect in the U.S., many sections are “General American”
Canton, Ohio
yes
“bat” strongly raised, “on” rhymes with “Don”, not “Dawn”
yes
Many vowels are pronounced like Greater New York City, “pin”≠“pen”, unlike the surrounding
area[6].
West Midland *
yes
(19)
Allegheny
Midland[7]
yes
“cot”=“caught”,
unlike most of Midland.
Pittsburgh
yes
Pittsburgh vowel shift: “out” is pronounced [ˈat], with no diphthong, the way a Bostonian says
“art”.
Oklahoma City * [8]
yes
Like the parts of the Central Midland south of the pin-pen
line.
East Midland *
yes
yes
Like the Central Midland, with influences from Atlantic
Midland.
Atlantic
Midland[9]
yes
yes
“bad” does not rhyme
with “had”, like Greater New York City, but otherwise like East Midland.
North
Florida
yes
Like Central Midland, “pin”=“pen”.
South
Florida
yes
Like Central Midland, “pin”≠“pen”.
El Paso
yes
“cot”≠“caught”
like Central Midland, “pin”=“pen”.
Galveston *
yes
Very similar to East Midland, or even to Atlantic Midland,
except that “bad” rhymes with “had”
yes
yes
Very similar to East Midland, or even to Atlantic Midland,
except that “bad” rhymes with “had”
(11)
mixed
Partial to full Southern shift:
vowels of “ride” and “buy” have no diphthong: long /ī/ is [a].
In almost entire area “pin”=“pen”, except as noted below or on map.
Lowland South
mixed
Partial Southern shift: long /ī/
vowels of “ride” and “buy” have [a], with no
diphthong, but “right” is [aɪ].
mixed
Outlined in dark green rather than red, a catch-all for
all R-dropping dialects in the South, includes or cuts across some of the
dialects below.
mixed
Outlined in pink rather than red, a catch-all for those
parts of the coastal southeast that have the Tidewater raising, as explained
on the map. It actually includes two areas that lack the Southern shift, Down
East & Outer Banks, and Charleston. Adj. 2-Oct.-2017
Savannah
yes
R-dropping, “pin”≠“pen”.
yes
East is R-dropping, west apparently not, “pin”=“pen”,
French influence, th > t,d.
New Orleans, Mid City
yes
See the New Orleans inset on the map and the New Orleans section below. Adj.
14-Sep.-2017
New Orleans, Irish Channel
yes
See the New Orleans inset on the map and the New Orleans section below. Adj.
13-Sep.-2017
New Orleans, St. Bernard Parish
yes
See the New Orleans inset on the map and the New Orleans section below. Adj.
14-Sep.-2017
New Orleans, Peripheral
yes
See the New Orleans inset on the map and the New Orleans section below. Adj.
14-Sep.-2017
Inland South
almost all
Full Southern shift: vowels of
“ride”, “buy”, and “right” all have [a], with no
diphthong.
Anomalous peripheral
areas in the southeast that resisted the Southern shift:
Charleston
yes
No Southern shift, R-dropping, vowels of “bait” and “boat”
are not diphthongs, but simple [e] and [o].
Down East & Outer Banks *
yes
No Southern shift, long /ī/ [ɒɪ]
vowel often almost like /oi/ [ɔɪ], “pin”=“pen”[11].
Chesapeake Islands *
yes
No Southern shift, long /ī/ [ɒɪ]
vowel less like /oi/
[ɔɪ] than Down East & Outer Banks, “pin”≠“pen”.
I have added and adjusted a lot of the information on the
map based on the following audio and non-audio data. – Rick Aschmann
Location
Source
Comment
Samples from almost all U. S. states and a few from
Canada
International
Dialects of English Archive (IDEA) (or new clickable map: www.dialectsarchive.com/globalmap)
This site has been completely redone, perhaps in 2013, and
is vastly improved, since it now provides a lot more information about the
speakers, including place of birth and sometimes a list of places where they
have lived, plus a lot of other information!
However,
I still find that many of the samples do not represent well the bedrock
pronunciation of the area, but instead represent those who have tried to
sound less “local”. Also, locations are often limited (though I see that more
have been added recently), and often only urban locations are given.
Even
so, in many cases the data is useful, and I have used it in the sound samples
below, especially when clearer indications are given of “nativeness”, and now
that more information has been provided, I will probably add more. If anyone
finds any of these that I have left out and shouldn’t have, please let me
know!
(Because
this site changed its entire structure, none of the old links worked anymore,
and I have redone them all. The original site was web.ku.edu/~idea or web.ku.edu/~idea.) 8-Nov.-2013
Samples only from north-central U. S.
csumc.wisc.edu/AmericanLanguages/english/eng_us.htm
Again, it is not always clear if the speakers are natives
of the area in which they were interviewed, or if they represent well the
local dialect. However, it includes rural speakers, which can help fill in
holes. Used occasionally. If anyone finds any of these that I have left out
and shouldn’t have, please let me know! 11-Mar.-2016
In many places on this web page the pronunciation of a name
or other word will be given after it. These pronunciation guides will have two
forms: a phonemic
guide between slashes / /, based on the Traditional Dictionary Pronunciation System (TDPS) that is
found in many dictionaries, especially American ones[12],
and a phonetic
guide (providing the phonetic details) between square brackets [
], based on the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). (Thanks, Maria
Mikkonen![13]) 26-Aug.-2013
The advantage of the phonemic guide is that it allows
different dialects to use the same pronunciation key and get the right result
for each dialect. For this guide I have mostly followed the TDPS system used in the American Heritage Dictionary[14],
rather than the one used by Merriam-Webster
or others, since it is more complete and applies to more
dialects. 31-Aug.-2015
However, I have included the phonetic guide as well, partly
to give a more precise phonetic pronunciation of local variants, and partly
because many have complained that they prefer the IPA or are familiar
only with it. (This guide includes allophonic variation such as aspiration
on voiceless consonants, which is conditioned by stress and word position.
However, it would be impractical to represent all the fine detail, such as the rounding
that many English consonants have, or the differences between “clear l” [l] and “dark l” [ɫ].) 18-July-2013
1.
I write the syllable with primary stress using bold and underline, and syllables with secondary stress with just bold, rather than using an
apostrophe after it like the AHD. In other words, I show the pronunciation of
“underneath” as /ŭndərnēth/, whereas the AHD does it as /ŭn’dər-nēth’/. 31-Aug.-2015
2. I do not separate syllables with a hyphen except when absolutely
necessary, as in “cartridge” /kärtrij/ versus “cartwright” /kärt–rīt/, or “mission” /mĭshən/ versus
“mishap” /mĭs-hăp/;
although technically in these two cases the underlining of the primary-stressed
syllable gives enough information, even so the hyphens help to clarify.
3.
I show the pronunciation of
words like “needle” and “sudden” as /nēdəl/ and /sǔdən/, rather
than treating them as having syllabic /l/ or /n/, which they clearly have phonetically: [ˈniɾl̩, ˈsʌdn̩]. 2-Jan.-2012
The ANAE does not use either the TDPS or the IPA, but instead uses a completely different transcription
system, described in ANAE chapter 2. This system is phonemic, like
the TDPS.[16] 31-Aug.-2015
No, the answer is not: “Five: a, e, i, o u.” Granted, in traditional English spelling those are
the vowel letters, yes, but I’m talking about our spoken language: How many
significant vowel sounds are there? Well, if you consult any popular American
English dictionary, and study the Pronunciation Key, there will be a long list
of vowels. In the Pronunciation Key to the American Heritage Dictionary, 19
different vowel symbols are listed (not counting the ones only used in foreign
words)! However, some of these are special vowels that only occur before the /r/ sound, which are “colored” by the /r/,
so these can be separated out as special cases. And one of these vowels, /ə/,
only occurs in weak syllables (completely unstressed syllables),
never in stressed syllables, so it also can be separated
out as a special case. This leaves us with 15 Ordinary Vowels that can occur in
stressed syllables. Very few North American English speakers have all of these
vowels: Many have 14 (lacking the /ä/ vowel), and many have only 13 (lacking both /ä/ and /ô/). Greater
New York City has 16 Ordinary Stressed Vowels, the 15 in the American Heritage
list plus one that is not usually listed in dictionary pronunciation guides,
found in the word “bad”, which it makes sense to spell /â/, since in this dialect it is
the same as the r-colored vowel that occurs before /r/
in words like “bearing”! This vowel also occurs in the Atlantic Midland
dialect. (I had initially spelled this vowel as /ăə/,
but there is no need to use additional symbols when this is not necessary.) 31-Aug.-2015
These 16 vowels are listed below in the second column, with
sample words shown in the first column. Those with a breve ˘ over
them, /ă,ĕ,ĭ,ŏ,ŭ,ŏŏ/,
are those vowels that historically were short vowels in English (and still are
in British English), while those with a macron ˉ
over them, /ā,ē,ī,ō,ōō/,
are those vowels that historically were long vowels in English (and still are
in British English). In American English these vowels are no longer
phonetically long or short, though the “short” ones tend to be phonetically lax, and the
“long” ones tense.
As a general rule the short/lax ones do not occur at the end of a word or
syllable, only before a consonant; this rule has no exceptions in British
English, though it does seem to have a few in American English. (The remaining
Ordinary Stressed Vowels /ä/, /â/ (in Greater New York City and Atlantic Midland), /ô/, /oi/, and /ou/ fit in
more with the long/tense group in terms of their pronunciation, history, and
distribution.) (See also the section How I Use the IPA
(and how I don’t) for more discussion about this.) 10-Nov.-2015
The remaining columns show what happens to vowels before
final r, showing the “R-colored” vowels used in most of North America, and
showing the Southern System in the final column, representing the system used
in much of the South, which does not have “R-colored” vowels.
(I have included the IPA equivalents
of these vowels in brackets [ ] as well. However, keep
in mind that the actual pronunciation of a given phonemic vowel
may vary greatly from region to region. For example, the /ŏ/ vowel is pronounced as [a], an open front unrounded vowel, in much of the Inland
North, but is pronounced as [ɔ], an open-mid back
rounded vowel, in England. A whole gamut of vowel sounds in between these two
occurs somewhere in North America: in much of Canada and in some other
“cot”=“caught” areas the pronunciation is [ɒ],
whereas most others use [ɑ] or [a]
or something in between. Many other vowels have similar variants. The most
distinctive Southern pronunciation is shown in a separate column. However, keep
in mind that I have not listed all possible variants for any region.) 3-July-2010
If anyone finds that any of the symbols in the chart do not
display properly on their web browsers, please let me know. Most of them are
standard Unicode characters.
On Android phones and tablets: up until Android version 4.3
in 2013, in the standard Android browser and in Chrome the symbols /ȯ/, one of the R-colored vowels below,
and uppercase /Ə/, used in the phonemic respelling section, did not display
correctly. And up until version 5 they still hadn’t fixed a few of the IPA
characters, like [ᵿ], which I use to show the
Southern pronunciation of the vowel in “boot”, nor had they fixed other font
problems, like for Ancient Greek, leaving me frustrated with my Android phone
for a long time! However, now in version 5 they finally seem to have fixed all
of these issues. However, if you have an older version of Android the solution
is simple: just use the Firefox browser, which displays these characters
properly in spite of Android. 31-Aug.-2015
Ordinary
Stressed Vowels
“R-colored”
Stressed Vowels
Final Wells (sample words)
phonemic
IPA
IPA
South ††
keepers
droppers
Southern System
beat bee fleece
feel
ē
[i]
[ɪi]
fear, pier,
peer, near
îr
[ɪɹ]
[ɪə]
intermediate
between /ē/
and /ĭ/
/ēər/ [ɪiə(ɹ)], rhymes with “skier”
bit kit fill
ĭ
[ɪ]
[iə]
1
bait bay face
fail
ā
[eɪ/e]
[ɛɪ]
fair, bear,
care, square,
pair, hair
âr
[eɹ]
[eə]
(British
[ɛə])
For most speakers
intermediate between
/ā/
and /ĕ/,
but [eə(ɹ)] in GNYC,
Atlantic Midland,
and E. New England
/ăr/ [æɹ/æə]: “hairy”=“Harry” /hărĭ/ [ˈhæɹɪ]
which rhyme with “marry” /mărĭ/ [ˈmæɹɪ],
but “merry” /mĕrĭ/ [ˈmeɹɪ]
and
“Mary” /mārĭ/ [ˈmɛɪɹɪ]
are different.
bet dress fell
ĕ
[ɛ]
[e]
bat trap had
ă
[æ]
┐
[æ(ɪə)]
bad man
â
[eə]
┘
(GNYC,
Atlantic
Midland)
1
ah palm father Bach’s
ä
[a/ɑə]
┐
(E. New England
[a], GNYC [ɑə])
far, farther,
heart, start
är
[aɹ/ɑɹ/ɒɹ]
[a/ɑ/ɑə]
Nearly everyone
has this![17]
/är/ [ɑɹ/ɑə(ɹ)/ɒɹ]
for many speakers,
/ôr/ [ɔə(ɹ)]
for others
cot lot bother box
doll,
yacht, watch
ŏ
[a/ɑ/ɒ/ɒəENE]
┤
[ɑ]
caught awe thought balks
paw fall, cough, talk
ô
[ɒ/ɔ/oə/ɒəENE]
┘
(Eastern U.S.
See map.)
[ɒʊ]
for, horse,
morning, north
ôr
**
[ɔɹ]
[ɒəENE]
See ANAE map 8.2
/är/ [ɑɹ/ɑə(ɹ)/ɒɹ]
for many speakers,
/ôr/ [ɔə(ɹ)]
for others
1
boat toe goat foal
ō
[o(ʊ)]
[əʊ]
four, hoarse,
mourning, force
ȯr
**
[oɹ]
[oə]
For most speakers,
intermediate between
/ô/ and
/ō/
/ôər/ [ɒʊə(ɹ)],
rhymes with “rawer”
/ȯr/ [oə(ɹ)]
in much of New Orleans
1
cut strut rush, love, rough
ŭ
[ʌ]
[ə]
fur, urge, nurse,
term, firm,
word, heard
ûr
[ɝ]
[ɝ/ɜ/ɜɪ]
Varies.
/ûr/ [ɝ] or /ŭr/ [ʌɹ]
or /ŏŏy/ [ɜɪ]
1
foot foot full, took, put, bush
ŏŏ *
[ʊ]
[ʏ]
poor, tour
cure, pure
ŏŏr
(yŏŏr)
†
[ʊɹ],
etc.
([jʊɹ])
[ʊə],
etc.
([jʊə])
Many lack this,
using /ōōər/, /ȯr/,
or /ûr/ instead
/ōōər/ [ᵿʉə(ɹ)],
“poor” often /pôər/ [ˈpʰɒʊə(ɹ)]
boot true goose fool, spook
through
ōō *
[u]
[ᵿʉ]
(cute) cue beauty
you
(yōō) †
[ju]
[ɪʊ]
1
bite by price
ī
[aɪ/ɑɪ]
[a/aɛ/aɪ]
bout now mouth
ou
[æʊ/aʊ/ɑʊ]
[æə]
Hoyt boy choice noise
oi
[ɔɪ]
[ɒʊɛ/ɔɛ]
Vowel
that Only Occurs in Weak (Completely Unstressed) Syllables
“R-colored”
Vowel that Only Occurs in Weak (Completely Unstressed)
Syllables
about,
item, civil, gallop, circus
ə
[ə]
[ə]
butter,
motor, solar
ər
[ɚ]
[ə]
Same
Other
Vowels that Can Occur in Weak (Completely Unstressed)
Syllables
permit
(noun), colic, impose
ĭ
[ɪ]
[ɪ]
funny,
linear
ē (ĭ) ºº
[i] ([ɪ])
[i/ɪ]
situate,
fruition, issue
ōō º
[u/ʊ]
[u/ʊ/əw/ə]
billowing,
pillow, potato
ō º
[o/ʊ]
[o/ʊ/əw/ə]
Black: The black
vowels are those which all Americans have as distinct vowels.
Red: The red vowels are those which many but not all
Americans have, as distinguished from the other vowels. I decided to make /ŏ/ the default vowel of the /ä/ŏ/ô/
group for all but Eastern New England, since for those who make the distinction
it is by far the most common. In other words, for those who say all three the
same, only /ŏ/
will be used in the phonemic spelling. However, in Eastern New England it makes
more sense to make the default vowel /ô/, because of the way it interacts with a following dropped
r; e.g. “wad” and “ward” are pronounced the same in Eastern New England, but
nowhere else in the world! They both come out [ˈwɒəd],
which phonemically would be /wôd/ or
perhaps /wô(r)d/. 17-Dec.-2015
Green: The green vowels are those which a small minority of Americans have, as
distinguished from the other vowels, in particular regions or dialects.
†† The
pronunciation given here shows the most distinctive Southern pronunciation,
specifically those areas which have experienced both Stage 2 and Stage 3 of the
Southern Shift, as shown on Map 18.6 in ANAE chapter 18. Stage 2 covers most of the South, whereas
Stage 3 only covers much of Alabama and parts of neighboring states. These
stages are independent of and cut across the boundary between Inland Southern and Lowland Southern. 8-July-2013
* These two
sounds are actually spelled as /
/
and /
/ instead of /ŏŏ/
and /ōō/ in the AHD and most other dictionary pronunciation systems, but
since there is not a practical way to display such a combination in Unicode,
I have followed the example of this web site (part of reference.com, though they do not now use the AHD
pronunciation system), and this Wikipedia page, which is one of the most complete
treatments of the system. (Technically there is a way to do // and //
in Unicode, as contributor Brian Ewins showed me[18],
but I have tried them in various browsers, and they will not display
consistently.) 11-Mar.-2016
† The /yōō/ sound is not a single sound, but is
simply /y/ followed by /ōō/.[19]
Thus, there really is no “long /ū/”
vowel. Similarly, /yŏŏr/ is simply /y/ followed by /ŏŏr/.
ºº This vowel is often pronounced as /ĭ/ [ɪ] by Southern Americans and Britishers. 8-Feb.-2013
º According to Merriam-Webster, these two vowels are actually pronounced
the same, and are more properly represented as a neutral weak diphthong /əw/. They may be right for many speakers, and
are probably right for me in many cases, but no other dictionary that I have
found agrees with them. They are probably right for most Southerners, and
possibly for most Britishers. 8-Feb.-2013
[ENE] Pronunciations marked
with this are only found in Eastern New England. 17-Dec.-2015
The answer to this one is a bit less complicated, but again
the answer is not based on the traditional English alphabet. Most English
speakers have 24. (The /hw/ [ʍ]
sound, which is usually spelled “wh” in
English, is really just a combination of /h/ followed
by /w/, and was originally
spelled this way in Old English. Most English speakers no longer have this
sound, though I and many other older speakers do in many parts of North
America, and in certain regions, particularly the South, nearly all speakers
do.) 8-July-2013
The AHD uses /th/, in
italics, for the voiced “th” sound, as in
“this” (which is different from the voiceless “th”
sound, as in “thin”), and for a long time I did the same on this page, but I am
now using /ŧħ/ for this sound, for several
reasons, one of which is that using a formatting feature like italics limits
the places this writing system can be used, and anyway I would prefer to keep
italics for their usual purpose. 31-Aug.-2015
Note that the letters c,
q, and x are not listed. This is because they are simply different ways of
spelling sounds already listed: /k/ or /s/, /kw/, and /ks/ or /gz/. I
show the comparison below:
The Stress Pattern of English,
and How it Messes with the Pronunciation
(8-Feb.-2013)
American English (and most other varieties of English) has three levels of stress on each syllable of a word, primary
stress, secondary stress, or no stress. Only one syllable in the word can have
primary stress, and this is the syllable that is pronounced with the greatest
intensity or loudness. The other syllables can have either secondary stress or
no stress. An example is the word “counterrevolutionary”, pronounced /kountərrĕvəlōōshənârē/ [ˌkʰaʊɾ̃ɚˌɹɛvəˈluʃəˌneɹi].
This word has 8 syllables, divided with hyphens as /koun-tər-rĕv-ə-lōō-shə-nâr-ē/ [ˌkʰaʊ-ɾ̃ɚ-ˌɹɛv-ə-ˈlu-ʃə-ˌneɹ-i].
It has one syllable with primary stress, /lōō/ [ˈlu], marked with bold and underline in the dictionary
spelling and with [ˈ] before it in the IPA. It has
three syllables with secondary stress, syllables 1, 3, and 7, marked with bold
in the dictionary spelling and with [ˌ] before them
in the IPA, and four with no stress, syllables 2, 4, 6, and 8. As is true with
many words in English, especially long ones, every other syllable is weak
(unstressed). 10-Aug.-2013
In stressed syllables (whether primary or secondary) all of
the Stressed Vowels in the chart above can occur, but in completely unstressed
syllables (weak syllables) in English a phenomenon called vowel weakening or neutralization occurs. As a result, most
of the vowels in these syllables are weakened or neutralized to the vowel /ə/, and
the rest of the vowels are weakened or neutralized to a very small group,
listed under “Other Vowels that Can Occur in Weak (Completely Unstressed)
Syllables” above. This vowel weakening is a characteristic of English in
particular (though it does occur in other languages as well), but it does not
occur at all in some languages, like Spanish, which makes it especially hard
for English speakers to speak good Spanish or vice versa, since they are each
always subconsciously trying to apply their own pattern to the other language. 22-Mar.-2013
We can see this weakening process in action in many groups
of words in English. For example, “melody”, “melodious”, and “melodic” are
spelled as if they should have the same vowel sounds, but in fact they do not,
being /mĕlədē/
[ˈmɛlədi], /məlōdēəs/ [məˈloʊdiəs], and /məlŏdĭk/ [məˈlɑdɪk]. The vowel in the second
syllable has three pronunciations, two stressed and one unstressed (weak), and
the vowel in the first syllable has two. Spanish has equivalents of these three
words, “melodía, melodioso, melódico”,
but unlike English, the vowels are pronounced exactly as they are spelled in
IPA, with no changes at all in the vowel quality, even though the stress falls
on a different syllable in each word.
22-Mar.-2013
So, just to see if you’ve got the idea, take the word
“supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”, invented for the Walt Disney movie Mary
Poppins. How many syllables does it have? Which syllables are completely
unstressed (weak)? Which syllable has the primary stress? The answers can be
found in the endnote.[20] 22-Mar.-2013
In the vowel section above, we saw
that there are a limited number of vowel sounds that can come before /r/ at the end of a word, or when the /r/
comes before another consonant, and that these are usually “colored” by the /r/, that is, they are changed so that they don’t really
match any of the ordinary vowels. (These vowels are also known as “r-controlled
vowels”.[21])
Some speakers have as few as 5 of these r-colored vowels in stressed syllables,
others have 6 or 7, and this variation is found in both North America and Great
Britain. 11-Mar.-2016
What about words like “hire” or “sour”? Aren’t these
additional vowels that can come before /r/? At first
glance it might seem so, but in fact, in most if not all English dialects,
these words actually rhyme with words like “higher” and “power”, meaning that
they are actually two-syllable words pronounced /hīər/ [ˈhaɪɚ] and /souər/ [ˈsaʊɚ], so no new vowel before /r/ occurs.
For r-droppers the /r/ itself is
usually dropped, but the vowel still remains unique, in most cases different
from the ordinary vowels.
Originally these r’s were not colored, but were just like
all the other vowels, and at least one dialect retains this old system, Scottish
English, which does not color these vowels at all, pronouncing them instead
very much the way they are spelled. This system can be seen at the bottom of
the table above. 11-Mar.-2016
Thus in Scotland “bird” has a vowel close to that of “beard”
for many Americans, whereas “beard” has the same vowel as “beet”! (I have shown
all of the /r/s in the Scottish pronunciation in the
preceding chart as [ɾ], an alveolar flap, though
the [ɹ] used in North America is also common in
Scotland.) 11-Mar.-2016
The following chart shows how this system works in a
selection of dialects, both in and outside of North America. Those items in dark red have a one-syllable r-colored vowel.
Those items in orange have a two-syllable
r-colored vowel sequence (these do not actually add any new distinct vowels to
the system). Those items in blue are not
r-colored in the indicated dialect, but are r-colored by many Americans. In
each column the number and nature of the one-syllable r-colored vowels is given
at the top of the column. As always on this page, if you know for sure that I
have the pronunciation of one of these words wrong, please let me know. 11-Mar.-2016
Okay, but what about r’s in the middle of words, with a
vowel on both sides? Are the vowels before the /r/
still limited to these few r-colored vowels in the dialects that color their r’s? Well, no, certainly not, we can have words
like “rerun”, “payroll”, and “prorate”. In other words, vowels that commonly
occur at the end of a word, especially the historically long vowels, can freely
occur before an /r/
in the middle of a word, when there is a clear syllable break before the r. 17-Dec.-2015
But what about the historically short vowels like /ă,ĕ,ĭ,ŏ,ŭ/?
Surprisingly, these do occur in many dialects, especially in Britain but also
in parts of eastern North America, but most Americans replace them with the
r-colored vowels. Thus, the word “marry” is pronounced /mărē/ [ˈmæɹi] by Britishers and by many speakers in the
Eastern U.S., From Maine to the South (and apparently also in Montreal), and
most of these speakers would pronounce the words “marry”, “merry”, and “Mary” with
three different vowels, but most Americans pronounce all three of these exactly
the same, as /mârē/
[ˈmeɹi]. This feature of allowing /ă,ĕ,ĭ,ŏ,ŭ/
to occur before /r/ in the middle of a word (but not
at the end) is one of the features that makes speakers from the east coast
sound different from other Americans, even in the case of radio and television
personalities who have otherwise modified their speech to General American. So
how many vowels can come before an r followed by another vowel? It varies hugely
from one dialect to the next! 17-Dec.-2015
The following chart shows a lot of these variations, though
there are certainly others. Those items in black are not r-colored in any
dialect. Those items in dark red have a
one-syllable r-colored vowel. Those items in orange
have a two-syllable r-colored vowel sequence (these do not actually add
any new distinct vowels to the system). Those items in blue
are not r-colored in the indicated dialect, but are r-colored by many
Americans. In each column the number and nature of the one-syllable r-colored
vowels is given at the top of the column. This does not count “tiring”, in
which the r-coloring is two syllables, not one. As always on this page, if you
know for sure that I have the pronunciation of one of these words wrong, please
let me know. 21-Aug.-2013
As you can see, the first three columns have an almost
identical system, differing only in a few minor details. The same is true of
the last two columns. Southern and Scottish stand entirely on their own, and in
fact have more similarities with each other than they have with any of the
others. 17-Dec.-2015
For some Southerners “four” may rhyme with “rawer”, in which
case “four” would be /fôər/ [ˈfɒʊɚ], and they would not actually have
the /ȯr/ [oɹ]
vowel (however, I need to test this further, since initial testing with some
Alabamians did not show this to be true).
In the phonemic texts below, the dialect provided is my own,
without any of the blue vowels in the table in R’s Between Vowels: To Color or Not to Color.
In the phonemic texts below, any vowels that would be one of these blue vowels
for one of the first two columns above (British or GNYC) is marked in dark red.
17-Dec.-2015
Click in the box below and try typing,
using either of the spelling systems explained above: 1-July-2013
(Move the pop-up
keyboard around if it gets in your way. You can also resize the box.) 11-Jan.-2013
Dictionary symbols:
*For those speakers who have this vowel {o} but not {aa},
in other words for those who rhyme “father” with “bother” (most North
Americans), at the end of a word this vowel must be spelled as {aa} instead of {o}. It should also be spelled {aa} before {h}.
Thus “aha” would be spelled {aahaa}
rather than {oho}, “ah” would be
spelled {aa} rather than {o}, and “la” would be spelled {laa} rather than {lo}. To be consistent we really should
spell them all as {aa} rather than {o}, but that would make for far too many
cases of {aa}, and this would really
end up looking different from our traditional spelling. Since {o} is far more common than {aa} in those dialects that have them both,
doing it this way will reduce difficulties for all concerned. 21-Aug.-2013
b
ch
d
f
g
h
j
k
l
m
n
ng
p
r
s
sh
t
th
ŧħ
v
w
y
z
zh
(hw)
Plain letters:
b
ch
d
f
g
h
j
k
l
m
n
ng
p
r
s
sh
t
thh
th
v
w
y
z
zh
(hw)
Traditional:
church,
nature
judge
sing,
singer,
finger
shush,
nation
thin,
bath
this,
bathe
pleasure,
vision,
genre,
rouge
(which,
whale)
You may notice in
the above phonemic writing samples that I write several very common words in more
than one way. I do this because I pronounce them more than one way, according
to some fairly clear rules, and so do most English speakers. All of these are
what linguists call function words rather than content words. 14-Jan.-2013
The simplest group
of these is shown in the chart below. The unstressed form always has the weak
vowel /ə/, whereas the stressed form can have various
vowels. This is not an exhaustive list, though such words are quite a small
group. 19-June-2013
A second group of
these words has a special pattern when unstressed (weak), depending on whether
the following word starts with a vowel or a consonant. In one case the
traditional spelling represents this pattern, that of “a” before a consonant,
and “an” before a vowel. But at least two
other words have a similar pattern, but because the standard spelling does not
represent it, we are usually unaware of it. These are listed in the following
chart. Examples of most are found in the sample above, or in the footnotes. The
following list is probably complete.
22-Mar.-2013
When I show the pronunciation of a place, I try to always
show how someone from that place would actually pronounce it. However,
occasionally even the natives can’t agree. For instance, many Chicagoans say /shĭkôgō/ [ʃɪˈkʰɒˌɡo] or even /shĭkôgə/
[ʃɪˈkʰɒɡə], but there
are also many who say /shĭkŏgō/ [ʃɪˈkʰaˌɡo],
and the latter group may be growing. (I had originally had the impression that
the former group was larger, but contributor and native Chicagoan Richard R.
says that they are about evenly matched. He says, ‘I suspect that this is a
North Side versus South Side and/or West Side thing, as my Cubs fan friends
tend to say “ah”, but my Sox fan friends (and Richard Daley) say “aw”. FWIW, I
grew up in the western suburbs saying “ah”.’) Keep in mind that all of these
speakers definitely have “cot”≠“caught”.
I have always called it /shĭkŏgō/ [ʃɪˈkʰɑˌɡoʊ],
with a couple of slight vowel differences, since I don’t have an Inland North
accent! 18-July-2013
I have noticed that many people who use the IPA to show the
pronunciation of place names on Wikipedia do several
things that I have chosen not to do.
For one thing, they often write both [ə]
and [ɨ] in showing the pronunciation of the weak
vowel /ə/ in American English. Now this is not
incorrect, since for me the word “sofa” /sōfə/ would
usually be phonetically [ˈsoʊfə], whereas
the word “broken” /brōkən/
would be phonetically [ˈbɹoʊkɨn].
However, it should be understood that this is a phonetic
difference, not a phonemic one, so that the difference is incidental rather
than significant. And in actual practice I find I have a lot of variation: for
instance, “sofa bed” /sōfə
bĕd/ would usually come out [ˈsoʊfɨˌbɛd],
and “sofas” /sōfəz/
could come out [ˈsoʊfəz] or [ˈsoʊfɨz] depending on how deliberately I am
speaking, or its position in the sentence. And I find that others have the same
problem: in the Appalachian Mountains article the pronunciation is given as
“/ˌæpəˈleɪʃɨn/
or /ˌæpəˈlætʃɨn/”; for
me the vowels shown as [ə] and [ɨ]
in these pronunciations are exactly the same for me, probably both [ɨ].
So for strictly practical purposes I am writing both [ə]
and [ɨ] as [ə]. 18-July-2013
Another thing I find people doing is using British phonetic
transcription to show the pronunciation of American place names. For instance,
in the Lafayette,
Indiana article the pronunciation is given as “/ˌlɑːfiːˈɛt/”.
Now, in British English there truly are phonetically long and short vowels:
“beat” is phonetically [ˈbiːt], where the vowel [iː] is
phonetically long, whereas “bit” is phonetically [ˈbɪt],
where the vowel [ɪ] is phonetically short. However,
in nearly all North American English dialects, this is not the case: both
“beat” [ˈbit] and “bit” [ˈbɪt] have
vowels which are phonetically the same length, in spite of the fact that the
first has what is traditionally called a “long e”, while the second has what is
traditionally called a “short i”. Scottish
English is like American English in this respect. And it turns out that the
“/ˌlɑːfiːˈɛt/” pronunciation given in the Wikipedia
article is wrong for both British and American English: in British it would
usually be [ˌlɑːfɪˈɛt]
or [ˌlɑːfiˈɛt], the [ɪ]
or [i] being short because it is unstressed (weak),
whereas in American English (at least in West
Lafayette, Indiana) it would be [ˌlɑfiˈɛt],
phonemically /lŏfēĕt/. 18-July-2013
Words in pink in the chart in the How Many Vowels are there in American
English? section above are
from John Wells’s Standard
Lexical Sets. Note that he has a sample word for each of the 15 Ordinary
Stressed Vowels and the 7 “R-colored” Stressed Vowels in the American Heritage
Dictionary’s list, but not for the more localized /â/ vowel found in “bad” in GNYC
and Atlantic Midland. I have included all of the words in John Wells’s list
except for the following two words, which we could call Skew Words, since they
have different vowels in different regions:
18-July-2013
This skewing of the /ŏ/ and /ô/ vowels between the British and
American systems is typically seen only before the consonant phonemes /f/, /th/, and /g/ ([f], [θ],
and [ɡ]), as can be seen in the chart of Other
Examples in The Cot-Caught Merger article,
comparing the blue items with those in the preceding column. 10-Aug.-2013
However, it seems to me that John Wells’s list above was not
well selected to show contrasts in a similar environment. Instead, I would draw
your attention to all of the words in blue below, all of which end in /t/, and most of which begin with /b/,
and also to the words in dark red, which
similarly show contrasts in other environments. Thus, my lexical sets would be
the following: 1-Oct.-2010
She did this after interviewing me on her program in March
of 2011, where I explained the need for more samples of this kind. To listen to
the interview, go to www.cbc.ca/spark/2011/03/spark-142-march-27-30-2011, then scroll
down till you see “YouTube Dialects Map”, or search for “YouTube Dialects Map”
or “Rick Aschmann”. The interview can be heard by clicking the link below the
paragraph.
If you grew up in one particular place in Canada or the
U.S., then I would very much like a sample from you. In particular, if you
lived in one town for most of your childhood, in particular between the ages of
5 and 15, and speak like people from that place, then you should be a great
sample. (That is, unless you tried to consciously change your accent after
that: I know a gal who moved from the South to the Midland before her senior
year of high school, and she was subjected to so much ridicule that she
completely changed her way of speaking.) And obviously, if you moved around a
lot throughout your childhood, then you won’t really work for my map.
You can do just a simple recording, like Nora did, as short
or as long as you like, just telling a bit about yourself and where you grew
up. Or, if you want to be quite thorough about it, or just don’t know what to
say, I have prepared a version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears (slightly expanded to
include certain key words) that you can read. This way if I need to check a
particular word to nail down the dialect of your hometown I will be able to. Either way, please be sure to say where you grew up,
and if only for part of your childhood, from what age to what age.
All of your clips sent in like this will be labeled
“(Self-recording for this site. Thanks!)” in
the table below, so that will make them easy to find. 30-Mar.-2011
Note to Canadians: Nora points out that Canadians are
currently underrepresented on the map. So, this is your chance to change that!
Send in your samples!
Here you can hear audio
samples of different local dialects. These are all found on the Internet:
As far as possible these have been restricted to people who
were raised in the location, and in many cases have lived there nearly all
their lives, and have presumably retained the local dialect, except where
indicated. (For most of these people, their birthplace and life history can be
found on en.wikipedia.org, or at the links provided.) Items
in pink are doubtful as to whether they
represent accurately the dialect indicated, or, in the case of the rejected samples at
the bottom of the chart, definitely do not represent their local dialect. 1-July-2010
DISCLAIMER: I do not necessarily agree with all of the
people speaking here: I have simply selected them as good examples of their
dialect! Nor does the fact that many of them are politicians indicate that
I particularly like politicians: The fact is that politicians tend to retain
their local dialect more than other public professions (actors, artists), to
maintain their identity with the locals. Also, they talk in public a lot, so
the data is readily available. Country singers and southern gospel singers also
tend to be reliable,[31]
and I like them better than politicians. Somewhat surprisingly to me, NASCAR
racers seem to be very reliable, also: even though they travel a lot for the
races, they tend to raise their families in their old home town, from
generation to generation, and don’t care in the least how they talk! 4-Aug.-2010
You may also notice that I prefer older people to younger
people. This is simply because there has been a lot more dialect mixing among
the younger generation than in previous generations.
As mentioned above, the pronunciation
of some of the names is given after the name. If anyone thinks I have the
pronunciation of a place wrong, please let me
know! 3-July-2010
Person(s)
Location
State or Province
Source
1
Unnamed woman, tornado survivor
Albertville
Alabama
YouTube video Extremely pure example of Inland Southern! 19-Mar.-2012
2
Bobby Edwards, country singer
Anniston
Alabama
YouTube video (Clearly Lowland, occasional “northern”
long /ī/
[aɪ] vowels)
16-Mar.-2010
3
White male, student, born 1988
Auburn
Alabama
IDEA audio (source) 8-Nov.-2013
4
Eric Bennett, southern gospel singer
Battleground
Alabama
YouTube video (clip at 1:16), YouTube
video, YouTube video, YouTube
video (more info). He is completely consistent when he speaks,
every single /ī/
vowel is [a], but occasionally he comes out with [aɪ] when he sings, though I only hear it on the last
clip. What an amazing bass voice! 16-Sep.-2014
5
U.S. representative Spencer Bachus
Birmingham
Alabama
YouTube video (Replaced bad link.) 31-Dec.-2011
6
Bobby Bowden, football coach
Birmingham
Alabama
7
U.S. senator Richard Shelby
Birmingham
Alabama
YouTube video 7-Nov.-2009
8
White male, student, born 1980
Brewton
Alabama
IDEA audio (source)
This speaker does not drop r’s, suggesting that the younger generation no
longer speaks Classical Southern. However, I visited Brewton in February of
2012, and spent quite a bit of time with an older gentleman who was born and
raised there, and who does speak Classical Southern, and talked briefly with
others who also do, making it clear that this is part of the Classical
Southern area with older r-droppers.
15-Sep.-2014
9
Governor Robert Bentley
Columbiana
Alabama
YouTube video 11-July-2011
10
Governor George Wallace
Clio
Alabama
YouTube video Classical Southern! 8-Dec.-2014
11
Charlie Hodge, Elvis associate
Decatur
Alabama
YouTube
video 30-Jan.-2010
12
William Bradford Huie, journalist & writer
Decatur (Hartselle)
Alabama
YouTube video (Older r-dropper retaining Classical Southern, although younger ones have
apparently completely lost it!) 12-Dec.-2011
13
Governor Jim Folsom, Sr.
Elba
Alabama
audio links 30-Jan.-2010
14
White male, student, born 1981
Elberta
Alabama
IDEA audio (source) 8-Nov.-2013
15
Chris Yeager, high school football coach
Fairview
Alabama
YouTube video (more info) Inland Southern.
4-Nov.-2015
16
Sam Phillips, record producer
Florence
Alabama
YouTube video 30-Jan.-2010
17
Ron Sparks, Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and
Industries
Fort Payne
Alabama
18
Randy Owen, country singer
Fort Payne
Alabama
YouTube video I could obviously have picked any of 100
other songs, but besides being a cool song this one clearly demonstrates his
Inland Southern, also heard in this interview: YouTube
video (His clip starts at 3:10.)
12-July-2011
19
Steve Grissom, NASCAR driver
Alabama
YouTube video (clip at 9:30) (more info) 19-Mar.-2012
20
Sonny James Loden, country singer
Alabama
YouTube video 7-Nov.-2009
21
City council meeting
Alabama
YouTube video All speakers clearly Inland North! 7-Nov.-2009
22
Charlie Louvin, country singer
Alabama
YouTube video 10-Mar.-2010
23
Jimmy Means, NASCAR driver
Huntsville
Alabama
YouTube
video Born and raised in Huntsville, and clearly speaks Inland
Southern, whereas Bud Cramer in the next sample was also born and raised
here, but speaks Lowland Southern. This suggests that the difference depends
on the Possible
Southern Class Distinction? (I had previously doubted if Jimmy Means
really was raised here, but I have seen various web sites that make it clear
that he was.) 4-Nov.-2015
24
U.S. representative Bud Cramer
Alabama
25
Butch Foster, salesman at the Carl Cannon auto dealership
Jasper
Alabama
YouTube video 19-Mar.-2012
26
Larry, salesman at the Carl Cannon auto dealership
Jasper
Alabama
YouTube video 19-Mar.-2012
27
White female, born and raised in Lanett
Lanett
Alabama
IDEA audio (source) 8-Nov.-2013
28
Eugene Walter, writer
Mobile
Alabama
YouTube video 7-Dec.-2009
29
Robert Lightfoot, Marshall Space Flight Center director
Montevallo
Alabama
YouTube video 10-Mar.-2010
30
Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom, Jr.
Montgomery
Alabama
31
Robby Franklin, tornado survivor
Odenville
Alabama
YouTube video Short, but clearly Inland. 19-Mar.-2012
32
Steve Patton, football coach
Oneonta
Alabama
33
Tammy Wynette, country singer
Redbay
Alabama
YouTube video (Replaced bad link, after contributor Ben
Moore advised me that it was bad. Thanks!) This is an early interview, and is
quite consistently Inland Southern, e.g. “pipe” at 2:28, “like” at 2:33 and
3:20. This interview is much later: YouTube
video, and is much more Lowland Southern. It is not too surprising that
she might adjust in later life, given that she grew up right on the border. Adj. 13-Sep.-2017
34
Charlie Louvin, country singer
Section
Alabama
35
Jay Barker, football player
Trussville
Alabama
36
William Christenberry, artist
Tuscaloosa
Alabama
YouTube video (Classical
Southern, occasional “northern” long /ī/ [aɪ]
vowels) 16-Mar.-2010
37
Jodie Farnetti, football coach’s daughter
West Blocton
Alabama
Info & video (more info) She is clearly Inland, and the second link
makes it clear that she was born and raised here. However, see the next two
clips for discussion of this unique place.
4-Nov.-2015
38
Various high school football players
West Blocton
Alabama
YouTube video All white speakers clearly speak Inland Southern,
though the blacks speak Lowland, as expected. (Coach Chris Yeager is
apparently not from here, but instead is from Fairview in Cullman County, see
his entry above.) See the next clip for a full discussion. 4-Nov.-2015
39
Various veterans and officials
West Blocton
Alabama
YouTube video Unlike the previous two clips, all of these
speakers, both white and (as expected) black speak Lowland Southern. So what
gives? Is there a social class difference among the whites? (See Possible
Southern Class Distinction.) I don’t see it: why would veterans be
higher class than football coaches and players? It doesn’t make sense.
However, it is clear that there are significant numbers of both Inland and
Lowland white speakers in this small town, with all of the blacks speaking
Lowland. Perhaps one part of the puzzle is that the town was settled well
after the Civil War as a coal-mining community (see Southern Areas Settled after the Civil War),
but this factor doesn’t help much either, since all of the other examples of
this speak only Lowland! It will have to remain a mystery for now. 4-Nov.-2015
40
Winton Blount, politician
Union Springs
Alabama
YouTube video 16-Mar.-2010
41
U.S. senator Mark Begich
Anchorage
Alaska
42
John Binkley, politician
Fairbanks
Alaska
43
Jake Metcalfe, politician
Juneau
Alaska
44
Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, V.P. candidate
Wasilla
Alaska
YouTube
video (Starts speech at 4:43.) (Replaced dead link.) Sarah Palin talks like she’s from (northern) Minnesota! The original
link, now dead, was sent in by Annie Wang (thanks!), but this search link
shows the vast amount of discussion on this subject. On another web site it says she talks like she’s from Fargo,
North Dakota (actually, like the people in the movie Fargo, actually filmed
in Minnesota)! In fact, it turns out that the area of Alaska around Wasilla
and Palmer is much more like the North Central dialect than it is like other
Alaska dialects. [32]
On
the web site above linguist James
Crippen describes this dialect as Mat-Su Valley English, after the Matanuska-Susitna
Valley where it is spoken. James Crippen has now kindly provided me with
information that allows me to set its borders fairly accurately. He says that
it probably extends no further west than Willow, no farther northeast than
Sutton, and is probably dying out in much of the area anyway, because of a
continued influx of people from other parts of Alaska.
So
why do they talk like this? Because this area was almost entirely settled
during the Great Depression by people from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan
as part of a federal project. Historical info can be found in this Wikipedia
article, and on this page sent in by contributor Susan Alexander. Thanks! 23-Apr.-2011
45
Wayne Salmans, realtor
Wasilla
Alaska
YouTube video Another good example of the original Mat-Su
Valley English. 4-Mar.-2011
46
Ralph Klein, provincial premier
Calgary
Alberta
YouTube video 11-Jan.-2011
47
Diane Sandbrand, contributor
Consort /kŏnsərt/ [ˈkʰɒnsɚt]
Alberta
YouTube video (Self-recording for this site. Thanks!)
(Clip originally posted here 30-Apr.-2011. Corrected spelling of last name
(sorry!) and added pronunciation of town 2015.)
29-Aug.-2015
48
Andy Devine, actor
Kingman
Arizona
YouTube video (Chubby guy with odd voice. Also plays
Friar Tuck on Disney’s Robin Hood.)
1-Sep.-2009
49
Carlos Nakai, Native American flutist
Flagstaff
Arizona
YouTube video 26-Sep.-2009
50
U.S. representative Ann Kirkpatrick
McNary
Arizona
YouTube video 1-Sep.-2009
51
Joan Ganz Cooney, Sesame Street creator
Phoenix
Arizona
YouTube video 31-Aug.-2009
52
Transportation Sec. Mary Peters
Phoenix
Arizona
YouTube video 31-Aug.-2009
53
Karen Womack Vold, rodeo trick rider
Phoenix
Arizona
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum interview
(Source suggested by archivist Laura Anne Heller. Thanks!) 30-Apr.-2011
54
U.S. senator Dennis DeConcini
Tucson
Arizona
YouTube video 31-Aug.-2009
55
Rex Allen, western actor
Willcox
Arizona
YouTube video 31-Aug.-2009
56
Ernest Tsosie, Navajo comedian
Window Rock
Arizona
YouTube video (more info)
26-Sep.-2009
57
Caroline Alfaro, massage student
Yuma
Arizona
YouTube video 23-Sep.-2010
58
Larry Ward, pastor and singer
Conway
Arkansas
I Bowed on My Knees and Cried Holy: YouTube
video, My Chains Are Gone: YouTube
video – (more info). 12-May-2015
59
Pamela Nacke, contributor
Damascus
Arkansas
Audio (Self-recording for this site. Thanks!) Pamela
clearly speaks Inland Southern (a more western variety), as expected, though
she seems to be most consistent in her long /ī/ [a]
vowels in the reading of the Goldilocks story.
23-July-2011
60
White male, born 1980
DeVall’s Bluff
Arkansas
IDEA audio
(source) 8-Nov.-2013
61
Johnny Cash, country singer
Dyess
Arkansas
YouTube video (Fixed wrong link.) This interview shows
Johnny with his native dialect, which is hard to catch, since in both his
songs and his interviews he often seems to suppress it. It is clearly
Lowland. This song probably shows it best, though even here it is not as
southern as the interview: YouTube
video. 1-May-2012
62
Bear Bryant, football coach
Fordyce
Arkansas
63
Tracy Lawrence, country singer
Foreman
Arkansas
YouTube video Thoroughly Inland except for the word
“lifer”, which he pronounces the Lowland way, not surprising considering how
close to the border he is! 16-Jan.-2012
64
State senator Kim Hendren
Gravette /grăvĭt/ [ˈɡɹævɪt]
Arkansas
YouTube video (Pronunciation found here.) 14-Jan.-2013
65
U.S. senator Blanche Lincoln
Helena
Arkansas
YouTube video 23-June-2010
66
U.S. president Bill Clinton
Hot Springs
Arkansas
YouTube
video 13-May-2009
67
Houston Nutt, college football coach[33]
Little Rock
Arkansas
68
Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys owner [33]
Little Rock
Arkansas
69
White female, born 1947, medical technician[34]
Little Rock
Arkansas
IDEA audio (source) 8-Nov.-2013
70
State representative Lane Jean
Magnolia
Arkansas
YouTube video 24-Sep.-2015
71
Ben Coulter, country singer
Montrose
Arkansas
YouTube video 24-Sep.-2015
72
White male, born 1982, student
Palestine
Arkansas
IDEA audio (source) 8-Nov.-2013
73
Levon Helm, singer and musician
Turkey Scratch
Arkansas
YouTube video 27-Nov.-2012
74
Ben Rutledge, Olympic rower
Cranbrook
British Columbia
75
Ian Tyson, singer-songwriter
Duncan
British Columbia
YouTube video 6-Sep.-2011
76
Jay Hill, M.P.
Fort St. John
British Columbia
YouTube video 6-Dec.-2010
77
Nilesh Patel /nĭlĕsh pətĕl/ [nɪˈlɛʃ pʰəˈtʰɛl],
filmmaker
Prince George
British Columbia
YouTube
video 24-Jan.-2011
78
Cam Clayton, student
Sechelt /sēshĕlt/ [ˈsiˌʃɛlt]
British Columbia
YouTube video (Oops, video seems to have been removed.)
(Self-recording for this site. Thanks!)
29-Aug.-2015
79
Michael Bublé /bōōblā/ [ˈbuˌbleɪ],
big band singer, actor
Vancouver
British Columbia
YouTube
video 24-Jan.-2011
80
Carey Price, pro hockey player
Anahim Lake
British Columbia
81
Lori McCreary, movie producer
Antioch
California
YouTube video 30-Apr.-2011
82
Caitlin Flanagan, author
Berkeley
California
YouTube video “On” rhymes with “Don”, not “Dawn”. 1-Nov.-2010
83
Alex Skolnick, guitarist
Berkeley
California
YouTube video “On” rhymes with “Don”, not “Dawn”. 1-Nov.-2010
84
37 year-old male, native Los Angelino, “half white and
half American Indian”. Surfer.
Canoga Park
California
IDEA audio (source)
(Sent in by M.M. Thanks!) 8-Nov.-2013
85
Dave Brubeck, jazz musician
Concord
California
YouTube video (His clip starts at 5:40.) (more info)
“On” rhymes with “Dawn”, not “Don”. 14-Mar.-2012
86
Lincoln Lageson, film and television producer
Crockett
California
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum interview
(Source suggested by archivist Laura Anne Heller. Thanks!) “cot”≠“caught”, but they are very
close, as might be expected on the very edge of the dialect area, and “on”
rhymes with “Dawn”, not “Don”, though you have to listen very close to be sure!
30-Apr.-2011
87
Don Hertzfeldt, short animated film maker
Fremont
California
YouTube video 23-June-2009
88
U.S. representative Jim Costa
Fresno
California
YouTube video 25-Sep.-2010
89
Chuck Poochigian, judge
Fresno
California
YouTube video 25-Sep.-2010
90
Jack Del Rio, pro football coach
Hayward
California
video “On” rhymes
with “Dawn”, not “Don”. 23-June-2009
91
Conor Chinn, pro soccer player
La Jolla /lə hoiə/ [lə ˈhɔɪə]
California
YouTube video 11-July-2011
92
David Strathairn, actor
Larkspur
California
YouTube video (more info) 15-Sep.-2014
93
Various
Livermore
California
94
U.S. representative Jack Kemp
Los Angeles
California
YouTube video (Clip starts at 1:39.) According to contributor
M.M., Kemp “would be labeled as standard American/neutral accent by
Californians themselves”. Contributor Shulamit
Widawsky also does not consider him a representative sample. Even so, he
clearly has “cot”=“caught”, and retains certain other distinctive California
features. 3-June-2011
95
John MacArthur, pastor
Los Angeles (various close suburbs)
California
YouTube video (Replaced bad link.) (more
info) 16-Jan.-2012
96
Kari Byron, Mythbusters
host
Los Gatos /lŏs gătəs/ [ˌlɒs ˈɡæɾəs][35]
California
97
Sarah Austin, alternative media
Mill Valley
California
YouTube video 23-June-2009
98
White female, twenties, born 1981, student. Dialect
typical of age group.
Mission Viejo
California
IDEA audio (source)
(Sent in by M.M. Thanks!) 8-Nov.-2013
99
Kenny Roberts, Sr., motorcycle racer
Modesto
California
YouTube video (more info) 25-Sep.-2010
100
Nick Lazzarini, dancer
Mountain View
California
YouTube video. 18-July-2013
101
Frank Chin, writer
Oakland
California
YouTube video “On” rhymes with “Dawn”, not “Don”.
“Cutting edge”: that is, peculiar and slightly crude. 2-3 minutes are enough! 23-June-2009
102
U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese
Oakland
California
YouTube video “On” rhymes with “Don”, not “Dawn”. 13-June-2009
103
“Crash Holly” (Mike Lockwood), “pro” wrestler
Pacifica
California
YouTube video 25-Sep.-2010
104
William Shockley, physicist & inventor
Palo Alto
California
YouTube video. 18-July-2013
105
Bill Martin, weatherman
Paradise
California
YouTube video (more
info) (Suggested by Noah Zimmerman. Thanks!)
10-Mar.-2011
106
Clint Eastwood, actor
Piedmont
California
YouTube video (Replaced clip.) “On” rhymes with “Don”,
not “Dawn”. 31-Dec.-2011
107
Ashley Parker Angel, pop singer
Redding
California
YouTube video 25-Oct.-2010
108
Jeff Sutherland, Jeff’s
Star Talk
Richmond
California
YouTube video “On” rhymes with “Dawn”, not “Don”. (more info, replaced bad link.) 10-May-2011
109
Lynn Anderson, country singer & equestrian
Sacramento (Fair Oaks)
California
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum interview
(Source suggested by archivist Laura Anne Heller. Thanks!) 22-Apr.-2011
110
Suzanne Somers, actress
San Bruno
California
YouTube video 25-Sep.-2010
111
Rex Walheim, astronaut
San Carlos
California
YouTube video 23-June-2009
112
Dana Carvey, comedian
San Carlos
California
YouTube video 23-June-2009
113
Cathy Scott, author
San Diego
California
YouTube video “pin”≠“pen”,
but “any”, “many”, etc. are pronounced “inny”. 26-Sep.-2009
114
Jolene Blalock, actress
San Diego
California
YouTube video “pin”≠“pen”.
Replaced bad link. 4-Mar.-2011
115
Jerry Brown, attorney general, etc.
San Francisco
California
YouTube
video “On” rhymes with “Dawn”, not “Don”.
116
Pat Brown, governor
San Francisco
California
YouTube
video “On” rhymes with “Dawn”, not “Don”.
117
U.S. senator Dianne Feinstein
San Francisco
California
YouTube
video “On” rhymes with “Dawn”, not “Don”.
118
Benjamin Bratt, actor
San Francisco
California
YouTube video “On” rhymes with “Don”, not “Dawn”. 28-Sep.-2009
119
Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder
San Francisco
California
YouTube
video (more
info) Oops! I seem to have been wrong about Steve Jobs! He lived in San
Francisco until he was five, and only then moved to Mountain View, but he
seems to have retained the cot/caught distinction from S.F., because it is
not actually found in the Mountain View area, as Nick Lazzarini and William
Shockley show. “On” rhymes with “Don”, not “Dawn”. 18-July-2013
120
U.S. Transp. Sec. Norman Mineta
San José
California
YouTube video 13-June-2009
121
Alicia Silverstone, actress
San Mateo
California
YouTube video “cot”≠“caught”,
“on” rhymes with “Don”, not “Dawn”, but not clear
when she moved from San Francisco!
25-Sep.-2010
122
Merv Griffin, television host
San Mateo
California
YouTube video “cot”≠“caught”,
“on” rhymes with “Don”, not “Dawn”.13-June-2009
123
Brad Lewis, movie producer
San Mateo
California
YouTube video, video Oops! Thought had “cot”=“caught”, but “cot”≠“caught”, “on” rhymes with “Don”,
not “Dawn”. 25-Sep.-2010
124
Heather Fargo, former mayor of Sacramento
Stockton
California
YouTube video 25-Oct.-2010
125
Ed Rollins, campaign consultant
Vallejo
California
YouTube video 23-June-2009
126
Eric Willett /wǐlĕt/ [wɪˈlɛt], snowboarder
Breckenridge
Colorado
YouTube video (more info) 21-Dec.-2010
127
Rich “Goose” Gossage, pitcher
Colorado Springs
Colorado
128
Ace Young, singer
Denver
Colorado
YouTube video 26-Sep.-2009
129
U.S. representative Tom Tancredo
Denver
Colorado
130
State representative Randy Fischer
Fort Collins
Colorado
YouTube video 26-Sep.-2009
131
U.S. representative Scott McInnis
Glenwood Springs
Colorado
YouTube video 26-Sep.-2009
132
Dalton Trumbo, film director
Grand Junction
Colorado
YouTube video 26-Sep.-2009
133
Rebecca Dussault, extreme athlete
Gunnison
Colorado
YouTube video 7-Dec.-2009
134
Colleen Piatt, grocery store owner
Hasty
Colorado
video & info
(Sent in by Kirk Sniff. Thanks!) She is definitely a native, according to
contributor Kirk Sniff. He is not sure about Ralph Hogue, and Ralph’s
pronunciation suggests that he might be from somewhere more south and east,
since he has more secondary features of Inland Southern, though not
technically Inland Southern based on his long /ī/ [a(ɪ)]
vowels. 21-Sep.-2011
135
State senator Kenneth Kester
Cañon City /kănyən sĭtē/ [ˈkʰænjən
ˈsɪɾi]
Colorado
YouTube video Oops! I had listed him as being from Lamar,
but this web site gives the straight scoop! 21-Sep.-2011
136
Scott Elarton, pro baseball player
Lamar
Colorado
YouTube video 11-Jan.-2011
137
Kory Sperry, pro football player
Pueblo /pwĕblō/ [ˈpʰwɛbloʊ]
Colorado
YouTube video 21-Sep.-2011
138
Drew Dix, Medal of Honor winner
Pueblo
Colorado
video & info
Oops! For some reason I had listed him as having “pin”≠“pen”, but in listening again I find that he has
“pin”=“pen”, just like the other samples from the Pueblo area! 21-Sep.-2011
139
State representative Wes McKinley
Walsh
Colorado
140
State representative Andrew Roraback
Goshen
Connecticut
YouTube video (more info)
(Sent in by Darren Farrington. Thanks!)
24-Jan.-2011
141
State representative Joe Courtney
Hartford
Connecticut
YouTube video (clip at 2:51)
3-Apr.-2010
142
Katharine Hepburn, actress
Hartford
Connecticut
Older r-dropper: YouTube
video Drops r’s beautifully, but clearly local, not Mid-Atlantic,
since she follows the Providence pattern, with “cart”=“cot”. 3-Apr.-2010
143
Ken Sullivan, Director of utilities
Jewett City
Connecticut
YouTube video Clearly drops r’s, though only partially.
3-Apr.-2010
144
Governor Ruth Ann Minner
Milford
Delaware
145
Kevin Mench, pro baseball player
Newark
Delaware
YouTube video 19-Feb.-2011
146
Barbara Delledonne, concerned citizen
Wilmington
Delaware
YouTube video (Sent in by Joseph DeSebasco. Thanks!) 14-Apr.-2011
147
State representative Nick Manolakos
Wilmington
Delaware
YouTube video (Sent in by Joseph DeSebasco. Thanks!) 14-Apr.-2011
148
City council member Kevin Kelley
Wilmington
Delaware
YouTube video (Sent in by Joseph DeSebasco. Thanks!) 14-Apr.-2011
149
U.S. senator John Warner
Washington
District of Columbia
YouTube
video (Older r-dropper retaining Classical
Southern, although younger ones have apparently completely lost it!) 15-Sep.-2014
150
Mayor John Land
Apopka
Florida
video & info
(Older speaker retaining Lowland Southern, although younger ones have
apparently completely lost it! He doesn’t speak Classical, since he doesn’t
drop r’s.) 15-Sep.-2014
151
Linda Williams, president, Desoto County Chamber of
Commerce
Arcadia
Florida
YouTube video (First clip starts at 0:32, but reappears
throughout.) (Older speaker retaining Lowland Southern. It is unclear how the
younger ones who grew up there speak, since most of the other speakers show
signs of being transplants! 8-Aug.-2014
152
Howard Melton, Arcadia historian
Arcadia
Florida
YouTube video (First clip starts at 1:01, but reappears
throughout.) (Older speaker retaining Lowland Southern. It is unclear how the
younger ones who grew up there speak, since most of the other speakers show
signs of being transplants! 8-Aug.-2014
153
Buck Showalter, pro baseball manager
Century
Florida
YouTube video (His first clip is 6:00-13:30.) 31-Aug.-2013
154
The Bellamy Brothers, country singers
Darby
Florida
YouTube video (Older speakers retaining Lowland Southern,
although younger ones may have completely lost it!) 23-Sep.-2015
155
Gregg Allman, rock singer
Daytona Beach
Florida
YouTube video 26-Aug.-2009
156
Bill France, Jr., NASCAR executive
Daytona Beach
Florida
YouTube video (His clip is at 1:38.) (Replaced dead
link.) 10-Feb.-2011
157
Jonathan Cohn, author & journalist
Fort Lauderdale
Florida
YouTube video 23-July-2009
158
Tom Petty, rock singer
Gainesville
Florida
YouTube video 26-Aug.-2009
159
Marty Raybon, country singer
Jacksonville
Florida
YouTube video 7-Nov.-2009
160
Donnie Van Zant, country singer
Jacksonville
Florida
YouTube video (more
info) 30-Jan.-2010
161
Lee Ann Womack, country singer
Jacksonville
Florida
YouTube video. 6-Sep.-2013
162
State rep. Leonard Bembry
Jasper
Florida
YouTube video 26-Aug.-2009
163
Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary
Lakeland
Florida
YouTube video This pulls the pin-pen line down very close
to Tampa, but Tampa is still clearly below it, as the samples show. 9-Sep.-2013
164
Danny Lipford, TV handyman
Marianna
Florida
YouTube video 5-July-2010
165
Michael Wynne, USAF Secretary
Melbourne
Florida
YouTube video 24-Oct.-2009
U.S. senator Bill Nelson [36]
Melbourne
Florida
YouTube
video 23-June-2010
166
Roy Sekoff, Internet journalist
Miami
Florida
YouTube video 23-July-2009
167
Judge Alex Ferrer, TV judge
Miami
Florida
YouTube video (His clip really starts at 1:45) 20-Mar.-2012
168
Ron Dermer, Israeli politician
Miami Beach
Florida
YouTube video 23-July-2009
169
Lauren Brooke, “pro” wrestling interviewer
Orlando
Florida
YouTube video 26-Aug.-2009
170
Wilma Burgess, country singer
Orlando
Florida
YouTube video 26-Aug.-2009
171
Clint Daniels, country singer
Panama City
Florida
YouTube video 26-Aug.-2009
172
David Eckstein, pro baseball player
Sanford
Florida
173
Emilie Richards, author
St. Petersburg
Florida
video & info 23-July-2009
174
Mayor Bill Foster
St. Petersburg
Florida
YouTube video, YouTube
video Tampa and St. Petersburg basically constitute one metropolitan
area, so it is surprising that in St. Pete “on” rhymes with “Don”, whereas in
Tampa “on” rhymes with “Dawn”. I just thought I would verify this by finding
more examples, and the new examples confirm it. 31-Aug.-2013
175
Lynne Koplitz, comedienne
Sarasota
Florida
YouTube video 23-July-2009
176
Will Kirby, TV doctor
Tallahassee
Florida
YouTube video 26-Aug.-2009
177
U.S. representative Kathy Castor
Tampa
Florida
YouTube video 23-July-2009
178
Mayor Pam Iorio
Tampa
Florida
YouTube video Tampa and St. Petersburg basically
constitute one metropolitan area, so it is surprising that in St. Pete “on”
rhymes with “Don”, whereas in Tampa “on” rhymes with “Dawn”. I just thought I
would verify this by finding more examples, and the new examples confirm it. 31-Aug.-2013
179
Kyle Minor, author
West Palm Beach
Florida
YouTube video 23-July-2009
180
Jerry Reed, country singer
Atlanta
Georgia
YouTube video (Replaced dead link.) (Older r-dropper
retaining Classical Southern, although most younger ones have apparently completely
lost it!) 5-Nov.-2015
181
Bobby Jones, early pro golfer
Atlanta
Georgia
YouTube video (Older r-dropper retaining Classical Southern, although most younger ones have apparently completely
lost it!) 5-Nov.-2015
182
Art Williams, billionaire
Cairo /kārō/ [ˈkʰeɪˌɹoʊ]
Georgia
YouTube video (Replaced bad link.) (Speech starts at
2:50) more info 9-Mar.-2012
183
Lari Goss, southern gospel singer
Cartersville
Georgia
YouTube video (more info)
31-Aug.-2013
184
Mallory Hope, country singer
Cohutta /kəhŭtə/ [kʰəˈhʌɾə]
Georgia
YouTube video Inland!
1-Nov.-2011
185
Zac Brown, country singer
Cumming
Georgia
YouTube video 23-July-2011
186
Bill Elliott, NASCAR driver
Dawsonville
Georgia
187
Josh & Dana Shields, southern gospel singers
Flintstone
Georgia
188
Clifton H. Johnson, historian
Griffin
Georgia
YouTube video (clip starts at 4:10) (more info) Classical Southern!
13-June-2015
189
Luke Bryan, country singer
Leesburg
Georgia
YouTube video 23-July-2011
190
The Marksmen Quartet, southern gospel singers
Murrayville
Georgia
YouTube video, audio & info In the first video the lead (second from
left) is Earle Wheeler, and he at least is definitely from Murrayville and
speaks Inland Southern. The group has changed a lot, though Earle is still in
it, though he is looking pretty elderly.
24-Sep.-2015
191
Lewis Grizzard, humor columnist
Newnan (Moreland)
Georgia
YouTube
video An excellent example of Classical Southern. 20-Mar.-2012
192
Col. Joe Jackson, Air Force pilot
Newnan
Georgia
YouTube
video His speech is rather variable; it tends to sound more
Classical Southern towards the end.
20-Mar.-2012
193
Alan Jackson, country singer
Newnan
Georgia
YouTube video He is clearly Lowland Southern, with no
apparent r-dropping in spite of being on the edge of the Classical Southern
region. YouTube
video In this song he sings consistent Lowland Southern, with no apparent
r-dropping. YouTube video In this song he mixes Inland and Lowland;
it seems to me that the only word he drops the r in is “southern”. 13-June-2015
194
U.S. president Jimmy Carter
Plains
Georgia
YouTube video Classical Southern! 23-Sep.-2015
195
U.S. First Lady Rosalynn Carter
Plains
Georgia
YouTube video Classical Southern! 23-Sep.-2015
196
Sonny Seiler, famous dog owner
Savannah
Georgia
YouTube video Classical Southern with special Savannah
features! 23-Sep.-2015
197
Cross Ties Band, bluegrass singers
Waco
Georgia
YouTube video, YouTube
video (more info) Clearly
Inland Southern. Not to be confused with the Virginia Cross Ties, who are
from Coeburn, Virginia. (I have yet to find a good clear video of them.) At
least one web site confuses the two, attaching “Virginia” to the Georgia
group: Video;
the Inland Southern is particularly noticeable in the introduction. New! 29-Sep.-2017
198
Hinton Mitchem, Alabama state senator
Watkinsville
Georgia
YouTube video (more info) 7-Dec.-2009
199
U.S. senator Mike Crapo
Idaho Falls
Idaho
200
Dale Harwood, saddle maker
Soda Springs
Idaho
YouTube video (more info) 30-Nov.-2010
201
State Sen. Gary Gorby
Anna
Illinois
YouTube video 22-July-2009
202
Buddy Ebsen, actor
Belleville
Illinois
YouTube video 31-Aug.-2009
203
Tommy Johnagin, comedian
Benton
Illinois
YouTube video 8-Jan.-2011
204
Bill Grammer, Country Singer
Benton
Illinois
YouTube video 8-Jan.-2011
205
Various residents
Brookport
Illinois
YouTube video (Sent in by Eli K. Thanks!) 16-Feb.-2010
206
Shawn Watson, football coach
Carbondale
Illinois
207
Alison Krauss, country singer
Champaign
Illinois
YouTube video 12-Nov.-2010
208
Richard M. Daley, mayor
Chicago /shĭkôgə/ [ʃɪˈkʰɒɡə]
or /shĭkôgō/
[ʃɪˈkʰɒˌɡo],
minority /shĭkŏgō/
[ʃɪˈkʰaˌɡo]
Illinois
YouTube video (See How I Use the
IPA for a discussion of the pronunciation of this city.) 10-Feb.-2011
209
George Gobel, comedian
Chicago
Illinois
YouTube video 1-Jan.-2010
210
Dick Van Dyke, actor
Danville
Illinois
YouTube video Replaced dead video link! 11-Jan.-2011
211
James Loewen, sociologist
Decatur
Illinois
YouTube video 12-Nov.-2010
212
U.S. president Ronald Reagan
Dixon
Illinois
YouTube video (more
info) 19-Oct.-2010
213
Jimmy Kite, NASCAR driver
Effingham
Illinois
YouTube video 11-Jan.-2011
214
Matt Hughes, mixed martial artist
Hillsboro
Illinois
YouTube video Role model: “I want my kids to look at me
and do as I do, say as I say.” 11-Jan.-2011
215
Jerry Barber, pro golfer
Jacksonville
Illinois
YouTube video :34-1:12
11-Jan.-2011
216
Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood
Peoria
Illinois
YouTube video 31-Aug.-2009
217
D. A. Weibring, golfer
Quincy
Illinois
218
John Spring, mayor of Quincy, IL
Rock Island
Illinois
MSNBC video, NPR audio (Sent in by Y.I. Thanks!) 24-June-2010
219
Mayor Timothy Davlin
Springfield
Illinois
YouTube video 9-Jan.-2010
220
Jack Benny, comedian & actor
Waukegan
Illinois
YouTube video 31-Aug.-2013
221
Bob Woodward, reporter & author
Wheaton
Illinois
video
& info (scroll down to video) 9-May-2011
222
Alan Baumler, author
Wheaton
Illinois
YouTube video (Speech starts at 2:25) (Sent in by Alan
Baumler. Thanks!) 16-Dec.-2011
223
Bill Gaither, southern gospel singer
Alexandria
Indiana
YouTube video (Replaced bad link.) 8-May-2013
224
Sharon McShurley, mayor of Muncie
Anderson
Indiana
YouTube video, YouTube
video (Second clip sent in by Brad King. Thanks!) Her secondary Southern features
are less obvious than those of Bill Gaither or Dennis Tyler, but they are
certainly there! 9-May-2013
225
Orville Redenbacher, popcorn producer
Brazil
Indiana
YouTube video (Kinda
short, but “pin”=“pen”!) 1-Mar.-2010
226
Max Starkey, believer
Bunker Hill
Indiana
YouTube video (His clip starts at 4:07). He sounds about
halfway between Crystal Gayle (Wabash) and the towns to the south. 8-Dec.-2014
227
Jamie Hyneman, Mythbuster
Columbus
Indiana
YouTube video 25-Sep.-2010
228
Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel
Evansville
Indiana
YouTube video 20-Jan.-2010
229
Mayor Tom Henry
Fort Wayne
Indiana
YouTube video 16-Feb.-2010
230
Larry Bird, pro basketball player
French Lick
Indiana
YouTube video Southern Indiana speaks Lowland Southern! I
had heard this for a long time, and have been looking for samples, and
finally found one. Believe it or not, Larry Bird’s nickname is “The hick from
French Lick”! 4-Sep.-2012
231
Gary Nabhan, ethnobotanist
Gary
Indiana
YouTube video 15-Dec.-2010
232
Don Williams, astronaut
Green Hill
Indiana
YouTube video (His clips: 17:55-19:15 and 20:15-21:38) This
seems to be the top left corner of the “pin”=“pen” area! 2-Feb.-2011
233
U.S. senator Richard Lugar
Indianapolis
Indiana
YouTube video 6-Feb.-2010
234
Dennis Tyler, mayor
Muncie
Indiana
YouTube video, YouTube
video, YouTube video, YouTube
video (Clips sent in by Brad King. Thanks!) (more
info) It is amazing how many secondary features of Southern this speaker
has, and how different he sounds from the Greenville, Ohio speaker. Bill
Gaither from Alexandria sounds almost exactly the same. 9-May-2013
235
State representative Jackie Walorski
South Bend
Indiana
YouTube video 11-Jan.-2011
236
Mayor Joe Yochum
Vincennes
Indiana
YouTube video 31-Aug.-2013
237
Crystal Gayle, country singer
Wabash
Indiana
YouTube video She definitely has “pin”=“pen”, which is unexpected,
being so close to Fort Wayne. A contributor from Wabash has written to me to
say that people there sound Southern, and he may be referring to “pin”=“pen”
and the fact that her long /ō/ [oʊ]
vowel is slightly more fronted than Fort Wayne. In any case, this pushes the
pin-pen line quite a bit farther north!
8-Dec.-2014
238
Ralph Braun, wheelchair accessible vehicle producer
Winamac
Indiana
YouTube video General American, rare in Indiana! 1-Jan.-2015
239
Brad Nelson, pro baseball player
Algona
Iowa
YouTube video 11-Mar.-2016
240
Sam Kooiker /kwākər/ [ˈkʰweɪkɚ],
mayor of Rapid City, South Dakota
Boyden
Iowa
YouTube video (His clip starts at 0:30.) (more info). 9-Mar.-2013
241
Dean Schwartz, ceramic artist
Cedar Rapids
Iowa
YouTube video Both his /ou/ [aʊ]
vowel and his /ō/
[oʊ] vowel are so far back that I initially thought
that Cedar Rapids was above the bite-bout line and above the pink dots, even
though the ANAE had put it below those lines, but on listening again I
realize that they are just barely below them!
21-Dec.-2010
242
Donna Reed, actress
Dennison
Iowa
YouTube video 24-Jan.-2011
243
Pamela Gorman, politician
Des Moines
Iowa
YouTube video 1-Nov.-2010
244
Dayton Duncan, producer
Indianola
Iowa
YouTube video 1-Nov.-2010
245
Dr. William Lane Craig, theologian
Keokuk
Iowa
246
B. J. Hermsen
Masonville
Iowa
YouTube video 11-Mar.-2016
247
Phil Vischer, co-creator of VeggieTales
Muscatine /mǔskətēn/
[ˌmʌskəˈtʰin]
Iowa
YouTube video 21-Dec.-2010
248
Mike Johanns, Nebraska governor
Osage
Iowa
YouTube video 28-Oct.-2011
249
Mayor Dale Uehling
Ottumwa /ətǔmwə/ [əˈtʰʌmwə]
Iowa
video & info
(Sent in by Kevin McMillin. Thanks!)
2-Feb.-2011
250
Carol Morris, Miss Universe 1956
Ottumwa
Iowa
251
Everly Brothers, rock singers
Shenandoah
Iowa
YouTube video When these guys sing, they use a clear
Inland Southern accent (e.g. YouTube
video), but when they speak, as in the interview above, it’s clearly
Iowa. The one southernism they have is that “pin”=“pen”, but this is also
from this part of Iowa, as seen by the following sample. 12-July-2011
252
Charlie Haden, musician
Shenandoah
Iowa
YouTube video.
12-July-2011
253
U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower
Abilene
Kansas
YouTube video I found this better clip of him, and
realized that he has “cot”≠“caught”!
His brother (below) does too. Even so, I would like to find other samples
from Abilene to confirm this, since it makes the lines twist quite a lot! 18-Nov.-2011
254
Milton Eisenhower, university president, War Relocation Authority director
Abilene
Kansas
YouTube video.
18-Nov.-2011
255
Mark Schultz, contemporary Christian singer/songwriter
Colby
Kansas
YouTube video 6-Jan.-2012
256
Archbishop Charles Chaput /shəpōō/ [ʃəˈpʰu]
Concordia
Kansas
YouTube video I had not listened as clearly as I should
have, and thought that “cot”=“caught”, but it does not, thereby providing a
bridge to Hays and Plainville! 18-Sep.-2010
257
David A. R. White, actor, producer
Dodge City
Kansas
YouTube video (Replaced bad link.) 6-Jan.-2012
258
Chuck Reed, mayor of San Jose, CA
Garden City
Kansas
259
Victor Ortiz, boxer
Garden City
Kansas
260
John L. Allen, Jr., Journalist
Hays
Kansas
YouTube video 18-Sep.-2010
261
Various locals
Hugoton /hyōōgətən/? [ˈhjuɡətən]?
Kansas
YouTube video (Sent in by Eli K. Thanks!) 3-Dec.-2009
262
Billy Drago, actor
Hugoton
Kansas
YouTube video 3-Dec.-2009
263
Scott Heim, novelist
Hutchinson
Kansas
264
Ed Asner, actor
Kansas City
Kansas
265
Wantha Davis, jockey
Liberal
Kansas
YouTube video (Her clip starts at 3:40) (more info) She’s back! For a long time this web
site was offline, and the video was unavailable, but both are now available again!
This is very good, because she is one of only two samples for Liberal, which
is the only clear case of Inland Southern in Kansas. 27-Oct.-2011
266
Kasey Hayes, bull rider
Liberal
Kansas
YouTube video Slightly inconsistent on his long /ī/ [a(ɪ)] vowels, but clearly Inland South. (Sent in by
Eli K. Thanks!) 24-Jan.-2011
267
Caucasian male
Oskaloosa
Kansas
IDEA audio
(source) 8-Nov.-2013
268
Darren Bousman, film director
Overland Park
Kansas
269
U.S. representative Jerry Moran
Plainville
Kansas
YouTube video 18-Sep.-2010
270
Marlin Fitzwater, former White House press sec.
Salina
Kansas
271
Mitch Holthus, football announcer
Smith Center
Kansas
YouTube video I replaced the video I had with this one
which is much better, and realized that “cot”≠“caught”
for him. This opens up the narrow bridge to Hays and Plainville, which makes
more sense. 15-Nov.-2011
272
Martina McBride, country singer
Sharon
Kansas
YouTube video Replaced bad link. 31-May-2011
273
Andy McKee, guitarist
Topeka
Kansas
274
U.S. senator Pat Roberts
Topeka
Kansas
YouTube video 6-Jan.-2012
275
Jason Crabb, southern gospel singer
Beaver Dam
Kentucky
YouTube video 11-July-2009
276
Jimmy Wolford, singer songwriter, descendant of the feudin’
McCoys
Belfry
Kentucky
YouTube video (First clip starts at 1:00, but reappears
throughout.) 30-Apr.-2010
277
County schools personnel
Benton
Kentucky
YouTube video (Sent in by Eli K. Thanks!) Oops! This
video has been removed. In any case, I now suspect that Benton is very much a
mixed area (which should not be surprising seeing the complexity of the map
in that area), since I had a conversation with a native, and she definitely
spoke Lowland Southern. 27-Oct.-2011
278
Jason Lambert, web entrepreneur
Bowling Green (Scottsville)
Kentucky
YouTube video (more info)
11-July-2009
279
David Williams, Kentucky Senate president
Burkesville
Kentucky
YouTube video 11-July-2009
280
Loretta Lynn, country singer
Butcher Holler (officially Hollow)
Kentucky
YouTube video, YouTube
video, I have finally decided that for Loretta, “cot”≠“caught”. The problem is that she is inconsistent: In
both an early
and a recent version
of “Coal Miner’s Daughter”, she always says /dŏtər/ [ˈdɑɾɚ], using exactly the same vowel sound
as in “lot” later on in the song, never /dôtər/ [ˈdɒʊɾɚ], the
typical Southern pronunciation. This was what made me think that she had
“cot”=“caught”, along with the fact that she grew up very close to the
“cot”=“caught” area. However, even in this song she uses /ô/ [ɒʊ]
in the word “all”, but /ŏ/ [ɑ] in the word “holler”, both before /l/, so she clearly has the phoneme contrast. Similarly,
in this early version of “You Ain’t Woman Enough
(To Take My Man)”, the word “ought” is clearly /ŏt/ [ˈɑt], not /ôt/ [ˈɒʊt],
but in the same song there are clear cases of /ô/ [ɒʊ]
in “’cause” and “caught”. 26-July-2012
281
Gatewood Galbraith, politician
Carlisle
Kentucky
YouTube video (more info) 22-Aug.-2009
282
A whole slew of people at a political rally
Columbus
Kentucky
dead link: YouTube
video (Sent in by Eli K. Thanks!) (Oops, this video has now been removed!
Anyone have another one from Columbus?) Hard to evaluate, but several who say
they are definitely locals are clearly Inland Southern, including the guy
from between Bardwell and Berkley, the lady standing with her husband, and
the man with his wife and two babies.
25-Nov.-2009
283
John Michael Montgomery, country singer
Danville
Kentucky
YouTube
video, YouTube video 13-May-2009
284
Billy Ray Cyrus, country singer
Flatwoods
Kentucky
YouTube video This is a key sample: Clearly Lowland,
though occasional words sound Inland. “cot”≠“caught”.
(more info) 30-May-2011
285
Brice Long, country singer
Hopkinsville
Kentucky
YouTube video 20-Jan.-2010
286
Gerald Crabb, southern gospel singer
Horse Branch
Kentucky
YouTube video (more
info) The pattern of Inland and Lowland Southern in Kentucky is so
peculiar, and seems to be getting more so! 25-Apr.-2013
287
Ernie Brown Jr., turtle man
Lebanon
Kentucky
YouTube video (Sent in by Eli K. Thanks!) 16-Feb.-2010
288
“Lardo Moron”,
bluegrass artist
Lexington (Loradale)
Kentucky
YouTube video (Sent in by Eli K. Thanks!) Lowland Southern,
but with occasional lapses into Inland on a few words, like “right”. Compare
these with the Little Rock samples.
26-Nov.-2009
289
“Burley Moron”,
bluegrass artist
Lexington (Nicholasville)
Kentucky
YouTube video (Sent in by Eli K. Thanks!) Like the
previous, but with a few more Inland lapses, which we would expect, since
he’s from slightly closer to the dialect line.
26-Nov.-2009
290
Brian Littrell, pop singer
Lexington
Kentucky
YouTube video 22-Aug.-2009
291
Silas House, author
Lily
Kentucky
video & info (Sent in by Amanda
Warren. Thanks!) 9-May-2011
292
U.S. senator Mitch McConnell
Louisville
Kentucky
293
white male, born 1933, retired farmer
Marion
Kentucky
IDEA audio
(source) 8-Nov.-2013
294
Kevin Skinner, America’s Got Talent winner
Mayfield
Kentucky
YouTube video (Sent in by Eli K. Thanks!) 26-Nov.-2009
295
Heather French Henry, Miss America 2000
Maysville
Kentucky
YouTube video 7-Dec.-2009
296
Tim Farmer, TV outdoorsman
Maysville
Kentucky
YouTube video “cot”≠“caught”,
personally confirmed by Tim, thanks! I had thought he sounded more like
“cot”=“caught”. (more info) 30-May-2011
297
Kevin Denney, country singer
Monticello
Kentucky
YouTube
video 1-June-2009
298
Dottie Rambo, southern gospel singer
Morganfield
Kentucky
YouTube video 11-July-2009
299
W. Earl Brown, actor, singer
Murray
Kentucky
YouTube video (No need to listen to all of it!) 11-July-2009
300
Darrell Waltrip, NASCAR driver
Owensboro
Kentucky
YouTube video 12-June-2010
301
U.S. senator Wendell Ford
Owensboro
Kentucky
YouTube video (more info) 11-July-2009
302
Bobby Green, NASCAR driver
Owensboro
Kentucky
YouTube video (clip starts at 3:30) 31-Dec.-2011
303
U.S. senator and former governor Julian Carroll
Paducah
Kentucky
304
Dr. Herbert Anderson, M.D.
Paducah
Kentucky
audio link & info 9-May-2009
305
Ron Hagan, flood fighter
Paducah
Kentucky
YouTube video (His clip starts at 1:18.) (Sent in by Eli
K. Thanks!) 11-Jan.-2011
306
Patty Loveless, country singer
Pikeville
Kentucky
YouTube video 20-Jan.-2010
307
Joe Isaacs, bluegrass musician
Pikeville (Big Hill)
Kentucky
YouTube video (more info) 9-Sep.-2010
308
Merle Travis, country singer
Rosewood
Kentucky
YouTube video 18-Oct.-2010
309
Bill Monroe, Bluegrass singer
Rosine
Kentucky
YouTube video 6-Feb.-2010
310
Adam Crowe, web entrepreneur
Russellville
Kentucky
YouTube video (more info)
11-July-2009
311
Tim Elkins, dairy producer
Smiths Grove
Kentucky
YouTube video 18-Dec.-2010
312
Heidi Douglas Greer, bluegrass gospel singer
Stearns
Kentucky
YouTube video (more info) New! 13-Sep.-2017
313
Joseph Boudreaux, alligator hunter
Abbeville
Louisiana
YouTube video Cajun English!
23-June-2010
314
Anne Patout, long-time resident of Jeanerette
Alexandria
Louisiana
YouTube video (Sent in by Janet Schexnayder. Thanks!)
Janet said, “My mother just told me that Ann Patout was born Ann Bolner, and
her family was from the Alexandria, Louisiana, area, so her speech would not
be typical of Jeanerette or New Iberia. Alexandria is not a Cajun area and
was settled by Scots Irish and other English-speaking descendants from
Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi, etc.” Based on this, and the fact that
she is quite distinct from the Jeanerette clip below, I am listing her for
Alexandria, even though I’m not sure where she was born or lived her early
years. She is clearly an older speaker who speaks Classical, as is the clip
from Marksville below, which moves the Classical line north. Young people in
Alexandria, including my son-in-law, do not drop r’s. New! 2-May-2018
315
Larry Bankston, attorney
Baton Rouge
Louisiana
YouTube video Standard Lowland Southern. Can find no
evidence of Classical Southern (r dropping) in Baton Rouge. New! 2-May-2018
316
Lifelong resident, shrimper
Belle Chasse
Louisiana
YouTube video Clearly Cajun English, showing that the New
Orleans dialects are pretty much limited to the city itself or to St. Bernard
Parish! Adj. 2-May-2018
317
James Carville, political commentator
Carville
Louisiana
YouTube video (Oops, I had accidentally put the wrong
clip in here, one of Jimmy Martin from Tennessee, as contributors Marc
Sketchler, Daniel Veals, and Janet Schexnayder pointed out to me. Thanks! I
know I had a great clip from James Carville, but I have no record of what it
was. No sweat, he’s a political commentator, there’s a million more out
there. I just had to pick another one!)
The
town was named after his grandfather. Excellent example of Cajun English,
though not quite as strong as some of the others.
Adj. 13-Sep.-2017
318
Jerry Lee Lewis, Rock singer
Ferriday
Louisiana
YouTube video 30-Jan.-2010
319
Narrator, name not given
Galliano
Louisiana
YouTube video (Sent in by Marc Sketchler. Thanks!)
According to Marc Sketchler, this is a good sample from this area. However, I
notice that he is a bit inconsistent: he doesn’t always drop his r’s or have
the Southern pronunciation of the long /ī/ [a(ɪ)]
vowel. But clearly Cajun! New! 13-Sep.-2017
320
Mayor David Camardelle
Grand Isle
Louisiana
YouTube video 12-June-2010
321
Janet Schexnayder’s father
Jeanerette /jĭnrĕt/ [ˈdʒɪnˌɹɛt]
Adj. 2-May-2018
Louisiana
YouTube video (Sent in by Janet Schexnayder. Thanks!)
There are three speakers on this clip, Janet, her father, and the guy who
says “holy crap” near the end. The only one of interest is Janet’s father,
who is first heard at 0:10, though his best clip is toward the end. He is
clearly Cajun. Adj. 2-May-2018
322
Lynne Spears, mother of Britney Spears
Kentwood
Louisiana
YouTube video 9-Jan.-2010
323
Lenis Guillot /lĭnĭs gēŏt/
[ˈlɪnɪs ˈɡiˌɑt],
witness
Lafayette /lăfēĕt/
[ˌlæfiˈɛt]
Louisiana
YouTube video Cajun English!
14-Feb.-2011
324
Charles Addison Riddle III, state representative, parish
district attorney
Marksville
Louisiana
YouTube video Classical, not Cajun. New! 2-May-2018
325
Deborah Chauvin, profession unknown
Louisiana
I have arranged this and the following New Orleans speakers
in a graduated sequence ranging from almost pure Greater New York City to
pure Lowland Southern. No two of them are at exactly the same point in the
sequence! Originally I had listed the ones I am now calling “Peripheral New
Orleans” as “Classical Southern”, but I realized that they had some
distinctive New Orleans features, and needed to have their own category. The
dialect names are simply my tentative divisions of New Orleans based on these
samples:
New Orleans Downtown dialect: YouTube
video (Her clip is at the beginning of this video.) Not Southern at all,
as shown by her pronunciation of “ninth” and “Bywater”, and sounds very much
like Greater New York City, though impossible to tell in this short clip
whether “had” rhymes with “bad” (though the Mehrvigne
sample below suggests that it does), whether “father” rhymes with “bother”
(though the other New Orleans samples make it almost certain that this is not
true), or whether “pin”=“pen” (though the other Central New Orleans samples
make it almost certain that that this is not true, as shown on the map).
However, clearly “on” rhymes with “Dawn”, which is not like GNYC. 11-Mar.-2016
326
“dem two beautiful
girls” (self-description)
New Orleans (Irish Channel)
Louisiana
New Orleans Irish Channel dialect: YouTube
video (Their clip starts at 5:25, and finishes the video.) They sound
very much like Greater New York City, hardly Southern at all, but they are
Lowland Southern as far as their long /ī/ [a(ɪ)]
is concerned. Clearly “pin”≠“pen”!
Favorite quotes: “When I want to talk proper, I will”, “Look at dem two beautiful girls, if dey’d shut deir mouts dey’d be great”. 17-Dec.-2015
327
New Orleans (Arabi /ărəbē/ [ˈæɹəbi])
Louisiana
St. Bernard Parish dialect: YouTube
video (Sent in by Todd Meredith. Thanks!), YouTube
video She also sounds very much like Greater New York City, hardly
Southern at all, but is Lowland Southern as far as her long /ī/ [a(ɪ)] is concerned. Clearly “pin”≠“pen”! However, in fact there are quite a few other
differences from New York City, which match many other Southern dialects.
For
example, unlike New York City, but like many other Southerners, she clearly
has the card-cord
merger, thus the contrast between /ä(r)/
and /ô(r)/ has disappeared, both
being pronounced [ɔə]! However, because she
is also a strong r-dropper, this leads to some
unusual losses of contrast: for her “cart”=“caught” and “park” rhymes with
“hawk” and “walk”. Mehrvigne confirmed
all this for me (see the texting below the clip), and gave the sample
sentence, “Ah cawt the cawt as it was rollin
dow’na pawk sidewawk.” (“I caught the cart as it was rolling down the
park sidewalk.”) However, she just as clearly does not have the horse-hoarse merger,
which we would expect from someone with the card-cord merger: in the first
clip at 5:36 she says “story” as [ˈstoəɹi]
(/stȯrē/),
but at 5:42 she says “for ’im” as [ˈfɔəɹɪm]
(/fôrĭm/),
and in the second clip at 2:45 she clearly says, “Let’s start [ˈstɔət] again, let’s be more [ˈmoə] careful.” This
also matches all of the other New Orleans samples.
She
also texted me: “Bad, had, lad, mad: They all have the same a vowel sound,”
which shows that in this also New Orleans is not like GNYC!
One
way in which the St. Bernard Parish dialect is unlike all of the other
New Orleans dialects is that it has the Tidewater raising, as pointed out by
contributor Todd Meredith! This is unexpected, since the only other place
this is found in the United States is on the eastern seaboard. It is also
unexpected that it would only apply to the St. Bernard Parish dialect
and not to any other New Orleans dialect. Ah, well, this project never ceases
to surprise!
As stated
in the r-dropping discussion, the r-dropping
areas in the South are all mainly simple r-droppers, not systematic
r-droppers. However, she shows some tendency to retain final r’s before a
vowel, though not enough to make her systematic.
11-Mar.-2016
328
Brittany George, college student
New Orleans (Chalmette /shălmĕt/ [ˌʃælˈmɛt])
Louisiana
St. Bernard Parish dialect: YouTube
video Essentially the same as the previous, though perhaps not as
consistent, in that she pronounces more r’s than a consistent r-dropper
would. Clearly also has Tidewater raising like the previous. 11-Mar.-2016
329
New Orleans (French Quarter)
Louisiana
New Orleans Mid City dialect: YouTube
video, YouTube video.
11-Mar.-2016
330
Mayor Mitch Landrieu
New Orleans (Broadmoor)
Louisiana
New Orleans Mid City dialect: YouTube
video, YouTube video Clearly Lowland Southern, but with many
GNYC features, “pin”≠“pen”, and
he pronounces “father” as [ˈfɒəðə],
but pronounces “Thompson” as [ˈtʰɑmpsən],
again just like GNYC! Thus he evidently has the father-bother
distinction, as do some other New Orleans samples, and it is likely that
all of the others do also. He also has [ɜɪ] instead of [ɝ] in “anniversary”
(1:23) and some other words, which is both a GNYC and a Southern feature). 11-Mar.-2016
331
Billy Delle, radio host
New Orleans (Gentilly)
Louisiana
Peripheral New Orleans dialect: YouTube
video He is the narrator. (He kindly let me know that he grew up in
Gentilly. Thanks!) (Clips: 0:58-1:15, 4:12-4:35, 5:46-5:56) Clearly a part of
Classical Southern as a general category,
with “pin”=“pen”, but /ô/ = [oə], like GNYC, and with
more other GNYC features than Harry Connick. (End credits: YouTube
video, his clip is at 0:43.) (more
info) 17-Dec.-2015
332
Harry Connick, Jr., jazz composer & singer
New Orleans (Lakewood)
Louisiana
Peripheral New Orleans dialect: YouTube
video (Replaced bad link.) (He speaks first at 1:52) Clearly a part of Classical Southern as a general category, with
“pin”=“pen”, but /ô/
= [oə], like GNYC. However, he does not drop all
of his r’s that do not precede vowels.
One
anonymous contributor from New Orleans said, “I would say that Harry Connick
Jr. sounds more like New Orleans black than New Orleans white (probably from
hanging around all those jazz musicians growing up!), so you really should
not use him as a representative of the white New Orleans accents.” I would
say this is certainly true, but only partly: he still has lots in common with
the other white speakers listed here.
17-Dec.-2015
333
Roger Villere, Republican Party State Chairman
New Orleans (Metairie /mĕtərē/ [ˈmɛɾɚi])
Louisiana
Peripheral New Orleans dialect: YouTube
video Essentially the same as Harry Connick. (Sent in by Ben
Trawick-Smith. Thanks!) 17-Dec.-2015
334
Older gentleman, upper class
New Orleans (Garden District)
Louisiana
Classical Southern dialect: YouTube
video (His clip starts at 1:40 and again at 2:35.) Older r-dropper:
Clearly the most classic of Classical Southern,
“pin”=“pen”, with no GNYC features at all (except for [ɜɪ] instead of [ɝ] in
some words, which is also a Southern feature); /ô/ = [ɒʊ],
like most southerners. My favorite quote: “I just don’t think people from the
Garden District have any accent.” 17-Dec.-2015
335
Man sitting on park bench, described by the transcript
as an “Upper-class man”
New Orleans (Uptown, possibly Audubon Blvd.)
Louisiana
Classical Southern dialect: YouTube
video (His clip starts at 1:57.) Much younger than the previous speaker,
and so lacks the [ɜɪ] instead of [ɝ]
feature, but clearly Classical Southern,
though he seems to try to suppress this occasionally, pronouncing a few final
r’s and pronouncing a few of his long /ī/ vowels that would be
expected to be [a] as [aɪ].
He has no GNYC features at all; /ô/ = [ɒʊ], like most southerners.
His analysis of New Orleans is very helpful. Contributor Charles Meeks says,
“The guy sitting on the bench in the park is Uptown
for sure. Hard to pin point the exact park, but I suspect it’s Audubon Blvd.”, though this does not
mean that that is necessarily his home neighborhood, so I have made this only
a tentative identification, with a pink dot, though I am treating the Uptown
identification as definite. 17-Dec.-2015
336
Jimmie Davis, country singer & governor
Quitman
Louisiana
YouTube video 23-July-2011
337
Brooks Blanche, agriculturalist
Saint Joseph
Louisiana
YouTube video (Sent in by Brooks Blanche. Thanks!) 17-Apr.-2013
338
Kix Brooks, country singer
Shreveport
Louisiana
YouTube video 31-May-2011
339
Tim McGraw, country singer
Start
Louisiana
YouTube video 8-Dec.-2014
340
Tim Sample, humorist
Boothbay Harbor
Maine
YouTube video (Sent in by Ken Homer. Thanks!) 4-Mar.-2011
341
U.S. senator Susan Collins
Caribou
Maine
YouTube video (Her clip starts at 1:28.) In listening to this
clip again, I am impressed by how different her sound system is from the
coastal Maine accents, including the guy who gives the prayer at the
beginning. She clearly uses the same vowel in “father” (4:05) as in words
like “bronze”, and this vowel is low and central, whereas her /är/ [aɹ] is strongly fronted. Her long /ō/ [oʊ]
vowel is more fronted than Ellis Paul’s, so I have run the yellow long /ō/
[oʊ] fronting line between Fort
Kent and Caribou. 28-Aug.-2013
342
Ellis Paul, folk singer
Fort Kent
Maine
YouTube video 8-June-2009
343
Jeremy Van Dyne, lobsterman
Matinicus Island
Maine
YouTube video 3-Mar.-2011
344
Ed Muskie, politician
Rumford
Maine
YouTube video 2-June-2009
345
Michael Merchant, “Out of the Wild” volunteer, bigfoot
proponent
Tenants Harbor
Maine
YouTube video (Replaced link: the original link sent in
by Kathy Villarreal in 2011, private
link: YouTube video, is no longer available to the public.) Speculation
about bigfoot using drugs? Whatever…
He
only drops about half of his droppable r’s (the ones not preceding a vowel),
but otherwise he has a typical Eastern New England accent. (dead link: more info) The previous site, now dead, had
said that he was from Hampden (right next to Bangor /bănggôr/ [ˈbæŋˌɡɒə]), but Kathy informed me that
he actually grew up in Tenants Harbor before high school. 17-Dec.-2015
346
Ty Babb, lobster fisherman
Tenants Harbor
Maine
YouTube video (Sent in by Jill Miller. Thanks!) He is
very similar to the previous. Apparently r’s
are creeping into the dialect here!
6-Jan.-2012
347
Mayor Sam Katz /kāts/ [ˈkʰets]
Winnipeg
Manitoba
YouTube video. 25-Sep.-2013
348
Judy Marsales /märsālz/ [ˌmɑɹˈseɪlz],
businessperson and politician
Winnipeg
Manitoba
YouTube video Her dialect sounds a bit more Toronto than
Winnipeg, as distinct from Mayor Katz and the others in his interview, as far
as the fronting of the /ou/ [ɑʊ] and /ō/ [o(ʊ)] vowels. 25-Sep.-2013
349
U.S. senator Barbara Mikulski
Baltimore
Maryland
YouTube video 19-Feb.-2011
350
Various politicians[37]
Baltimore
Maryland
351
State senate president Mike Miller
Clinton
Maryland
YouTube video (Older speaker retaining Lowland Southern,
although younger ones have apparently completely lost it!) 11-Jan.-2011
352
Chris Rice, Christian singer
Clinton
Maryland
YouTube video 11-Jan.-2011
353
Frank Nethken, politician
Cumberland
Maryland
YouTube video Interesting character! This is also the
northernmost example of Southern! 4-Nov.-2010
354
Alex Coblentz, contributor
Frederick
Maryland
YouTube video (Self-recording for this site. Thanks!)
Pretty solid East Midland, though I was at first in some doubt about whether
“pin”=“pen”, but I believe he does distinguish!
16-Dec.-2011
355
Chris Shank, state House Minority Whip
Hagerstown
Maryland
356
Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio, state Delegate
Neavitt
Maryland
357
Frank Perdue, chicken producer
Salisbury
Maryland
YouTube video (Sent in by Bryan Gadow. Thanks!), YouTube
video The second link is his very first commercial, and his Southern
accent is quite evident. However, it is too short to show any Tidewater
raising. The second link a number of other early commercials, but already it is
clear that his handlers have eradicated much of his Southern accent, or at least
have almost completely eliminated the pronunciation of long /ī/ as [a] (though he still slips up occasionally, as at 1:03,
2:00, 2:04). However, the Tidewater raising is apparent, as at 3:01).
I had
another old link where both the Southern accent and the Tidewater raising were
prominent, but it is now dead: dead link: YouTube video (His clip was at
2:30-3:00 if anyone can track it down). Adj. 2-May-2018
358
Various residents
Smith Island
Maryland
YouTube video, YouTube
video 9-Sep.-2010
359
Mary Ada Marshall, cake maker
Smith Island
Maryland
YouTube video 9-Sep.-2010
360
Cathy Lanier, Washington, D.C. Police Chief
Tuxedo
Maryland
YouTube video. 23-Sep.-2013
361
Thomas Menino, mayor
Boston (Hyde Park)
Massachusetts
YouTube video Excellent example! 25-Apr.-2013
362
Unnamed city counselor
Boston (Medford)
Massachusetts
YouTube video (Sent in by Bryant Garrigus. Thanks!) This
is a much better sample of a Boston accent than JFK or Powers below. 2-Apr.-2011
363
Alyssa McBride, contributor
Boston (Chelsea)
Massachusetts
Audio (Self-recording for this site. Thanks!) Alyssa is
consistent as a systematic r-dropper more than
95% of the time. 28-Nov.-2011
364
U.S. president John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Boston (Brookline)
Massachusetts
YouTube video, YouTube
video, YouTube video (Replaced dead link for second video.) He
only lived in Boston until the age of ten, and then spent most of the
remainder of his youth outside the state (see Wikipedia), and as a result, though he does have a very
definite systematic r-dropper dialect, he is
not really a good example of a Boston accent, as contributor Bryant Garrigus
has pointed out, especially in his pronunciation of the /ä/ vowel in words like
“father” and “park”, which he pronounces more like Greater New York City,
though some of his other vowels are closer to Boston. 2-Apr.-2011
365
Dave Powers, JFK special assistant
Boston (Charlestown)
Massachusetts
YouTube video (more info) Powers, on the other hand, lived his entire
youth in Charlestown, but even so, his pronunciation of the /ä/ vowel in
words like “father” and “park” is more like JFK than it is Boston, as
contributor Bryant Garrigus has pointed out.
2-Apr.-2011
366
Rick Starbard /stärbərd/ [ˈstabəd],
school committee candidate
Boston (Lynn)
Massachusetts
info and video (His first clip starts at
12:10, with more throughout the video.) (Sent in by Shirley Tessler. Thanks!) 25-Mar.-2011
367
Walter Brennan, actor
Boston (Lynn)
Massachusetts
YouTube video (His clip starts at 5:45.)
Originally
I had posted this YouTube
video as a sample for Walter Brennan. However, contributor Shirley
Tessler wrote: “I looked at the YouTube video of Walter Brennan that you
provide as an example of a Lynn Massachusetts dialect. Lynn is my home town.
Although Mr. Brennan was born in Lynn, he is speaking as an actor in that
YouTube video in a dialect of an unschooled farmer from Texas (or similar
location very far from Lynn Mass). I suggest that you no longer point to
the Walter Brennan video, since it is not a true example of a Lynn dialect.”
My
initial reaction on her comments was, “No way! He sounds very Eastern New
England to me!” That’s because the vowels he uses in words like “farm” [a] and “on” [ɒə] are so
ENE as to be unmistakable. No place else in the world are those vowels
pronounced precisely that way! Anyone from outside of ENE who knows accents
would immediately know he is ENE. 17-Aug.-2015
In
fact, after I started this map, I thought, “Now who was that old actor whose
accent I remember so vividly from when I was a kid? He was clearly ENE. Let’s
see… He played in ‘The Tycoon’, I remember.” And that’s how I found him.
However, I didn’t initially find a clip from ‘The Tycoon’, but posted the
second clip instead.
However,
in listening again to that clip, I realized that Shirley was partly right: in
that clip he is trying to do some
kind of western farmer accent, but he is doing a very bad job of it: his ENE
features keep bleeding through. Even so, certain words, like “about”, do not
have ENE vowels at all.
I
eventually found the first clip, which is
from ‘The Tycoon’, and shows a more accurate accent. But check out the clip
of Rick Starbard above, for an even better sample for Lynn. 25-Mar.-2011
368
Captain Richard Phillips
Boston (Winchester)
Massachusetts
YouTube video.
11-Mar.-2016
369
Peter Marciano, youngest brother of pro boxer Rocky
Marciano
Brockton
Massachusetts
YouTube video He seems to keep a few more “droppable r’s” than Rocky, but otherwise his accent is
pure Eastern New England. I had found a nice clip of Rocky himself, but it
has been removed, and I can’t find any others!
7-Apr.-2011
370
State senator Gary LeBeau
Easthampton
Massachusetts
YouTube video 30-Nov.-2009
371
Emeril Lagasse, celebrity cook
Fall River
Massachusetts
YouTube video 24-Oct.-2009
372
Gary Kitmacher, spacecraft designer
Pittsfield
Massachusetts
YouTube video (He talks for the first six minutes of the
clip.) (more info) Linguist and Pittsfield native R. Locke wrote
in to say that Gary Kitmacher really is representative of Pittsfield, and
that James Ruberto is not. He also sent in the Turk
Wendell clip below. I am glad, since Ruberto’s accent had really messed up my
map! Pittsfield is now firmly back in the Northwestern New England area. 20-Apr.-2011
373
Turk Wendell, pro baseball player
Pittsfield
Massachusetts
YouTube video (Sent in by R. Locke. Thanks!) 20-Apr.-2011
374
June Foray, voice actress for animated films
Springfield
Massachusetts
YouTube
video (Her clip starts at 0:57.) 30-Mar.-2012
375
Dr. Timothy Leary, LSD advocate
Springfield
Massachusetts
YouTube
video (Replaced dead link.) 7-Apr.-2011
376
Abbie Hoffmann, radical activist
Worcester
Massachusetts
377
Verne Troyer, actor
Centreville
Michigan
YouTube video 16-Feb.-2010
378
Dan Severn, “pro” wrestler
Coldwater
Michigan
YouTube
video (Replaced dead link.) 16-Sep.-2014
379
Nancy Skinner, politician
Detroit
Michigan
YouTube video 7-Nov.-2009
380
Josiah Middaugh, extreme athlete
East Jordan
Michigan
YouTube video ( more info) 7-Dec.-2009
381
State senator Tom Casperson
Escanaba
Michigan
YouTube video 29-Dec.-2010
382
U.S. president Gerald Ford
Grand Rapids
Michigan
YouTube video 23-June-2010
383
Coach Tom Izzo
Iron Mountain
Michigan
384
Jason Babin, pro football player
Kalamazoo
Michigan
YouTube video 16-Feb.-2010
385
Larry Page, Google co-founder
(East) Lansing
Michigan
YouTube video 25-Sep.-2010
386
Cathy Guisewite, cartoonist of Cathy
Midland
Michigan
YouTube
video 7-Nov.-2009
387
Harry Morgan, actor
Muskegon
Michigan
YouTube video.
11-Mar.-2016
388
Jake Cinninger, musician
Niles
Michigan
YouTube video 16-Feb.-2010
389
Joe Marutiak, OPEIU union member
Owosso
Michigan
YouTube video (Sent in by Dave Marutiak. Thanks!) 11-Jan.-2011
390
Terry O’Quinn, actor
Sault Ste. Marie
Michigan
YouTube video (Replaced bad link) 11-Mar.-2016
391
Rob Capriccioso, American Indian journalist
Sault Ste. Marie
Michigan
YouTube video 6-Feb.-2010
392
Paul Colson, George Risser, Celeste Colson,
Adam Rasmussen, Amy Dietzler
Angle Inlet
Minnesota
audio & transcript
These folks talk like Minnesota, not Canada!
29-Dec.-2010
393
Joseph Jagunich, miner’s son
Buhl
Minnesota
audio & info
(Sent in by Adam Jarvi. Thanks!) 25-Mar.-2011
394
Mayor Don Ness
Duluth
Minnesota
YouTube video 1-May-2010
395
Mildred Opacich, miner’s wife
Duluth
Minnesota
audio & info
(Sent in by Adam Jarvi. Thanks!) Though apparently born and raised in Duluth,
she seems to have a strong Iron Range dialect, or else this is simply the
accent she learned from her immigrant parents. 16-May-2012
396
Anthony Vidmar, miner’s son
Ely /ēlē/ [ˈili]
Minnesota
audio & info
(Sent in by Adam Jarvi. Thanks!) 25-Mar.-2011
397
Josephine Scander, miner’s daughter
Hibbing
Minnesota
audio & info, audio & info (Sent in by Adam Jarvi. Thanks!) 25-Mar.-2011
398
Tammy Faye (Bakker /bākər/ [ˈbeɪkɚ]) Messner, controversial Christian
television personality
International Falls
Minnesota
YouTube video 29-Dec.-2010
399
Chris Sukalski /səkôlskē/ [səˈkʰɒlski], dairy producer
Le Roy /lēroi/ [ˈliˌɹɔɪ]
Minnesota
YouTube video 13-Jan.-2011
400
Jesse Ventura, politician & “pro” wrestler
Minneapolis
Minnesota
YouTube video (Suggested by Y.I. Thanks!) Also YouTube
video (replaced bad link), being interviewed by Dennis Miller: talk about
two extremely distinct accents! And points of view! Clearly has “cot”≠“caught”. 17-Dec.-2015
401
Brandon Paulson, Greco-Roman wrestler
Minneapolis (Coon Rapids)
Minnesota
YouTube video “cot”=“caught”.
The Twin Cities seem to be unique in that the cot-caught line seems to
run right through the middle of it. I have personally interviewed two
different married couples, both born and raised in the Twin Cities, of whom
one has “cot”=“caught” and the other has “cot”≠“caught”.
The line does not seem to be well-defined through the city, simply that the
city has a mix, but it also seems true that the northernmost suburbs have “cot”=“caught”!
30-Sep.-2016
402
Brian Burke, Toronto Maple Leafs manager
Minneapolis (Edina)
Minnesota
YouTube video “cot”≠“caught”,
but the difference is minimal. This is not unusual for the Western North. 16-Mar.-2010
403
U.S. senator Amy Klobuchar /klōbəshär/ [ˈkʰloʊbəˌʃɑɹ]
Minneapolis (Plymouth)
Minnesota
YouTube video (Sent in by Annie Wang. Thanks!) Clearly has “cot”≠“caught”. 17-Dec.-2015
404
Will Steger, arctic explorer
Minneapolis (Richfield)
Minnesota
YouTube video (more info) Fairly clearly has “cot”=“caught”. 30-Sep.-2016
405
Tony Snyder, state trooper, and many others
Princeton
Minnesota
YouTube video (Clip starts at 1:05.) Warning: gory details
of wicked murder and allusions to infidelity! This almost exceeds my
family-friendly policy, though because the focus is on catching the bad guys
through forensic analysis I think it is okay. (If any fans of this page
strongly disagree, I would be glad to hear from you.) All local speakers have
“pin”=“pen”, which confirms an interview I had previously had with a native. 30-Sep.-2016
406
Mayor Dave Kleis
St. Cloud
Minnesota
YouTube video Clearly has “cot”=“caught”, as expected,
since it is north of Minneapolis-St. Paul!
17-Dec.-2015
407
Governor Tim Pawlenty /pəlĕntē/ [pʰəˈlɛɾ̃i]
St. Paul
Minnesota
YouTube video (Sent in by Annie Wang. Thanks!), YouTube
video Clearly has “cot”≠“caught”,
clearly noticeable in the second clip.
17-Dec.-2015
408
“The Lovelace Family”, southern gospel singers
Burnsville
Mississippi
YouTube video 12-June-2010
409
Don Wildmon, founder, American Family Association
Dumas
Mississippi
audio (If anyone has a better audio or video link for Mr.
Wildmon, please let me know.) 30-Jan.-2010
410
Shelby Foote, historian
Mississippi
YouTube
video (Replaced dead link.) Amazing
historian, and his accent is so perfectly Classical Southern! However,
I had accidentally marked him as being from Greenville, Alabama instead of
Greenville, Mississippi. The latter is a bit more surprising, since it is
outside of the general Classical Southern area.
1-Sep.-2014
411
U.S. senator Trent Lott
Grenada /grənādə/ [ɡɹəˈneɪdə]
Mississippi
YouTube
video (According to the following, Trent Lott moved to Pascagoula
in his early teens, but I am assuming that his accent was already set by
then: more
info) 19-Feb.-2011
412
The Unity Four, southern gospel singers
Iuka /īyōōkə/ [ˌaˈjukə]
Mississippi
YouTube video (more info) 17-Dec.-2015
413
Tommy Hamill, kidnap victim
Macon
Mississippi
YouTube video (more info) I don’t quite know what to do with this guy.
He seems to be mostly Lowland, but has a few words that are clearly Inland, like
“might,” “wife,” “life.”) According to my
settlement theory, Noxubee County should be a Lowland area, since it had
a high percentage of slaves before the Civil War.
23-Sep.-2015
414
Jimmie Rodgers, country singer
Meridian
Mississippi
YouTube
video (Replaced dead link.)
7-Apr.-2011
415
New Albany
Mississippi
YouTube video 30-Jan.-2010
416
Senatobia
Mississippi
YouTube video (more info) 30-Jan.-2010
417
Tornado victims
Smithville
Mississippi
YouTube video The first two are clearly Inland, the last
one seems to be trying not to sound Southern.
10-May-2011
418
Tupelo /tōōpəlō/ [ˈtʰupəˌloʊ]
Mississippi
YouTube video (more
info) (Sent in by Y.I. Thanks!)
1-July-2010
419
Tupelo
Mississippi
YouTube video (more
info) (Sent in by Y.I. Thanks!)
1-July-2010
420
Cape Girardeau
Missouri
YouTube video (Sent in by Brett Harkey. Thanks!) (Oops,
bad link, as contributor David Harbaugh informed me. He’s going to try to
find a replacement.) Adj. 13-Sep.-2017
421
Columbia
Missouri
422
U.S. senator Bill Bradley
Crystal City
Missouri
423
Conrad Burns, U.S. senator from Montana
Gallatin
Missouri
YouTube
video (Clip starts at 3:49.) 8-Aug.-2014
424
Children of Mike Reed
Houston
Missouri
YouTube video (Sent in by Eli K. Thanks!) 16-Feb.-2010
425
Governor Matt Blunt
Jefferson City
Missouri
426
Kennett
Missouri
427
Kirksville
Missouri
YouTube video As usual, her Central Midland dialect is
demonstrated by the interview, not the songs, which are often Inland
Southern, appropriate to bluegrass.
3-Mar.-2011
428
Linn Creek
Missouri
YouTube video (Sent in by Ben Foster. Thanks!) 16-Jan.-2012
429
Park Hills
Missouri
YouTube video Clearly Inland Southern! 31-Dec.-2011
430
Poplar Bluff
Missouri
YouTube video This gentleman is clearly Inland, but I
can’t determine if he is actually a native. 8-Apr.-2013
431
Poplar Bluff
Missouri
Google video (This is a bad
link, since all of his earlier sermons were intentionally removed. His later
stuff no longer demonstrates what I had written here, so he no longer serves
as a good sample of this location.) (Sermon starts around 13:00. His
long /ī/
[a(ɪ)] vowels are fairly mixed, suggesting that
he has tried to adjust his speech to some degree, but many are clearly
Southern, and a few words are clearly Inland. In any case, this town is on
the border, so some mixing may not be surprising. His other vowels are
thoroughly Southern, so I am fairly confident that he grew up speaking Inland
Southern. Another indication is that the more excited he gets, the more
Southern he sounds.) 8-Apr.-2013
432
Rolla
Missouri
433
George Morris, enjoys life
Sikeston
Missouri
YouTube video (Sent in by a contributor. Thanks!) 7-Nov.-2009
434
U.S. representative Roy Blunt
Springfield
Missouri
435
Dick M., age 44, furniture maker
Springfield
Missouri
ANAE info and audio This is the sample provided in the ANAE to show that Springfield, Missouri is Lowland Southern,
which seems quite unlikely for its location. This sample is clearly not
Inland Southern, since multiple cases of the long /ī/ [aɪ]
vowel occur before voiceless consonants, and only one word, “times” shows the
Lowland Southern pronunciation, and this has the long /ī/ [a]
vowel before a nasal consonant, which is the one place it is often heard in
otherwise Midland accents according to the ANAE Ch. 18, p. 243. Therefore I do not think that this
sample demonstrates Southern at all.
16-Jan.-2012
436
4 former sheriff’s deputies
Stockton
Missouri
YouTube video (Sent in by Blake Bond. Thanks!) Wonderful!
This pushes the Inland South boundary north. Wikipedia
says that Stockton is known as “Where the South Begins”, and the dialect
confirms this. (Of the four deputies, the last two are clearly Inland, the
second is clearly Southern, though he doesn’t happen to use any diagnostic
words for Inland, and the first is a bit ambivalent, though clearly Southern
on some words.) 25-Sep.-2015
437
Kay Barnes, mayor of Kansas City
St. Joseph
Missouri
438
Joe Buck, sports commentator
St. Louis
Missouri
439
John Goodman, actor
St. Louis
Missouri
440
Bob Kuban, drummer
St. Louis
Missouri
441
Dr. Jan Garavaglia, “Dr. G: Medical Examiner”
St. Louis
Missouri
YouTube video (more
info) 11-Jan.-2011
442
Bob and Ron Coble, farmers
Strafford
Missouri
YouTube video These folks sound quite Southern, with many
secondary features of Southern, until you listen closely to their long /ī/ [a(ɪ)] vowels, which are actually not southern. (Sent
in by Ben Foster. Thanks!) 16-Jan.-2012
443
Jan Howard, country singer[38]
West Plains
Missouri
444
U.S. senator Jon Tester
Big Sandy
Montana
YouTube
video (Clip starts at 7:56.), YouTube
video (Various clips.) 8-Aug.-2014
445
John Bohlinger, lieutenant governor
Billings
Montana
446
John Walsh, lieutenant governor
Butte
Montana
YouTube video 31-Aug.-2013
447
Wylie Gustafson, western singer/songwriter/yodeler
Conrad
Montana
YouTube video, YouTube
video (more
info) 19-Oct.-2010
448
George Horse Capture, Indian activist and museum curator
Fort Belknap Agency
Montana
YouTube video Clearly Western, based on his long /ōō/ [u] vowel,
and clearly above the bite-bout line, unlike Havre, “pin”=“pen”. 8-Aug.-2014
449
Dave Dickenson, football player
Great Falls
Montana
YouTube
video I recently listened again to this clip, and realized that it
should be southwest of the bite-bout line, even though this disagrees with
the ANAE. The ANAE’s sample for Great Falls appears to me to be inconclusive
on this feature. 12-Aug.-2014
450
Pastor Ron Ellis
Havre
Montana
audio 8-Aug.-2014
451
U.S. senator Max Baucus
Helena
Montana
452
Casey Anderson, Expedition Wild host
(East) Helena
Montana
YouTube video (more info) 11-July-2011
453
Eugene Peterson, author of The Message
Kalispell
Montana
YouTube video 5-Oct.-2010
454
Maurice Hilleman, microbiologist[39] [40]
Miles City
Montana
455
George Winston, pianist [40]
Miles City
Montana
456
Dixie Nelson, Chamber of commerce
Alliance
Nebraska
YouTube video (Facebook) Adj. 14-Sep.-2017
457
Dennis Rose, saddle maker
Arthur
Nebraska
audio (source) Cannot tell from clip whether “pin”=“pen”. 24-Aug.-2010
458
Jim Girardin, Arrow Seed Co.
Broken Bow
Nebraska
YouTube video (more info)
7-Aug.-2009
459
Lon Milo DuQuette, occultist
Columbus
Nebraska
YouTube video (really, really weird ideas) 12-Aug.-2009
460
Barry Kriha, TV reporter
Gibbon
Nebraska
YouTube video (more info)
7-Aug.-2009
461
Howard Parker, cowboy poet
Gordon
Nebraska
462
Walter Schmitt, farmer
Gresham
Nebraska
video & info (source) (Sent in by Kirk Sniff. Thanks!) 7-Nov.-2011
463
Herbert Heine, farmer
Thayer
Nebraska
video & info (source) 6-Sep.-2013
464
Jay Keasling, chemical engineer
Harvard
Nebraska
465
Herman Goertzen, farmer
Henderson
Nebraska
video & info (source) (Sent in by Kirk Sniff. Thanks!) Amazing! The
Grand Island wedge extends even farther south and east! 7-Nov.-2011
466
Barrett Ruud, football player
Lincoln
Nebraska
467
Joba Chamberlain, baseball player
Lincoln
Nebraska
468
Ben Nelson, senator and governor
McCook
Nebraska
469
John DeCamp, Politician
Neligh /nēlē/ [ˈnili]
Nebraska
YouTube video 12-Aug.-2009
470
Johnny Carson, entertainer
Norfolk /nȯrfȯrk/ [ˈnoɹˌfoɹk][41]
Nebraska
YouTube
video 23-Aug.-2010
471
Marg Helgenberger, actress
North Bend
Nebraska
472
Dr. Don Rose, disk jockey
North Platte
Nebraska
473
Ryan Schultz, mixed martial arts fighter
North Platte
Nebraska
YouTube video 21-Sep.-2011
474
Ben Holscher, mixed martial arts fighter
Ogallala
Nebraska
YouTube video 21-Sep.-2011
475
Henry Fonda, famous actor
Omaha /ōməhô/ [ˈoʊməˌhɒ]
Nebraska
YouTube video 26-Aug.-2009
476
Warren Buffett, billionaire
Omaha
Nebraska
477
Mayor Susan Wiedeman
Gering
Nebraska
YouTube video (more
info) I had originally listed her as from “Scottsbluff (Gering)”, but
that was before I made the dots smaller. I had observed that she had
“pin”=“pen”, so I assumed this applied to Scottsbluff also. However, I
recently met a gentleman from Scottsbluff, and he assured me that he had “pin”≠“pen”. I listened to him say
them, and though they are very close, they are indeed different. So evidently
the line runs between Scottsbluff and Gering. Thus Scottsbluff is like
Torrington, Wyoming, and unlike Alliance, which makes the pin-pen line twist
a bit more around Scottsbluff and Alliance, but a little less around
Torrington, so it comes out about even. Adj.
14-Sep.-2017
478
Tom Osborne, football coach, etc.
St. Paul
Nebraska
YouTube
video (more info) Tom Osborne grew up entirely in Hastings,
Nebraska except for four years in St. Paul, from the ages of 5 to 8. However,
he talks like St. Paul, not like Hastings, as I have confirmed by
interviewing two natives of Hastings, who definitely have “pin”=“pen” and
“cot”=“caught”. Like the sample from Ashley, ND, this shows that a phonemic
system can be set before the age of 10, and never change after that. 17-Jan.-2012
479
Wayne Connell, artisan
Tryon /trīən/ [ˈtʰɹaɪən]
Nebraska
video (source) (Video file seems to be damaged, though
previously it was playable. Hopefully it will be fixed in the future.) I need
to re-check the video to see whether “pin”=“pen”: I had thought no, but I
have recently interviewed a Tryon native, and evidently “pin”=“pen”. 24-Aug.-2010
480
Doug Bereuter /bērītər/ [ˈbiˌɹaɪɾɚ],
president of the Asia Foundation
Utica
Nebraska
YouTube video (His clip is 10:10-15:08.) 7-Nov.-2011
481
Various natives
Valentine
Nebraska
YouTube video I finally found a video for Valentine,
which allows me to assign it clearly to the West Midland dialect! I wasn’t
sure about that, since it lies very close to the boundaries of The West and
Western North, and I wasn’t sure which of the three it belonged to. However,
the fact that it lies on the north edge of the Nebraska Sandhills seems to be
the determining factor! Clearly “cot”=“caught”, “pin”≠“pen”, and it’s below the bite-bout line. (Not all of
the speakers are natives, but the first one clearly is, and probably the
second one also.) 11-Mar.-2016
482
Sam Crawford, pro baseball player
Wahoo /wôhōō/ [ˈwɒˌhu]
Nebraska
YouTube video (Clip starts at 1:00.) 26-Aug.-2010
483
Darryl Zanuck, movie producer
Wahoo
Nebraska
YouTube video (He pronounces it /wôhōō/ [ˌwɒˈhu], but he is probably just being
funny. My wife, a native Nebraskan, assures me that Sam Crawford’s
pronunciation is the correct one.)
26-Aug.-2010
484
Elroy Hoffman, farmer
York
Nebraska
video & info (source) (Sent in by Kirk Sniff. Thanks!) Amazing! The
Grand Island wedge extends even farther south and east! 7-Nov.-2011
485
Harvey Pickrel, farmer
York
Nebraska
video & info (source) (Sent in by Kirk Sniff. Thanks!) This guy is from
south of York, whereas the previous guy may be from north of York, and this
guy’s /ō/ [oʊ]
vowels are noticeably more fronted, indicating that the blue line runs
between them! However, he has “pin”≠“pen”,
showing that that line runs a tiny bit more south!
7-Nov.-2011
486
U.S. representative Dean Heller
Carson City
Nevada
YouTube video 25-Oct.-2010
487
Andre Agassi, pro tennis player
Las Vegas
Nevada
YouTube video (Suggested by native Las Vegan contributor
Jim Hoffman. Thanks!) 5-Mar.-2011
488
Governor Jim Gibbons
Reno
Nevada
YouTube video 25-Oct.-2010
489
U.S. senator Harry Reid
Searchlight
Nevada
YouTube video (Suggested by native Las Vegan contributor
Jim Hoffman. Thanks!) 5-Mar.-2011
490
Wallace McCain, businessman
Florenceville
New Brunswick
downloadable video
(Extremely large file!) (Sent in by Lucy May. Thanks!) 10-Jan.-2012
491
Marilyn Curtin, city councilor, and unknown newswoman
Fredericton
New Brunswick
YouTube video (Sent in by Lucy May. Thanks!) 10-Jan.-2012
492
Matt Stairs, pro hockey player
Saint John
New Brunswick
YouTube video 13-July-2009
493
Donald Sutherland, actor
Saint John
New Brunswick
YouTube video Contributor Lucy May says that he is not a
good example of the local dialect, and has contributed various others.
Thanks! 10-Jan.-2012
494
Don Sweeney, pro hockey manager
St. Stephen
New Brunswick
video (His clip
0:20-0:50) (Sent in by Lucy May. Thanks!) 10-Jan.-2012
495
Michael Durant, U.S. Army pilot
Berlin
New Hampshire
video (Found video again!) Clip starts at 0:45. 24-Aug.-2010
496
Doris “Granny D” Haddock, activist, walked across America
Laconia
New Hampshire
YouTube
video 1-June-2009
497
Joe McQuaid, newspaper publisher
Manchester
New Hampshire
YouTube video 2-June-2009
498
Captain David Ferland, policeman
Portsmouth
New Hampshire
YouTube
video (His clips 0:55-1:06, 1:34-1:45) (Sent in by Ben Katz.
Thanks! Ben said, “As I’m sure many people do for their hometowns, I thought
I’d submit this clip, as I think it gives a better representation of the
Seacoast, NH accent, as opposed to the samples you currently have which
includes Boston to the South, and Manchester and Laconia inland. The clip
features a number of local citizens, but personally, I thought the best
example was [the policeman].”) 3-June-2011
499
Margaret Pickering, resident
Portsmouth
New Hampshire
YouTube
video (Her clip 0:07-0:41) (Sent in by Ben Katz. Thanks!) 3-June-2011
500
Danny DeVito, actor
Asbury Park
New Jersey
501
Tommy DeVito, pop singer – classic working class, slightly
modified! **
Belleville
New Jersey
YouTube video (more info) The curl-coil merger is not dead! This guy
clearly says /woyk/
[ˈwɜɪk] instead of /wûrk/ [ˈwɝk]
for “work”, and uses [ɜɪ]
instead of [ɝ] in several other words also, and most of
his th’s become d or t. This is quite
different from his fellow band member Frankie Valli, who is modern middle class. 3-Mar.-2011
502
Dick Vitale, basketball sportscaster – modern middle class
**
East Rutherford
New Jersey
YouTube video 25-Apr.-2013
503
State senator Michael Doherty
Glen Ridge
New Jersey
YouTube video 3-Mar.-2011
504
Sammi Giancano, on cast of Jersey Shore reality show
Hazlet
New Jersey
YouTube video Nice distinctive “bad” /bâd/
[ˈbeəd], plenty of cases of both /â/ [eə] and /ă/ [æ], pronounced quite
distinctly! So these two distinct vowels are alive and well, even among young
people. The following clip is clearer: YouTube
video 8-July-2013
505
Governor Chris Christie
Livingston
New Jersey
YouTube video 3-Mar.-2011
506
Frankie Valli, pop singer – modern middle class **
Newark
New Jersey
YouTube video 3-Mar.-2011
507
Lou Costello, actor & comedian – classic working class
New Jersey
YouTube video
Contributor Jane McMullen set me straight on this one: “Your sample [for] Lou
Costello is terribly wrong. It is not a New York accent. Lou was born and
raised in Paterson, NJ. He sounds just like my father (born 7 years later),
also born & raised there, and all my relatives. The class is correct,
classic working class, children of recent Italian immigrants. And it’s
classic Paterson.”
Sigh! I find that I sometimes
focus on certain prominent features, and those features make me ignore other
features, which are more important. I had listed Lou Costello as being from
New York City, even though I knew he was born in Paterson. I failed to
realize that he was also raised there.
But what really led me astray was that he has nearly all of the secondary
features of the classic working class of Greater New York City: /ŧħ/ [ð] becomes /d/ [d], and “first” is
/foyst/
[ˈfɜɪst] instead of /fûrst/ [ˈfɝst]. I had not realized that the latter was
historically found in a few places outside of the Greater New York City
dialect area, so I assumed that he had grown up in New York City. However, he
actually lacks the primary defining features of GNYC: he drops very few r’s,
and he does not have the bad-had split, as seen in many of the words in the
clip above, and in the pronunciation of “bad” at the end of this clip: YouTube video.
Instead, he actually has the Eastern North pattern for these words. Thanks
for keeping me straight, Jane! 27-Oct.-2011
508
Rodeo performer
New Jersey
video & info
(His clips start at 0:15 and 4:18.) (Sent in by Claudio Salvucci. Thanks!) I
knew the south Jersey accent was different, but this is almost southern! He
also seems to have a bit of /ŧħ/ [ð] → /d/ [d].
This cannot be simply a variant of what I am calling “East Midland”, but I
need more data to know how to classify it! 17-May-2013
509
Alan Hale, astronomer
Alamogordo
New Mexico
510
U.S. senator Pete Domenici
Albuquerque
New Mexico
511
Various, presumably locals
Artesia
New Mexico
YouTube video (Sent in by Eli K. Thanks!) 3-Dec.-2009
512
Sam Etcheverry, football coach
Carlsbad
New Mexico
513
U.S. representative Harry Teague
Hobbs
New Mexico
514
Baxter Black, cowboy poet
Las Cruces
New Mexico
YouTube video 26-Aug.-2009
515
Ed Foreman, politician, speaker
Portales
New Mexico
516
Cody Willard, Fox Business anchor
Ruidoso
New Mexico
YouTube video 26-Aug.-2009
517
Conrad Hilton, hotel tycoon
San Antonio
New Mexico
YouTube video This video clarifies that “pin”≠“pen” for him, whereas the
following did not: YouTube
video 11-Jan.-2011
518
James Junes, Navajo comedian
Shiprock
New Mexico
YouTube video (more info)
26-Sep.-2009
519
Harrison Schmitt, astronaut
Silver City
New Mexico
YouTube video 31-Aug.-2009
520
Abel Cullum, mixed martial arts
Tucumcari
New Mexico
YouTube video 13-July-2009
521
Mayor Jerry Jennings
Albany
New York
YouTube video (Sent in by Derek Hachey. Thanks!) Longer
sample: YouTube
video 11-Feb.-2011
522
Rod Serling, TV producer & narrator
Binghamton
New York
YouTube video 31-Aug.-2013
523
Judge Frank Easterbrook
Buffalo
New York
YouTube video 7-Aug.-2009
524
William P. Rogers, Sec. of State under Nixon
Canton
New York
525
Stewart Vorpahl /vôrpəl/
[ˈvoəpəl], “Bonacker”
fisherman
New York
YouTube video (clip starts at 25:00) (Sent in by Alex Van
Boer. Thanks!) This is the true native (working class) dialect of “The
Hamptons”, not really those that follow, as the explanation that follows
shows. It is quite similar to Greater New York City, and has the same 16
vowels as GNYC, including pronouncing the “aw” or /ô/ vowel (see The
Cot-Caught Merger) as [oə], but unlike
GNYC there is no working-class tendency to change th’s to d or t, and several of the vowels have a slight hint of
New England. 3-Mar.-2011
526
Mary Gardiner, gourmet produce seller
New York
The east end of Long Island, often called “The Hamptons”,
is unusual in that it has been a rich people’s playground for generations.
That’s why I was glad to find the previous clip, which shows the dialect of
ordinary people, rather than the rich and famous.
All
three of the following samples of rich and famous people from East Hampton
have quite distinct accents, although they also have certain things in
common, in particular their pronunciation of the “aw” or /ô/ vowel (see The
Cot-Caught Merger), which is [oə] like
Greater New York City.
YouTube
video (more info) This lady’s ancestors have lived in the East
Hampton area since the mid 1600’s, and she grew up there, unlike so many rich
kids from the area who were sent off to boarding school. Her accent is fairly
close to the “benchmark” Bonacker pronunciation above.
One
particular difference among the three speakers is that Mary Gardiner
pronounces almost all her r’s, David
Carmichael drops a few, and Jackie Kennedy is a consistent Systematic R-dropper. They all do it a little,
confirming that the original Hamptons pattern is r-dropping.
I had
thought for a while that “on” rhymed with “Dawn” in this dialect, based on
Mary Gardiner, but it doesn’t actually. She (and Stewart Vorpahl) almost
seems to rhyme it with “barn”, if the r is dropped, something a few GNYC
speakers may also do. 3-Mar.-2011
527
David Carmichael, pastry chef
New York
YouTube video, YouTube
video (clip starts at 1:45) 30-Nov.-2009
528
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy
New York
YouTube video, YouTube
video She definitely has a New York accent, quite distinct from her
husband’s Boston accent. She shares some features with the other East Hampton
speakers (See my comments above), but at the same time has a “higher class”
accent, especially noticeable in her short /ă/ vowel, though she
certainly does not have a Mid-Atlantic accent. 3-Mar.-2011
529
Reverend Rob Schenck
New York
YouTube video 7-Aug.-2009
530
Steve Levy, Suffolk County Executive – modern working
class? **
New York
YouTube video (clip 6:05-10:35) (Sent in by Alex Van
Boer. Thanks!) 3-Mar.-2011
531
Various residents
New York
YouTube video The mayor and most of the others on this
clip are clearly Inland North and north of (or inside) the bite-bout line.
The only speaker who is clearly not is Mort Flexer, near the end, who is
clearly Eastern New England. 27-Dec.-2010
532
Dr. Amy Gutmann, University of Pennsylvania President
Monroe
New York
YouTube video 23-May-2011
533
Dick Clark, world’s oldest teenager (actually, talk show
host, etc.)
Mount Vernon
New York
YouTube video In spite of all his years in show biz, he
still retains his native accent to an amazing degree. Not that it’s all that
different from General American to start with, but his “aw” or /ô/ vowel
(see The
Cot-Caught Merger) is frequently a clear [oə]. 23-Apr.-2011
534
Caucasian female, 39, administrative assistant
Mount Vernon
New York
IDEA audio
(source) The IDEA website has now clarified that
she was born and raised there. 8-Nov.-2013
535
Don McClean, rock singer
New York
YouTube video 11-Jan.-2010
536
Jimmy Durante, actor & comedian – classic working
class **
New York City
New York
YouTube
video 3-Mar.-2011
537
Bugs Bunny, cartoon character – classic working class ** (not bad, Mel!)[42]
New York City
New York
YouTube video 3-Mar.-2011
538
9-11 firefighters – modern working class **
New York City
New York
YouTube video, YouTube
video, YouTube video 3-Mar.-2011
539
Steve
Schirripa, actor – modern working class **
New York City
New York
YouTube video, YouTube
video Amazingly
strong and consistent, including intrusive r’s as in “sawr a ghost”, surprising for an actor. The second clip shows an unexpected
side of this actor. It also may have a case of the curl-coil merger, on the
word “first” at 0:22, which is surprising,
since this feature has largely died out.
30-Sep.-2016
540
Bennett Cerf, publisher and personality – classic middle
class **
New York City
New York
YouTube
video 3-Mar.-2011
541
Humphrey Bogart, actor – classic middle class **
New York City
New York
YouTube video (Even though Humphrey Bogart and Lauren
Bacall both appear in this clip, and are both from GNYC, and were even
married to each other, he is a whole generation earlier than her, and retains
the curl-coil merger, whereas she does not.)
3-Mar.-2011
542
Rocky Graziano, boxer – classic middle class? **
New York City
New York
YouTube video Based on his background,
I would have expected him to be working class, but he doesn’t seem to
pronounce any of his th’s as t’s or d’s.
3-Mar.-2011
543
Woody Allen, actor & comedian – modern middle class **
New York City
New York
YouTube video Certifiably weird! 3-Mar.-2011
544
Lauren Bacall, actress – modern middle class **
New York City
New York
YouTube video 3-Mar.-2011
545
Howard Cosell, sports journalist – modern middle class **
New York City
New York
YouTube
video 3-Mar.-2011
546
Regis Philbin, TV personality – modern middle class **
New York City
New York
YouTube
video 3-Mar.-2011
547
Don Rickles, actor & comedian – modern middle class **
New York City
New York
YouTube video 3-Mar.-2011
548
Walter Matthau, actor – modern middle class **
New York City
New York
YouTube video 3-Mar.-2011
549
U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt – classic upper class **
New York City
New York
YouTube
video 3-Mar.-2011
550
U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt – classic upper class **
New York City
New York
audio 3-Mar.-2011
551
Skip Tollefson, restaurateur – classic middle class! **
New York
YouTube video (clip 10:40-17:44) (Sent in by Alex Van
Boer. Thanks!) The curl-coil merger is not dead! This guy clearly says /woyth/
[ˈwɜɪθ] instead of /wûrth/
[ˈwɝθ] for “worth”, and /foyst/
[ˈfɜɪst] instead of /fûrst/ [ˈfɝst]
for “first”, and uses [ɜɪ] instead
of [ɝ] in several other words also. Obviously he
is from Greater New York City rather than the Hamptons, but I couldn’t find
out where! Does anyone happen to know?
3-Mar.-2011
552
Rick Pitino, basketball coach – modern working class **
Oyster Bay
New York
YouTube video 3-Mar.-2011
553
David Smithgall, dairy producer
Perry
New York
YouTube video 18-Dec.-2010
554
Jack Foley, poet
Port Chester
New York
YouTube video 16-Nov.-2009
555
David Lee, Physicist
Port Chester (Rye)
New York
YouTube video 21-July-2009
556
Ed Kritzler, historian
Roslyn Heights
New York
YouTube video (more info) 11-Feb.-2010
557
Rochester
New York
YouTube video Hilarious: Teaches you how to talk
Rochester! (Sent in by Laura Feller. Thanks!)
11-Feb.-2011
558
unnamed, news anchor
Rochester
New York
YouTube video This guy’s accent isn’t quite as pronounced
as the preceding (in spite of the crude comment on the YouTube page), but
it’s pretty strong for a newscaster! (Sent in by Laura Feller. Thanks!) 11-Feb.-2011
559
Ralph Pagano, TV chef
Staten Island
New York
YouTube video (more info) 30-Nov.-2009
560
Gabby Hayes, actor
Wellsville
New York
YouTube video In spite of being an actor, and in spite of
trying to sound like a tough old cowboy, his Inland North accent is still
almost unchanged: Backed /ōō/, /ō/ and /ou/ ([u], [oʊ],
and [ɑʊ]), “cot”≠“caught”,
etc. 24-Aug.-2010
561
Mike Breen, sports commentator
Yonkers
New York
YouTube video 21-July-2009
562
Paul Teutul Sr., American Chopper
Yonkers
New York
YouTube
video 21-July-2009
563
Residents Lizzy Careen, Mary Power, and others
Branch
Newfoundland
(& Labrador)
YouTube video (Sent in by Michael Collins. Thanks! He
also helped me set the boundaries of Irish
Newfoundland.) 19-Apr.-2011
564
Holly Nelson, concerned citizen
Elliston
Newfoundland
(& Labrador)
YouTube video (Sent in by Michael Collins. Thanks!) 14-Jan.-2011
565
Anthony, aspiring singer
Placentia
Newfoundland
(& Labrador)
YouTube video (Sent in by Michael Collins. Thanks!) 14-Jan.-2011
566
John Crosbie, M.P.
St. John’s
Newfoundland
(& Labrador)
video (Replaced bad link.) 14-Jan.-2011
567
Steve Kent, politician
Stephenville
Newfoundland
(& Labrador)
YouTube video 1-Aug.-2009
568
Roy Williams, basketball coach
Asheville
North Carolina
569
Harold A., age 46, territorial engineer
Asheville
North Carolina
ANAE info and audio This sample, like the previous one,
is clearly Lowland, based on the next-to-last word “like”. However, the ANAE classifies it as Inland Southern, perhaps based on the
word “revitalized”, pronounced twice as [ɹiˈvaɾl̩ˈazd].
However, this case is expected to be variable, because, though phonemically
it is followed by /t/, which is a voiceless
consonant, phonetically the /t/ is realized as [ɾ],
which is voiced. 2-Jan.-2012
570
Various residents
Atlantic
North Carolina
YouTube video, YouTube
video (throughout the videos) 9-Sep.-2010
571
Del McCroury, bluegrass singer
Bakersville
North Carolina
YouTube video 18-Nov.-2011
572
Ray Hicks, storyteller
Beech Mountain
North Carolina
YouTube video Interesting character. Clearly “cot”≠“caught” following the usual
Inland South pattern, except for the one word “pawn” /pŏn/ [ˈpʰɑn]: I wouldn’t think this would be an
unfamiliar word, so I have no good explanation. (I had earlier said “cot”=“caught”,
but that was a typo.) 11-Mar.-2016
He
also uses at one point the word “it” with an initial “h”, “hit”, which is its
original archaic pronunciation, just like “he”, “him”, and “her”, but in most
dialects this “h” disappeared. This is typical of Appalachian and perhaps
other Inland Southern.
Beech Mountain has the highest elevation of any town east
of the Rockies, so it would be expected to be Inland! 1-July-2013
573
Amanda Swimmer, Cherokee grandmother
Big Cove
North Carolina
YouTube video (Her first English clip starts at 2:58,
Cherokee clip at 2:44.) Has a clear Inland Southern accent, though with an
accent influenced by her native Cherokee, most noticeable being /ŧħ/ [ð] → /d/ [d], though /th/ [θ] → /t/ [t]. 23-Sep.-2015
574
U.S. representative Charles Taylor
Brevard
North Carolina
YouTube video 12-June-2010
575
Archie Watkins, southern gospel singer
Bryson City
North Carolina
YouTube video (clip at 46:03) (more
info) When he sings he often partially suppresses his southern accent,
but when he talks he has a pristine Inland Southern accent! He was a member
of the Inspirations quartet, which started out in 1964 as a quartet of 4 high
school students from Bryson City, and became nationally famous! Here’s an
early clip, while his singing style still retained some traces of Inland
Southern: YouTube
video. New! 13-Sep.-2017
576
U.S. representative Heath Shuler
Bryson City
North Carolina
YouTube video Contributor Lisa Jillani wrote, “Shuler’s
accent has been tainted by spending time in the NC legislature & possibly
trying to sound not so southern.” I listened to the clip again and realized
that this is probably true, though it is still clearly Inland. Adj. 13-Sep.-2017
577
White male, born 1958, attorney
Burnsville
North Carolina
IDEA
audio (source) 8-Nov.-2013
578
Billy Graham, preacher
Charlotte
North Carolina
YouTube video (Older r-dropper retaining Classical Southern, although younger ones have
apparently completely lost it!) Billy Graham has a nearly perfect Classical
Southern accent, though many in Charlotte don’t even have a Southern accent
any more. 15-Sep.-2014
579
Various residents
Crusoe Island,
Columbus County
North Carolina
YouTube video (more info) (Suggested by Joan Riley. Thanks!) This is not
exactly a conventional island, but a high spot in the swamp. (On maps it only
shows up as Crusoe Island Road, near Whiteville.) They seem to have a
colorful history and reputation, as shown in the “more info” link. That web
page, and contributor Joan Riley, both suggest that the dialect spoken here
is unique, but I personally cannot detect anything but the local Lowland
Southern dialect. In fact, the first speaker on the video appears to be from
outside the community, and all the rest from inside, but they seem to all
speak the same dialect. 19-Dec.-2013
580
John D. Loudermilk, composer
Durham
North Carolina
581
State senator Bob Carpenter
Franklin
North Carolina
YouTube video 6-Apr.-2010
582
Erskine Bowles, president UNC system
Greensboro
North Carolina
YouTube video He speaks as expected, except that every
case of /th/ [θ]
becomes /f/ [f], and every
case of /ŧħ/ [ð]
becomes /v/ [v]. I didn’t
know if this was an individual idiosyncrasy, or whether it was a local
pattern. There is actually a well-established English dialect that has this
pattern, Cockney English (London, England). 10-May-2013
According
to contributor Emily Sparkman:
«It’s
a local pattern, but not limited to the Greensboro/Triad area. I was born and
raised in and around Raleigh, NC and did my undergrad in Winston-Salem,
fifteen minutes down the road from Greensboro. I’ve heard the substitution
everywhere I’ve lived within NC and would guess that it’s prevalent across
much of the state, at least among Caucasian, native speakers. It also tends
to be somewhat transient, slipping into some words and not others, and comes
and goes depending on how quickly the speaker is speaking.
«When
I’m tired or surrounded by family I slide from /ŧħ/
to /v/ or even an
/f/. My mother is from Fayetteville, NC and
generally sounds very similar to Mr. Bowles. My father is from Charleston, SC
and slips in /ŧħ/ → /v/ substitutions after 39 years of living with my mom.
My grandfather is from Wilmington, NC but has spent the last 40 years in
Charleston, SC. He never makes this substitution.
«‘Without’
slides reeeaaally easily into an /f/. “You goin’ wifout ’im?”
‘With’, rarely becomes /v/ but sometimes becomes /f/. “You goin’ with
’im?” “Is she wiffew?”
‘Twelfth’ commonly becomes ‘twelf’,
depending on the context and placement within a sentence. “He’s in twelf grade,” for instance, but not, “I
almost won! I came in … twelfth.”
I’ve never heard ‘father/mother’ as ‘fahfer’
or ‘muvver’, however. Same goes for ‘grandfather’ and ‘grandmother’.
Tack a possessive s or a -hood after ‘brother’, though, and the /v/ goes in.»
Thanks,
Emily. Based on this information, it most likely covers an area in central
NC, maybe from Winston-Salem and Raleigh down to Fayetteville, but not so far
as Wilmington. 21-July-2012
583
Elizabeth Allen, singer and local church mainstay
Hendersonville
North Carolina
YouTube video (Her first clip starts at 22:20.) Unlike
the other two speakers featured on this video, both of whom speak Inland
Southern, this speaker is African American, and, as is usual for older
African Americans in the South, speaks Lowland Southern, in fact speaks Classical Southern (including a few cases of [ɜɪ]
for /ûr/;
see [ɜɪ] instead of [ɝ] in some
Classical Southern dialects.). However, she shows very few
of the features of African American Vernacular
English (AAVE). Now I’m curious about how the white people in the town
speak! The town is clearly in the mountains, so based on my settlement theory it should speak Inland.
However, the town also is 12.5% Black according to Wikipedia, suggesting that
she speaks Classical only because she belongs to the African American
community, and that this tells us nothing about the white dialect. Granted,
she herself said that she played more with white kids than black kids when
small, but it is also clear from one of the pictures in the video that she
attended a segregated school. So we can say nothing with confidence about the
white dialect here. 23-Sep.-2015
584
Dale Earnhardt, Sr., NASCAR driver
Kannapolis
North Carolina
YouTube video (His clips start at 4:40.) (Replaced bad
link.) I can’t quite figure him out: unlike the other speakers from
Kannapolis, who all speak Lowland Southern, he sounds more Inland than
Lowland in his pronunciation of words like “life” at 43:28, “night” at 7:13,
“like” at 15:06, and “rifle” at 15:29, the one exception being “like” at
43:55. This leaves me unsure about which side of the line Kannapolis falls,
so I have tentatively moved the line so that it moves right through the
middle of Kannapolis. (This would not seem to be a case of Possible
Southern Class Distinction, since all of these speakers are
clearly working class.) 4-Nov.-2015
585
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., NASCAR driver
Kannapolis
North Carolina
YouTube video (His clips start at 34:27.) 9-May-2013
586
Punchy Whitaker, tire salesman
Kannapolis
North Carolina
YouTube video (His clip starts at 5:09.) 9-May-2013
587
Tony Eury, Sr., NASCAR crew member
Kannapolis
North Carolina
YouTube video (His clips start at 38:29.) 9-May-2013
588
Tony Eury, Jr., NASCAR crew member
Kannapolis
North Carolina
YouTube video (His clips start at 39:15.) 9-May-2013
589
Peggy Bennett, Program Director, Citizens for Change
Leicester
North Carolina
YouTube video (Her clips start at 0:51.) (more info) She clearly speaks Inland Southern, except in
one case of the word “right”; however, this case is sandwiched between “right
and wrong”, pronounced with no diphthong, and “web site,” again pronounced
with no diphthong. This made the line between Inland and Lowland Southern
even twistier than before, but looking at the terrain, Leicester is clearly
in a more mountainous area than Charlotte, which follows my settlement theory. 23-Sep.-2015
590
Richard Petty, NASCAR driver
Level Cross
North Carolina
YouTube video, YouTube
video 4-Aug.-2010
591
George Younce, southern gospel singer
Lenoir
North Carolina
YouTube video 8-Feb.-2013
592
Connie Hopper, southern gospel singer
Madison
North Carolina
YouTube video (more info) 2-Sep.-2013
593
Randy Travis, country singer
Marshville
North Carolina
YouTube video The fascinating interplay of dialects
continues to amaze me! Randy Travis is clearly Lowland Southern, as this
interview shows, as could hardly be otherwise, given where he grew up.
However, when he sings, he sometimes clearly adopts an Inland Southern accent,
perhaps in an unconscious effort to sound more “country”, given his image as
a Neotraditional country singer, as can be heard in this
moving rendition of Three Wooden Crosses (replaced bad link). 31-May-2011
594
Andy Griffith, comedian & actor
Mount Airy
North Carolina
YouTube video Throughout his career on the Andy Griffith
show and elsewhere, Andy Griffith has demonstrated a consistent Lowland
Southern dialect, as shown in this clip, although Mount Airy is right on the
border with Inland Southern. However, in some of his earliest comedy clips,
before he started his acting career, he mixes some Inland Southern into his
speech, probably to sound more “hick”, as can be heard in this clip.
(Sent in by Abbey Thomas. Thanks!) However, he is inconsistent, suggesting
that his native dialect is indeed Lowland. 14-Apr.-2012
595
Jeff Easter, southern gospel singer
Mount Airy /mountərē/ [ˈmaʊɾ̃ɚi]
North Carolina
YouTube video Like Andy Griffith he is Lowland, not
Inland, in spite of all his talk about “Goobers and Gomers” and “I’m one of ’em.” In only one word does he sound Inland,
“wife” at about 8:03, but he had just said “life” with the Lowland
pronunciation at 8:00! I suspect he was trying to sound more like “Goobers
and Gomers” when he said “wife”, because he is consistently Lowland
throughout the rest of the video. This confirms that the line runs west of
Mount Airy, even though it is just as clear that it runs east of Cana,
Virginia (see).
He
first gives the (to me unexpected) pronunciation of the name of the town at
around 7:33, and repeats it after that, and this pronunciation is confirmed
by James King from neighboring Cana, Virginia (see), at around 0:22 in his
first clip. 12-Nov.-2015
596
Jeff Whisnant /hwĭsnənt/ [ˈʍɪsnənt]
(not with a /z/ sound!), southern gospel singer
Morganton
North Carolina
YouTube video (more info)
Clearly Inland, though with some inconsistencies, which is not surprising,
given that he grew up right on the border.
4-Sep.-2010
597
Brooke Aldridge, bluegrass and southern gospel singer
Newland
North Carolina
YouTube video, YouTube
video (more
info) 21-July-2012
598
Various residents
Okracoke Island
North Carolina
YouTube video, YouTube
video (throughout the videos), YouTube
video (more info, more info) 9-Sep.-2010
599
White male, born 1926, retired journalist
Oak City
North Carolina
IDEA
audio (source) 8-Nov.-2013
600
(No names or specific towns given, only regions.)[43]
Outer Banks (location uncertain)
North Carolina
ncsu.edu/linguistics/ncllp/dialectquiz.php 9-Sep.-2010
601
State senator Fred Smith
Raleigh
North Carolina
YouTube video 11-Feb.-2010
602
Richard Jenrette, investment banker
Raleigh
North Carolina
YouTube
video 11-Feb.-2010
603
Jody Brown & Stephanie Brown, southern gospel singers,
ethnic Cherokees
Robbinsville
North Carolina
YouTube video 10-Apr.-2010
604
Various residents
(Robbinsville?) Graham /grāhæm/ [ˈɡɹɛɪˌhæm]
County
North Carolina
YouTube video A delightful clip! Nearly all these
speakers have very strong Inland Southern accents. The only identification of
location is Graham County at 1:20 (though with a pronunciation I found
unexpected), and that it is near Waynesville at 0:44, but this is enough to
pin it down as being Graham County, North Carolina. 29-Aug.-2015
605
Roy Cooper, North Carolina attorney general
Rocky Mount
North Carolina
YouTube video He only seems to drop an r in one word:
“North”, part of the name of his state, which doesn’t quite count. 25-Mar.-2011
606
Junior Johnson, NASCAR driver
Ronda
North Carolina
YouTube video, video & info Very much a borderline accent: a mixture
of Lowland and Inland, but probably slightly more Lowland. 4-Aug.-2010
607
Pastor Rick Perry, bluegrass gospel singer
Salisbury /sôlzbərē/ [ˈsɒʊlzbɚi]
North Carolina
YouTube video, YouTube
video – (other info) Standard and consistent Lowland Southern,
drops very few r’s. 23-Sep.-2015
608
White female, born 1930, housewife
Shelby
North Carolina
IDEA
audio (source) 8-Nov.-2013
609
Mary Jane Queen, ballad singer, gardener, grandmother
Cullowhee /kŭləhwē/ [ˈkʰʌləˌhwi]
(Caney Fork)
North Carolina
YouTube video (Her first clip starts at 11:20.) 23-Sep.-2015
610
Greenville Mayor Pat Dunn
Wake County (rural)
North Carolina
YouTube video (clip starts at 5:48) Older r-dropper
retaining Classical Southern. I had made
the assumption that she was from Greenville, but this
web site says she is from rural Wake County. She clearly drop r’s, and it
is unclear whether she has Tidewater raising: the only test word is “out”,
which she only says once, and it goes by rather fast, but it does sound raised. This only messes up my map! It would
have been simpler if she were from Greenville! Instead, I will treat her as
an older speaker retaining older features. 25-Mar.-2011
611
Stephanie Glance, basketball coach
Waynesville
North Carolina
YouTube video 16-Mar.-2010
612
Herb Key, Appalachian singer
Wilkesboro?
North Carolina
YouTube video 3-Apr.-2010
613
Charlie Daniels, country singer (sort of)
Wilmington
North Carolina
YouTube video (Replaced clip again.) His first hilarious
hit, back when he was a long-hair. He has changed a lot, as this clip shows: YouTube
video 14-Dec.-2013
614
Charles R. “Buster” Humphreys, retired industrial chemist
Wilmington
North Carolina
YouTube video (He begins narrating at 1:18.) (more info, more info, more info) Older r-dropper retaining Classical Southern. Mister Humphreys, the main
narrator of this clip, is from Wilmington. He speaks Classical Southern and
has the Tidewater raising, unlike younger speakers like Charlie Daniels. He
passed away in 2002. As to the people featured in the clip, I have no
information. 14-Dec.-2013
615
David Brinkley, newscaster
Wilmington
North Carolina
YouTube video 6-Feb.-2010
616
Richard Childress, NASCAR driver and team owner
Winston-Salem
North Carolina
YouTube video (His clips start at 23:09.) 11-May-2013
617
White male, 19
Winston-Salem
North Carolina
IDEA
audio (source) The IDEA website has now clarified that he was
born there. 8-Nov.-2013
618
Governor John Hoeven[44]
Ashley
North Dakota
619
Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer
Bismarck
North Dakota
620
CariDee English, fashion model
Fargo
North Dakota
621
Josh Duhamel, actor
Minot /mīnŏt/ [ˈmaɪˌnat]
North Dakota
YouTube video 7-Nov.-2009
622
U.S. senator Byron Dorgan
Regent
North Dakota
YouTube video 7-Nov.-2009
623
Dennis Bevington, M.P.
Fort Smith
Northwest
Territories
YouTube video. 25-Sep.-2013
624
Eva Aariak, politician
Arctic Bay
Nunavut
YouTube
video (clip at 0:57) (See next entry for
details.) I had to do major adjustment of the dialect and feature lines
because of this entry! New! 13-Sep.-2017
625
Mayor Madeleine Redfern
Iqaluit (Eastern Canadian Inuktitut pronunciation: [ɪˈqaluɪt], with a uvular stop: listen to how
she says it. English pronunciation: /ĭkălōōĭt/
[ɪˈkʰæluɪt])
Nunavut
YouTube video Note that she has no Canadian raising, but does have the Atlantic Provinces
/är/ [aɹ] and a fairly fronted pronunciation of /ou/ [aʊ] and /ō/ [oʊ]. This is in sharp
distinction to the other Nunavut speakers Jordin Tootoo and Eva Aariak, in
all of these features. This places her English dialect closer to Newfoundland
and Labrador than anywhere else, but apparently she has always lived in
Iqaluit! This suggests that this area has followed Newfoundland and Labrador
because of proximity and influence. Adj. 13-Sep.-2017
626
Jordin Tootoo, pro hockey player
Rankin Inlet
Nunavut
YouTube video. 25-Sep.-2013
627
Paige Palmer, TV fitness expert
Akron
Ohio
YouTube video 4-Nov.-2009
628
Connie Schultz, columnist
Ashtabula
Ohio
YouTube video 27-Dec.-2010
629
Urban Meyer, college football coach
Ashtabula
Ohio
YouTube video 27-Dec.-2010
630
Maya Lin, designer
Athens
Ohio
631
Sam Hornish, Jr., NASCAR driver
Bryan
Ohio
YouTube video 16-Feb.-2010
632
John Glenn, astronaut, U.S. senator
New Concord
Ohio
YouTube
video (Contributor Amber Rodland pointed out that he actually grew
up in New Concord, not Cambridge. Thanks!). 23-May-2013
633
U.S. representative Steve Chabot
Cincinnati
Ohio
634
House Republican Leader John Boehner
Cincinnati
Ohio
635
U.S. representative Dennis Kucinich, former mayor
Cleveland
Ohio
636
Ohio House Speaker Armond Budish
Cleveland
Ohio
YouTube video 6-Dec.-2010
637
Jack Nicklaus, pro golfer
Columbus
Ohio
YouTube video I listened long and hard to this very long
interview, but it was only the second time through that I was finally able to
decide that “pin”≠“pen”, even
though he pronounces “again” as /əgǐn/ [əˈɡɪn], though most
speakers who make the distinction pronounce it /əgĕn/ [əˈɡɛn], which simply
means that Columbus is very close to the line. This forced me to revise the
dialect lines around Columbus to reflect this. The two following samples,
which have “pin”=“pen” and which I had thought were representative of
Columbus, I now realize are not. 17-Dec.-2015
638
Ray Stevens, “pro” wrestler
Columbus
Ohio
YouTube video (Dead link, and can’t find another.) I
believe that in this now dead link he had “pin”=“pen”, and I had assumed he
was a good Columbus sample, even though he was born in New York, because the Wikipedia article said he was raised in Columbus from
shortly after his birth. However, Jack Nicklaus above is a much more solid
sample. 17-Dec.-2015
639
Dwight Yoakam, country singer
Columbus
Ohio
YouTube video He has “pin”=“pen”, and I had assumed he
was a good Columbus sample, even though he was born in Kentucky, because the Wikipedia
article said he was raised in Columbus. However, it doesn’t say how old
he was when he moved there, so I am no longer confident about him. 12-Mar.-2016
640
“Debbie”, victim
Damascus
Ohio
From “Forensic Files – Season 5, Episode 8: Material
Evidence” (12:15), which I will not link to, since the material is definitely
too graphic for this family-friendly page. Clearly “cot”=“caught”,
distinguishing her from the other speakers from further west. New! 13-Sep.-2017
641
Martin Sheen, actor
Dayton
Ohio
YouTube video 1-Mar.-2010
642
Robert Pollard, indie rock singer
Dayton
Ohio
YouTube video 21-Dec.-2010
643
U.S. representative Zack Space
Dover
Ohio
YouTube video 22-Aug.-2009
644
Johnny Paycheck, country singer
Greenfield
Ohio
YouTube video 11-Jan.-2011
645
Bobby Bare, country singer
Ironton
Ohio
YouTube video (more
info, more
info) He also speaks some on these clips: YouTube
video, YouTube video. 27-Apr.-2013
646
Phyllis Diller, comedian
Lima /līmə/ [ˈlaɪmə]
Ohio
YouTube video 24-Jan.-2011
647
Susan Smeersol (spelling?), bookstore owner
Greenville
Ohio
YouTube video She is a native, as she says, and clearly “pin”≠“pen”, so in spite of my early
idea that Cincinnati and Dayton formed an island surrounded by “pin”=“pen”
areas, in fact there is a corridor uniting them to the “pin”≠“pen” area! 11-July-2011
648
State representative Jay Goyal
Mansfield (Lexington)
Ohio
YouTube video 6-Dec.-2010
649
Mayor Robert Brooker
Marshallville
Ohio
From “Forensic Files – Season 5, Episode 8: Material
Evidence” (1:27), which I will not link to, since the material is definitely
too graphic for this family-friendly page. Evidently a native, “cot”≠“caught”, and “on” rhymes with
“Don” (1:33), all like Canton, expanding the Canton mini-dialect area. New! 13-Sep.-2017
650
Ricky Stanzi, college football player
Mentor
Ohio
YouTube video 27-Dec.-2010
651
Don Shula, pro football coach
Painesville
Ohio
YouTube video 27-Dec.-2010
652
Roy Rogers, singer & actor
Portsmouth
Ohio
YouTube video, YouTube
video 27-Mar.-2010
653
Dean Martin, actor
Steubenville
Ohio
YouTube video 26-Oct.-2009
654
Gene Kranz, NASA Flight Director
Toledo
Ohio
YouTube video 24-Oct.-2009
655
U.S. representative Jim Jordan
Urbana
Ohio
YouTube video 12-Nov.-2010
656
State representative Bob Peterson
Washington Court House
Ohio
YouTube video (more info) 6-Dec.-2010
657
Mike DeWine, politician
Yellow Springs
Ohio
YouTube video 1-Mar.-2010
658
Bob Stooks, University of Oklahoma football coach
Youngstown
Ohio
YouTube video 12-Dec.-2011
659
Bo Pelini, University of Nebraska football coach
Youngstown
Ohio
YouTube video 12-Dec.-2011
660
Various residents
Ada
Oklahoma
YouTube video All speakers except the narrator speak
Inland Southern. Nancy Duncan has a few long /ī/ vowels with diphthong [aɪ], but she is mostly consistently Inland. 27-Apr.-2013
661
Blake Shelton, country singer
Ada
Oklahoma
YouTube video 30-Sep.-2016
662
Johnny Bench, baseball player
Binger /bǐnggər/ [ˈbɪŋɡɚ]
Oklahoma
663
Stephen Vaughan, loan officer and rancher
Boise City
Oklahoma
YouTube video (His clip starts at 1:33.) He is the
speaker wearing the red plaid shirt. Of all the speakers on this video, he is
the only one with a clear Inland Southern accent, that is, all of his long /ī/
vowels are pronounced [a]. According to a picture on this website, his name is Stephen Vaughan, though the
caption is a bit confusing as to who is who. However, a picture on this website seems to confirm his identity. This website says that he is a rancher as well as a farm
loan officer, suggesting that he is a local.
Local
farmer and Farm Bureau president Larry Crews evidently also speaks Inland
Southern based on his long /ī/ vowels, but no examples of long /ī/
vowels before voiceless consonants occur to make it absolutely certain.
The
other speakers show many of the secondary features of Inland Southern, but
their long /ī/
vowels are diphthongs [aɪ]. 6-Oct.-2011
664
Robert Conley, author
Cushing
Oklahoma
YouTube video 18-Oct.-2010
665
Owen K. Garriott, astronaut
Enid
Oklahoma
666
Captain Charles Scheffel, World War II veteran
Enid
Oklahoma
YouTube video 11-Jan.-2011
667
Roger Miller, country singer
Erick
Oklahoma
YouTube video 12-Aug.-2010
668
Darrell Royal, football coach
Hollis
Oklahoma
669
General Kenneth M. Taylor
Hominy
Oklahoma
670
Kurt Stevenson, school board candidate
Idabel
Oklahoma
YouTube video 29-Mar.-2010
671
Bernice (and Leroy) Krittenbrink and fire chief Randy
Poindexter[45]
Kingfisher
Oklahoma
672
Reba McEntire, country singer
McAlester
Oklahoma
673
Keith Anderson, country singer
Miami /mīămə/ [ˌmaɪˈæmə]
Oklahoma
YouTube video 18-Oct.-2010
674
LeRoy Jones, cowboy poet
Mountain View
Oklahoma
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum interview (more info) (Source suggested by archivist Laura Anne
Heller. Thanks!) As might be expected by someone who is right on the border,
he has many of the secondary features of Inland Southern, but his long /ī/s are
almost all [aɪ]s. Johnny Bench above is similar. 22-Apr.-2011
675
James Garner, actor
Norman
Oklahoma
676
Vince Gill, country singer
Norman
Oklahoma
YouTube video 22-Aug.-2009
677
Woody Guthrie, folk singer
Oklahoma
YouTube
video 30-Mar.-2010
678
Bobby Murcer, baseball player
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma
679
Garth Brooks, country singer
Oklahoma City (Yukon)
Oklahoma
YouTube video 11-July-2009
680
Mel McDaniel, country singer
Okmulgee
Oklahoma
YouTube video He talks consistent Inland Southern, and
usually sings Inland: YouTube video, but sometimes he sings Lowland: as when he
is singing as someone from Louisiana: YouTube
video as heard in “light” and “night”, which of course is quite
appropriate; even so, he slips up once, on “rifle”, showing that he really is
Inland! 12-July-2011
681
Jeff Piotrowski, tornado chaser
Owasso
Oklahoma
YouTube video Clearly “cot”=“caught”, and almost all
cases of long /ī/
[a] vowel has diphthong [aɪ]. 30-Sep.-2016
682
Ricky Manning, homeowner
Pauls Valley
Oklahoma
683
Mark Whitehead, singer
Purcell
Oklahoma
YouTube video According to this song, which he wrote, he
spent all of his youth in Purcell, and he sings the song with a clear Inland
Southern accent. However, his web site says he was born in Norman, and Purcell is
not mentioned. I have not found an interview. So, if anyone can clarify the
situation one way or the other, please do so.
23-May-2011
684
Matt Holliday, pro baseball player
Stillwater
Oklahoma
YouTube video 11-July-2009
685
U.S. representative John Sullivan
Tulsa
Oklahoma
sullivan.house.gov
(click VIDEOS, then Select) 1-Mar.-2010
686
Caucasian Male, 34, Fire Chief
Wyandotte
Oklahoma
IDEA audio
Listen to 4b rather than 4a, because 4b shows his natural Inland Southern
accent. (source)
The IDEA website has now clarified that he was indeed born there, so this
turns out to be a critical sample, marking clearly a triple dialect boundary
point with Miami, OK and Joplin, MO. 8-Nov.-2013
687
Peter Short, United Church moderator
Arnprior
Ontario
YouTube video 31-July-2009
688
Dan Quinn, pro hockey player
Brockville
Ontario
YouTube video (more info) 31-July-2009
689
Chief Edmund Matatawabin
Fort Albany
Ontario
YouTube video (His clip starts at 0:52.) 25-Sep.-2013
690
Duncan Keith, pro hockey player
Fort Frances
Ontario
YouTube video (Replaced bad link.) Even with 7 teeth
missing, this clip is quite clear. This one is longer, but doesn’t really
have more of him speaking: YouTube
video. 12-Aug.-2013
691
Rochelle Mazar, contributor
Guelph /gwĕlf/ [ˈɡwɛlf]
Ontario
YouTube video (Self-recording for this site. Thanks!) 4-Apr.-2011
692
Jason Law, contributor
Inwood
Ontario
YouTube video (Self-recording for this site. Thanks!) 30-Mar.-2011
693
Lubomyr Luciuk, college professor
Kingston
Ontario
YouTube video 31-July-2009
694
Mike Fletcher, diver
Port Dover
Ontario
YouTube video 21-Dec.-2010
695
Tanya Kim, TV personality
Sault Ste. Marie
Ontario
YouTube video 6-Feb.-2010
696
Joe Bowen, sportscaster
Sudbury
Ontario
697
Michael Barry, pro cyclist
Toronto
Ontario
YouTube video 20-Feb.-2010
698
Nora Young, CBC Radio host
Toronto (Don Mills)
Ontario
YouTube video Nora made this video after she interviewed
me on CBC radio in March of 2011. Thanks! I hope many others will do the
same. (See Record Your Own Voice for more
info or to hear the interview.) 26-Mar.-2011
699
Ken Boshcoff, politician
Thunder Bay
Ontario
YouTube video 30-Jan.-2010
700
Mike Eaves, Hockey Coach
Windsor
Ontario
YouTube video 4-Nov.-2009
701
Killer Kowalski, “pro” wrestler
Windsor
Ontario
YouTube video Warning: graphic description of gore! Don’t
listen too long! 4-Nov.-2009
702
Ross Coleman, pro bull rider
Molalla /məlŏlə/ [məˈlɑlə]
Oregon
YouTube video This is actually not a good sample for this
area, which is why I have colored it pink. He sometimes seems to be trying to
imitate a Texas accent, which seems to be in vogue on the rodeo circuit. In
particular, he seems to have fronted his long /ō/ [oʊ]
vowel more than is normal for his area.
Contributor
Andrea Niemiec wrote to confirm this: ‹‹I listened to the Mollala, OR audio
sample with a great deal of interest, as I grew up about 15 miles away in
Silverton, OR, where I lived until the age of 18. I believe that he is
attempting to sound “country” a great deal more than most people do;
certainly there is a slight accent from certain older generations who have grown up in rural Oregon, but he sounded
like an “out-of-towner” to me, and I would agree with you in ascribing it to
his profession.››
Contributor
Meagan Ford also confirms that he is not a good sample. 17-May-2012
703
Phil Knight, Nike co-founder
Portland
Oregon
YouTube video Oops! I had him listed as being from
Eugene, not Portland. Don’t know how I did that: Wikipedia is very clear
about it. Contributor Gilbert Kennen pointed out my error. Thanks! And as I
listen to his long /ō/ [oʊ]
vowels, I realize that they are Portland, not Eugene. 5-Mar.-2011
704
U.S. representative Earl Blumenauer
Portland
Oregon
YouTube video 25-Nov.-2010
705
David Griggs, astronaut
Portland
Oregon
YouTube video (His clips are at 12:25-16:30 and
17:25-17:55) 14-Apr.-2012
706
Roy Afflerbach, former state senator and mayor
Allentown
Pennsylvania
YouTube video 28-Oct.-2011
707
Charles Bronson, actor
Ehrenfeld
Pennsylvania
YouTube
video 5-May-2009
708
Fred Biletnikoff, pro football player
Erie
Pennsylvania
YouTube video 4-Nov.-2009
709
Mayor William Troxell
Gettysburg
Pennsylvania
YouTube video 5-Nov.-2015
710
Curt Wootton, actor
Greensburg
Pennsylvania
YouTube video He plays the role of “Pittsburgh Dad”,
modelled apparently on his own father, though actually he is from nearby
Greensburg. Hilarious! 14-Oct.-2016
711
State representative Glen Grell
Harrisburg
Pennsylvania
YouTube video There’s nothing quite as boring as
parliamentary procedure! 4-June-2009
712
Rick Gray, mayor of Lancaster, PA
Harrisburg
Pennsylvania
YouTube video 28-Nov.-2011
713
Jimmy Stewart, actor
Indiana
Pennsylvania
YouTube video 26-Nov.-2009
714
“Greg & Donny”, Jeff Skowron and Matt Yeager, actors
Johnstown
Pennsylvania
YouTube video (more info) (Suggested by Kathy Guido. Thanks!) These
well-known actors are playing exaggerated versions of people from their
hometown. 14-Oct.-2016
715
Mayor Charlie Smithgall
Lancaster
Pennsylvania
YouTube video 25-Sep.-2013
716
Fred Rogers, host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
Latrobe
Pennsylvania
YouTube
video 5-May-2009
717
Arnold Palmer, pro golfer
Latrobe
Pennsylvania
YouTube
video 5-May-2009
718
Joe Montana, pro football player
Monongahela
Pennsylvania
YouTube video 26-Jan.-2013
719
Judge John E. Jones
Orwigsburg
Pennsylvania
720
City Councilman Frank Rizzo, Jr.
Philadelphia
Pennsylvania
Compare “bad” in this YouTube
video with “dad” and “had” in this
YouTube video to hear the two distinct vowels. 4-June-2009
721
U.S. representative Michael Doyle
Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania
YouTube
video 7-May-2009
722
Dennis Miller, comedian & commentator
Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania
YouTube video (Replaced bad link again!) Interviewing
Jesse Ventura: talk about two extremely distinct accents! And points of view!
(Original link suggested by Y.I. Thanks!) 24-Jan.-2011
723
Johnny Angel & the Halos, singing group
Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania
Santa Claus
is comin’ Dahntahn This is great! It’s a dialect enthusiast’s
dream! They take the familiar song, and change the words just enough to
really maximize the occurrence of their unique pronunciation of the /ou/ [a] vowel! Not to mention various unique terms. And they
even have good harmony! (See the next entry for some help on the words.) (more info) 24-Jan.-2011
724
DoubleShot!, singing
group
Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania
Santa Claus
is goin’ Dahntahn Very similar to the preceding, but shows the
words, which is a big help in a few places! On the other hand, their
Pittsburg accent sounds to me to be just the tiniest bit less pristine than
the preceding. (more info) (Sent in by Ted Ying. Thanks!) 24-Jan.-2011
725
The Yinzers, singing group
Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania
YouTube video Just as fun as the preceding two! 24-Jan.-2011
726
Richard “Punchy” Kozlowski[47]
Reading /rĕdĭng/ [ˈɹɛdɪŋ]
Pennsylvania
YouTube
video 15-Nov.-2011
727
Ray Lyman, unhappy citizen
Scranton
Pennsylvania
YouTube video, YouTube
video This guy is truly disconnected from reality! But his accent is
fascinating, and he is apparently a native, though I have not been able to
confirm this. There are lots more videos of this guy, but this gives you the
idea! He consistently has /th/ [θ]
→ /t/ [t] and /ŧħ/ [ð] → /d/ [d], as well as the
distinctive Inland North pronunciation of /ă/ [eə]
in “ask”, /ŏ/
[a] in “cop”, and /ô/ [ɒ]
in “lawsuit”. The other speakers on the videos have these same vowels, but
not the /th/ [θ] →
/t/ [t] and /ŧħ/ [ð] → /d/ [d] feature, though the next
two samples below show that this is a standard feature of the region. 17-Aug.-2015
728
Ozzie Quinn, Scranton Taxpayers Association
Scranton
Pennsylvania
YouTube video (His clip starts at 12:20.) He sometimes
has /th/ [θ] → /t/ [t] and /ŧħ/
[ð] → /d/ [d], and sometimes not. (Many of the other citizens who
speak are also good samples, though not the first one, who is apparently not
local.) 16-May-2013
729
Bob Kadlubowski, tow truck owner
Wilkes-Barre /wĭlksbârē/ [ˈwɪlksˌbeɹi]
Pennsylvania
YouTube video (His clip starts at 2:20.) Dialect very
similar to Scranton. He has several cases of /th/ [θ] → /t/ [t] and /ŧħ/
[ð] → /d/ [d]. At 2:50 he says, “I told yas,” demonstrating the special second person plural pronoun
discussed in the following clip. 16-May-2013
730
Greg Korin, actor
Wilkes-Barre
Pennsylvania
YouTube video (Sent in most recently by Claudio Salvucci.
Thanks!) Okay, this is not a good sample for at least two big reasons:
1) It’s a spoof, exaggerating and poking fun at the Northeast
Pennsylvania accent, so of course it is not natural, and 2) The main
actor playing the teacher who is modeling the dialect isn’t even from the
area! He was born and raised in Great Falls,
Montana! He clearly gets parts of the dialect right, like /th/ [θ] → /t/ [t] and /ŧħ/
[ð] → /d/ [d], but he also gets other parts wrong, in particular the
pronunciation of the distinctive /ă/ and /ô/ vowels. But it’s fun, and it points out various grammar
and vocabulary features that are probably dying out, so I stuck it in.
Besides, multiple contributors have suggested that I include it, so I really
had to say something about it. No, the dialect is not really called Heynabonics, they just made that up! 16-May-2013
731
Mike Mussina, pro baseball pitcher
Williamsport
Pennsylvania
732
Jonathan Mann, Journalist
Montreal
Quebec
video 24-June-2010
733
Dan Laxer, Journalist
Montreal
Quebec
YouTube video 24-June-2010
734
Mayor Jean Tremblay
Saguenay /săgənā/ [ˈsaɡəˌne]
Adj. 13-Sep.-2017
Quebec
YouTube video, YouTube
video (His first clip starts at 1:14.) I wanted to get some clips of
people from parts of Quebec where English is essentially absent, to get a
feel for where the long /ō/ [oʊ]
fronting lines run through
Quebec, but what is clear is that his French phonology completely trumps any
such subtleties, so these lines are meaningless here, so I will not show them
passing through Quebec at all, but running along the east side, since the
French pronunciation of the English /ō/ is strongly backed. 10-Sep.-2013
735
U.S. senator John Chafee
Providence
Rhode Island
736
Police officer
Providence
Rhode Island
YouTube video 31-Mar.-2010
737
Regina /rəjīnə/ [ɹəˈdʒaɪnə]
Saskatchewan
YouTube
video Yes, I know the clip is about Wilmington, Delaware, but the
speaker is from Regina! 26-Mar.-2011
738
U.S. senator Lindsey Graham
Central
South Carolina
YouTube
video Lowland Southern speaker from an apparently Inland Southern
area. See Possible
Southern Class Distinction?.
2-Jan.-2012
739
Fritz Hollings, U.S. senator, governor
Charleston
South Carolina
740
Katon Dawson, politician
Columbia
South Carolina
741
David Beasley, former governor
Darlington
South Carolina
742
U.S. senator Strom Thurmond
Edgefield
South Carolina
YouTube video (Older r-dropper retaining Classical Southern, although many younger ones
may have lost it!) One feature that he had, which most Classical Southern
speakers no longer have, is his special pronunciation of the vowel /ûr/ in
“hurt”, “turning”, and “concerning” as [ɜɪ]
rather than [ɝ]. (See [ɜɪ] instead of [ɝ] in some
Classical Southern dialects.)
23-Sep.-2015
743
U.S. senator Jim DeMint
Greenville
South Carolina
YouTube
video Lowland Southern speaker from an apparently Inland Southern
area. See Possible
Southern Class Distinction?.
2-Jan.-2012
744
Sofia B., age 33, bank teller
Greenville
South Carolina
ANAE info and audio Clearly Inland, based on the word “invite”.
14-Feb.-2012
745
Kristen B., age 41, bank teller
Greenville
South Carolina
ANAE info and audio Clearly Inland, based on the word
“like”. 14-Feb.-2012
746
Susan Smith, murderer
Union
South Carolina
YouTube video (Her clip is 1:48-2:30.) 12-July-2011
747
U.S. senator Tom Daschle
Aberdeen
South Dakota
748
Ralph Kurtenbach, interviewer
Dimock /dǐmŏk/ [ˈdɪmˌak]
South Dakota
audio “On” rhymes with “Dawn”! This can be
heard clearly several times in the clip, and Ralph personally confirmed this
to me. 11-July-2015
749
67-year-old White man with some schooling
Ludlow
South Dakota
750
Bob Barker, game show host
Mission
South Dakota
YouTube video “On” rhymes with “Dawn”! 27-Mar.-2010
751
U.S. senator George McGovern
Mitchell
South Dakota
YouTube video Oops! I was totally wrong about Mitchell:
“on” rhymes with “Dawn”, though at first listen I thought that it rhymed with
“Don”. The clearest case is just after 6:20.
11-July-2015
752
Nancy Tystad Koupal, historian
Mitchell
South Dakota
audio (more info, more info) I had already realized that “On” rhymes with
“Dawn”, but I had thought that she was different from the others from
Mitchell, but in fact she is just like them!
11-July-2015
753
Mike Miller, pro basketball player
Mitchell
South Dakota
YouTube video, YouTube
video Oops! “On” rhymes with “Dawn”, though at first listen I thought
that it rhymed with “Don”. Several clear cases starting at 2:26 in the first
clip. The second clip, which I had posted before, is not really very good. 11-July-2015
754
Governor Mike Rounds
Pierre /pîr/ [ˈpʰɪɹ]
South Dakota
YouTube
video “cot”≠“caught”,
but the difference is minimal, so much so that I at first missed it, and had
him in the wrong region! This is not unusual for the Western North.
755
Mark Ellis, pro baseball player
Rapid City
South Dakota
YouTube video, YouTube
video (His clip starts at 1:30.) These clips are short, but he clearly
speaks differently from Becky Hammond, and instead speaks a bit more the way
the ANAE says someone from Rapid City should
speak! However, he clearly has more backed long /ō/ [oʊ]
vowels, unlike what the ANAE says, which straightens out the yellow long o
fronting line of dots, which
I had twisting around Rapid City! 12-Mar.-2013
756
Becky Hammond, basketball
player
Rapid City
South Dakota
YouTube
video She evidently does not represent Rapid City well, having
apparently lived too long in Texas! 12-Mar.-2013
757
Tillie Black Bear, Lakota women’s advocate
St. Francis
South Dakota
YouTube video “On” rhymes with “Don”. 27-Mar.-2010
758
Joe Foss, World War II flying ace
Sioux Falls
South Dakota
759
U.S. senator Tim Johnson
Vermillion
South Dakota
YouTube video 19-Mar.-2010
760
Lee Raymond, Exxon
Watertown
South Dakota
761
James Abourezk, former U.S. representative and U.S.
senator
Woods
South Dakota
YouTube video An interesting character. And he clearly
has “on” rhyming with “Dawn”, which makes the “on” line even twistier than
before! 12-Mar.-2013
762
Archie Campbell, comedian
Bulls Gap
Tennessee
YouTube video 1-Jan.-2010
763
Troy Odle
Camden
Tennessee
764
Kevin Burke, entrepreneur
Chattanooga
Tennessee
YouTube video (more
info, more info) He starts out with a non-southern “Hi!”, but
immediately lapses into nearly pure Inland Southern! He was born and raised
in Chattanooga, and represents the bedrock dialect. For quite a while I had
thought that Chattanooga was Lowland Southern, since the people I had met
there were, but it turns out there is a class distinction there, as discussed
in Possible
Southern Class Distinction?. 11-Aug.-2014
765
Lamar Trotter, grandfather
Cleveland
Tennessee
YouTube video.
15-Sep.-2014
766
Peg McKamey Bean, southern gospel singer
Clinton
Tennessee
YouTube video, YouTube
video (Replaced bad link.) These are two different renditions of the
same song, separated by decades. But her accent never changes, and is one of
the best examples of Inland Southern I have heard! (The song’s message is
right on also, and she sure feels it as she sings it!) 21-July-2012
767
Sterling Marlin, NASCAR driver
Columbia
Tennessee
YouTube video, YouTube
video, YouTube video (His clip starts at 3:22; sent in by Karl
Gerlach. Thanks!), YouTube video (His clip starts at 1:22.) In the first two
clips he sounds thoroughly Inland, but in the last two he sounds more
Lowland, but mixed with Inland. Actually, in the last one, from 1:59 to 2:05
he says “Coors Lite” with what sounds like [aɪ],
though it is awfully fast, “twice” with a clear [aɪ],
and “tonight” with a clear monophthong [a]. I would
have to say he is Inland, but very borderline, and I have tried to draw the
border to somewhat represent this! (One could also surmise that he might have
changed over the decades, but the remainder of his accent is absolutely
pristine, so I doubt it!) 12-Mar.-2013
768
Mack Brown, football coach
Cookeville
Tennessee
YouTube video 10-Mar.-2010
769
Amanda Garrett, vlogger
Cookeville
Tennessee
YouTube video (Sent in by her mother Tracy. Thanks!)
Almost fully consistent Lowland Southern as far as her long /ī/ [a(ɪ)] vowels and in other ways. The dialect is not
dying out, even among young people!
5-Mar.-2011
770
Rodney Atkins, country singer
Cumberland Gap
Tennessee
YouTube video, YouTube
video 5-July-2010
771
State senator Doug Jackson
Dickson
Tennessee
YouTube video The stuff politicians find to quibble
about! 10-Mar.-2010
772
Dave’s mom
Dover
Tennessee
YouTube video (Sent in by Eli K. Thanks!) 16-Feb.-2010
773
Dave’s dad
Dover
Tennessee
YouTube video (Sent in by Eli K. Thanks!) 16-Feb.-2010
774
Committee members
Dunlap
Tennessee
YouTube video The lady who does most of the talking is
clearly Inland, as is the man who speaks briefly towards the end. (The man
who talks the most sounds like a transplanted northerner.) 1-Nov.-2011
775
Politically active resident
Dunlap
Tennessee
YouTube video Not to detract in any way from the concerns
of the main speaker, mainly teenage drinking, and who seems to have
researched his subject, I find it delightful that his kids (presumably) are
playing “punch bug” in the background. Clearly Inland. 1-Nov.-2011
776
The Boyd Brothers, local country singers
Dunlap
Tennessee
YouTube video Clearly Inland.
1-Nov.-2011
777
Diana Walker, southern gospel singer
Knoxville
Tennessee
audio & info
(Scroll down to her testimony to listen.) Very consistent and clear Inland,
but very occasionally does a long /ī/ [a] vowel with a diphthong [aɪ], for no obvious reason! (more
info) 11-July-2011
778
Rafael Eledge, Civil War relic expert
Lawrenceburg
Tennessee
PBS
video (more info, more info)
This is a wonderful sample: Rafael is such a confident professional, and his
accent is such perfect Inland Southern. 1-May-2012
779
Fred Thompson, politician, actor, etc.
Lawrenceburg
Tennessee
YouTube video (more info) Since we have such a clear sample in the previous
one from Rafael Eledge, it is almost pointless to include this one. His
pronunciation here is mostly Lowland, which might be explained by the fact
that he has worked extensively as an actor, and could presumably adjust his
speech accordingly. However, I decided to include it anyway, because in spite
of all this he does pronounce a few words with a clear Inland pronunciation,
notable the word “iceberg”, suggesting that his native dialect is Inland. 1-May-2012
780
Storekeepers: Cathy Bell, Robbie Treadwell
Linden
Tennessee
YouTube video These 2 are clearly Inland. 12-June-2010
781
Dwight Hines, businessman
Lobelville
Tennessee
YouTube video All but the first one are clearly Southern, but only this speaker
happens to use any diagnostic words for Inland: his name being one of them!
(The first speaker sounds like a transplant from up North.) 12-June-2010
782
Mayor Randy Brundige
Martin
Tennessee
Google video (Video no longer public.) (Sent in by Eli K.
Thanks!) 15-Jan.-2013
783
John Wilder, speaker, TN senate
Mason
Tennessee
YouTube video (Older r-dropper retaining Classical Southern, something only heard
occasionally from much older speakers in this area.) 10-Mar.-2010
784
Roy Acuff, “king of country music”
Maynardville
Tennessee
YouTube video (Replaced dead link.) Beautiful combination
of Anglo-Celtic melody (more info) with traditional mountain dialect. YouTube
video, YouTube video Anybody like railroad songs? These are two
of the best! 5-Nov.-2014
785
Carl Smith, country singer
Maynardville
Tennessee
YouTube video 10-May-2011
786
Buddy Coppock, southern gospel singer
Maynardville
Tennessee
audio & info
(Scroll down to his testimony to listen.) Very consistent and clear Inland,
but very occasionally does a long /ī/ [a] vowel with a diphthong [aɪ], for no obvious reason! (more
info) 11-July-2011
787
Various, presumably residents
McMinnville
Tennessee
YouTube video (All speakers are Lowland.) 10-Mar.-2010
788
Dottie West, country singer
McMinnville
Tennessee
YouTube video (Clearly Lowland as well!) 23-Feb.-2011
789
Grady Ward Partin, storyteller
Monteagle
Tennessee
YouTube video (Sent in by Eva Griffin. Thanks!)
Contributor Eva Griffin suggested that the Grundy County dialects are
mountain dialects, i.e. Inland Southern, and she was quite right. Grundy
County is up on the Cumberland Plateau, all of which is solidly Inland
Southern. (See comments about the Cumberland Plateau in the Inland and Lowland Southern section.) 16-Mar.-2013
790
Don Hill, storyteller
Beersheba Springs /bûrshəbə sprēngz/ [ˈbɝʃəbə ˈspɹɪiŋz]
Tennessee
videos & info:
click on Big Don “Tells It Like It Was”. (Sent in by Eva Griffin.
Thanks! There is a lot more great information on the Grundy County history
page.) 16-Mar.-2013
791
Doyle Lawson, bluegrass gospel singer
Fordtown
Tennessee
YouTube video He is the older guy. 5-Nov.-2015
792
Paula Flowers, politician
Monterey
Tennessee
YouTube video 10-Mar.-2010
793
U.S. Congressman Bart Gordon
Murfreesboro
Tennessee
YouTube video 10-Mar.-2010
794
Caucasian male, born 1990
Nashville
Tennessee
IDEA
audio (source) 8-Nov.-2013
795
John Seigenthaler, journalist
Nashville
Tennessee
YouTube video (Older r-dropper retaining Classical Southern, dropping many of his
droppable r’s, something only heard occasionally from much older speakers in
this area.) 26-Jan.-2013
796
Ronnie McDowell, pop singer
Portland
Tennessee
YouTube video (more
info) 2-Dec.-2009
797
Darryl Worley /wûrlē/ [ˈwɝli],
country singer
Pyburn
Tennessee
YouTube video 4-Sep.-2010
798
Bryan Simmons, southern gospel singer
Quebeck
Tennessee
Click here, then
click on the second “Play Demo” link. (more
info, more
info) 31-July-2012
799
Caucasian male, born 1943
Ridgetop
Tennessee
IDEA
audio (source) 8-Nov.-2013
800
Skylar McBee, college basketball player
Rutledge
Tennessee
YouTube video (Sent in by Jay Brantner. Thanks!) 18-Nov.-2011
801
Josh Franks, Southern gospel singer
Savannah
Tennessee
YouTube video (more info) 23-June-2010
802
Randy Parton, Dolly’s brother
Sevierville
Tennessee
YouTube video Dolly has modified her speech, but Randy
still speaks pure Inland Southern!
30-Jan.-2010
803
U.S. Congressman Jim Cooper
Shelbyville
Tennessee
YouTube video 10-Mar.-2010
804
Jimmy Martin, bluegrass singer
Sneedville
Tennessee
YouTube video, YouTube
video 25-Apr.-2013
805
Billy Blakely, fishing guide
Tiptonville
Tennessee
YouTube video 26-Nov.-2009
806
Carl Perkins, rockabilly singer
Tiptonville
Tennessee
YouTube video 28-Mar.-2012
807
Herbert and Marie Adams, “Herbie Town”
Trenton /trǐntən/ [ˈtʰɹɪɾ̃ən]
Tennessee
Google video (Sent in by Eli K. Thanks!) 4-Sep.-2010
808
Ron Pace, financier
Waverley
Tennessee
MSNBC video 20-Feb.-2010
809
Phillip Fulmer, football coach
Winchester
Tennessee
YouTube video 10-Mar.-2010
810
Caucasian male, born 1940, hair stylist
Amarillo
Texas
IDEA audio
(source) 8-Nov.-2013
811
Jeannie C. Riley, country singer, later southern gospel
singer
Anson
Texas
YouTube video (Replaced bad link.) This is the song that
made her famous (and a bit notorious), but later she preferred to be known
for her gospel music. 2-Sep.-2013
812
U.S. representative Lloyd Doggett
Austin
Texas
YouTube
video 9-May-2009
813
Colby Yates, bull rider & country singer
Azle
Texas
YouTube video (more
info) Clearly has an Inland Southern accent, more representative of the
Dallas-Fort Worth area than that of Kenny Marchant of Carrollton below. 6-Sep.-2011
814
Mark Chesnutt, country singer
Beaumont
Texas
YouTube video Has a clear Lowland South accent, but a few
words sound Inland. I don’t have a good explanation for this, since Beaumont
is far from the Inland Southern area.
12-Dec.-2011
815
Debra Medina, politician
Beeville
Texas
YouTube video 28-Apr.-2010
816
U.S. representative Mac Thornberry
Clarendon
Texas
YouTube video 30-Dec.-2011
817
Terry Labonte, NASCAR driver
Corpus Christi
Texas
YouTube video Very thorough Lowland Southern, though
occasional diphthongs in voiced situations, especially before /n/, which is not unusual. This and the next clip
demonstrate that the ANAE was mistaken, and that Corpus Christi is not
actually a distinct dialect. (I have now moved the Jim “Reverend Horton”
Heath clip to the Rejected Data section below.) 23-Nov.-2012
818
Bobby Labonte, NASCAR driver
Corpus Christi
Texas
YouTube video Very much like his brother, can’t decide
whether the word “time” has a diphthong or not. 23-Nov.-2012
819
U.S. representative Kenny Marchant
Carrollton
Texas
YouTube video (clip at 5:35) The Dallas-Fort Worth area
is one of the few areas where there seems to be a mixture of Inland Southern
and Lowland Southern based perhaps on class distinctions, though the bedrock
dialect seems to be Inland. Kenny Marchant in this clip speaks mostly
Lowland, with occasional lapses into Inland. However, the two speakers before
him, apparently also locals, speak only Inland. See Possible Southern Class Distinction?. 12-Dec.-2011
820
Valerie M., age 47, food service worker
Dallas
Texas
ANAE info and audio (Replaced bad link.) Clearly Inland
South! 31-Dec.-2011
821
Heather Cranford-Nied, sports commentator, etc.
Dallas (Duncanville)
Texas
YouTube video (Her clip starts at 1:30) more info) Clearly speaks Inland Southern! 12-Dec.-2011
822
Ross Perot, Jr., businessman
Dallas
Texas
YouTube video Perot clearly comes from a wealthy family
and attended a private school, which may explain why he shows no sign of
Inland Southern, but only Lowland Southern. See Possible Southern Class Distinction?. 12-Dec.-2011
823
Kent Hance, Texas Tech Chancellor
Dimmitt
Texas
YouTube video 20-Jan.-2010
824
State senator Eliot Shapleigh
El Paso
Texas
YouTube video (Replaced bad link.) [48] 19-Aug.-2015
825
Ronn Lucas, ventriloquist
El Paso
Texas
YouTube video 24-Feb.-2011
826
Governor John Connally
Floresville
Texas
YouTube video, YouTube
video (Second one sent in by Karl Gerlach. Thanks!) 8-Nov.-2012
827
Clayton Williams, oil man
Fort Stockton
Texas
YouTube video 12-Jan.-2010
828
Dr. Adam Boyd, M.D.
Franklin
Texas
audio & info 9-May-2009
829
Ron White, comedian
Fritch
Texas
YouTube video Not as objectionable as some of his stuff,
unless you love dogs or parents. (Sent in by Y.I. Thanks!) 1-July-2010
830
Harry Kreisler, host of “Conversations with History”
Galveston
Texas
YouTube video Hardly Southern at all. See Galveston
Movement. This was confirmed by contributor James Dallas: «Also,
regarding Galveston… I think it’s an odd duck. I am not surprised you
marked it as Midland but I think it probably a mix of Midland and Lowland
Southern depending on geography, race and class (literally, different
neighborhoods sound different just like New Orleans, although definitely
Galvestonians sound less “interesting” and closer to “Broadcast Television
American” than N’Orleanians do).» Adj.
13-Sep.-2017
I
listened to the sample again and realized that “pin”≠“pen”, so I adjusted the map accordingly. New! 14-Sep.-2017
831
Joe Don Baker, actor
Groesbeck
Texas
YouTube
video 9-May-2009
832
Bob Moorhouse, photographer and rancher
Guthrie
Texas
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum interview
(Source suggested by archivist Laura Anne Heller. Thanks!) (more info) 23-Apr.-2011
833
Mary Kay Ash, entrepreneur
Houston /hyōōstən/ [ˈhjustən]
Texas
YouTube video Yes, I know, she’s an older speaker, now
deceased, but there still must be some real southerners in Houston, right?
Yes, there are: see the following! 23-May-2011
834
Joel Osteen /ōstēn/ [ˈoʊˌstin],
“prosperity gospel” preacher
Houston
Texas
YouTube video (Replaced dead link.) Finally, a living
Houstonian who actually speaks Southern! (See also John
MacArthur) 16-Jan.-2012
835
White female, born 1981, college student
Huntsville
Texas
IDEA audio
(source) 8-Nov.-2013
836
Vernon Dalhart, very early country singer
Jefferson
Texas
YouTube video (Not the kids’ version of Big Rock Candy
Mountain! Very similar to the version in O
Brother Where Art Thou?.) Lowland Southern with hints of Classical,
but generally not Classical. 31-July-2012
837
Bill Burns, fiddle player
Lipan /līpăn/ [ˈlaˌpʰæn]
Adj. 14-Sep.-2017
Texas
YouTube video (Sent in by Karl Gerlach. Thanks!) 8-Nov.-2012
838
Ed Gerlach, big band legend
Livingston
Texas
YouTube video (Sent in by Karl Gerlach. Thanks!) 8-Nov.-2012
839
Terry Allen, “outlaw” country singer
Lubbock
Texas
YouTube video Occasionally his long /ī/ vowels are [aɪ], but the vast majority are clearly Inland Southern
[a], before both voiced and voiceless sounds. 3-Mar.-2011
840
Don Bowman, “outlaw” country singer
Lubbock
Texas
YouTube video This is the infamous “Wildwood Weed” song,
in its original incarnation. (more info) 3-Mar.-2011
841
Julia Plumley, lifelong resident
Marfa
Texas
YouTube video (His clip starts at 1:43; sent in by Karl
Gerlach. Thanks!) Clearly Inland, demolishing my theory that the Inland South
line followed the western edge of the Great Plains all the way to the Mexican
border. 19-Aug.-2015
842
Caucasian male, born 1938
Mart
Texas
IDEA audio
(source) 8-Nov.-2013
843
General Tommy Franks
Midland
Texas
844
Larry Gatlin, country singer
Odessa[49]
Texas
YouTube
video, YouTube video (Second one sent in by Karl Gerlach.
Thanks!) 8-Nov.-2012
845
Leslie Satcher, country singer
Paris
Texas
YouTube video 27-Mar.-2010
846
Gene Stallings, college football coach
Paris
Texas
YouTube video 9-Mar.-2012
847
George Strait, country singer
Pearsall
Texas
848
Ray Price, country singer
Perryville
Texas
YouTube video 24-Mar.-2010
849
U.S. representative Louie Gohmert
Pittsburg
Texas
YouTube
video, YouTube video (Second one sent in by Karl Gerlach.
Thanks!) (There is no “h” in “Pittsburg”, as pointed out by David Lawrence.
Thanks!) 8-Nov.-2012
850
Dickie Greenwood, President of Disability Resources, Inc.
Rochester
Texas
YouTube video (Sent in by Karl Gerlach. Thanks!) This
speaker starts out trying not to sound as Southern, but as he goes along his
speech settles into solid Inland Southern, except once right at the end. 8-Nov.-2012
851
Fess Parker, actor
San Angelo
Texas
YouTube video 31-Aug.-2009
852
George Jones, country singer
Saratoga
Texas
YouTube video 23-Feb.-2010
853
Johnny Horton, country singer
Rusk
Texas
YouTube video (Replaced bad link.) 15-Dec.-2010
854
Caucasian female, born 1924
San Marcos
Texas
IDEA audio
(source) 8-Nov.-2013
855
Caucasian male, born 1950(?)
Sanderson
Texas
IDEA audio
(source) 8-Nov.-2013
856
Lieutenant Governor Bill Ratliff
Sonora
Texas
YouTube video 27-Mar.-2010
857
Lisa Gail Allred, singer
Snyder
Texas
YouTube video (Sent in by Karl Gerlach. Thanks!) audio and
info 19-Aug.-2015
858
Rex Linn, actor
Spearman
Texas
859
Lee Roy Parnell, country singer
Stephenville
Texas
YouTube video Added interview clip: YouTube
video. Oops! I had him listed as being from Abilene, whereas he is
actually from Stephenville. Contributor Karl Gerlach set me straight. Thanks!
He also pointed out that he isn’t consistent in his speech, which can be
heard on the interview clip, but he also clearly is Inland Southern, because
those features keep popping up, unlike Ben Hogan, who is Lowland. 4-Sep.-2012
860
Ben Hogan, pro golfer
Stephenville
Texas
YouTube video He is another speaker of Lowland in a
predominantly Inland Southern region. See Possible Southern Class Distinction?. 12-Dec.-2011
861
Ross Perot, Sr., Politician
Texarkana
Texas
YouTube
video, YouTube video (Second one sent in by Karl Gerlach.
Thanks!) 8-Nov.-2012
862
Female, born 1980, student
Texarkana
Texas
IDEA audio
(source) The IDEA website has now clarified that
she was born and raised there, so I have reinstated her as a valid sample.
She is mostly Lowland Southern, with a few signs of Inland Southern, which is not too surprising given how close to the
border she lives. In the first part of the sample, which was rote reading,
she seemed to pronounce a few of her long /ī/ [a(ɪ)]
vowels in a non-Southern way, but in the second part she is quite consistent.
8-Nov.-2013
863
Sarah McClendon, correspondent
Tyler
Texas
YouTube
video (Her clip is at 8:40.) 13-May-2009
864
Dale Evans, singer & actress
Uvalde
Texas
YouTube video 27-Mar.-2010
865
Tracy Byrd, country singer
Vidor
Texas
YouTube video Has a clear Lowland South accent, but a few
words sound Inland. 15-Dec.-2010
866
U.S. representative Joe Barton
Waco
Texas
YouTube
video 9-May-2009
867
Various residents
Waxahachie /wôksəhăchē/
[ˌwɒʊksəˈhæʧɪ]
Texas
YouTube video All residents clearly Inland, unlike Byron
Nelson below! 6-Sep.-2011
868
Byron Nelson, pro golfer
Waxahachie
Texas
CBS News video (more info) He clearly speaks Lowland, although the native
dialect of Waxahachie seem to be Inland, as can be seen from the previous
sample. See Possible
Southern Class Distinction?.
12-Dec.-2011
869
Mary Martin, actress
Weatherford
Texas
YouTube video An actress, and another speaker of Lowland
in a predominantly Inland Southern region. See Possible Southern Class Distinction?. 12-Dec.-2011
870
Caucasian female, born 1938
Weslaco /wĕsləkō/
[ˈwɛsləˌkʰəʊ]
Texas
IDEA audio (source) 8-Nov.-2013
871
Alan Wachsman, native Wichitan, sixth-generation Texan
(How in world do you pronounce “Wichitan”?)
Wichita Falls /wĭchĭtô fôlz/
[ˈwɪtʃɪˌtʰɒʊ ˈfɒʊlz]
Texas
YouTube video (more info) Sometimes finding a good sound sample for a
particular place is like pulling teeth: You search through dozens of web
sites and still don’t find one. Not this time: the very first clip found by
searching for Wichita Falls on YouTube is this one, and it is excellent, and
is as Inland North as you can get, filling in a nice blank spot. If only it
were always this easy! 19-Apr.-2011
872
Jamie Wilson, country singer
Yancey
Texas
YouTube video, YouTube
video 5-Nov.-2013
873
Governor Michael Leavitt
Cedar City
Utah
YouTube video Clearly “pin”≠“pen”
and long /ō/ [oʊ]
vowel is back of middle, as expected. 11-Mar.-2016
874
Forrest Cuch, Indian leader
Fort Duchesne /dōōshān/ [ˌduˈʃeɪn]
Utah
YouTube video 26-Sep.-2009
875
Waldo Wilcox, rancher
Green River
Utah
YouTube video (more info) 26-Sep.-2009
876
Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese’s
Ogden (Clearfield)
Utah
YouTube video 6-Feb.-2010
877
Governor Gary Herbert
Orem
Utah
YouTube video 6-Feb.-2010
878
Mayor Lewis Billings
Provo
Utah
YouTube video 6-Feb.-2010
879
Clayton Christensen, Harvard Professor
Salt Lake City
Utah
YouTube video 6-Feb.-2010
880
Hannah Teter, Olympic
snowboarder
Belmont
Vermont
YouTube video Not a true
Vermont accent? 11-Feb.-2011
881
Chris Wagner, dairy farmer
Enosburg, Franklin County
Vermont
YouTube video Very much like Mark Magnan. 5-Sep.-2013
882
Mark Magnan, dairy farmer
Fairfield, Franklin County
Vermont
YouTube video (Sent in by R.E.M. Thanks!) Excellent
Vermont accent, with all the characteristic features: “cot”=“caught”,
strongly fronted /är/
[aɹ], slightly fronted /ou/ [aʊ].
In spite of closeness to Canada, no raising
of the latter. 5-Sep.-2013
883
Claire Stanley, dairy farmer
(East) Fairfield, Franklin County
Vermont
YouTube video (Sent in by R.E.M. Thanks!) Very much like
Mark Magnan. 5-Sep.-2013
884
Paul Stanley, dairy farmer
Franklin, Franklin County
Vermont
YouTube video (His clip starts at 0:17.) (Sent in by
R.E.M. Thanks!) Very much like Mark Magnan. 5-Sep.-2013
885
U.S. senator Patrick Leahy
Montpelier
Vermont
YouTube
video After feedback from contributors,
and listening again, I see that he does not really have a distinct Vermont
accent, even though he grew up in Montpelier. However he clearly does have
“cot”=“caught”. 11-Feb.-2011
886
Danny Perry, etymologist
Newport
Vermont
Video
(Self-recording for this site. Thanks!) He says, “I’m from a very rural area of
Vermont called the Northeast Kingdom (or NEK for short). If you cut Vermont
into 4 squares, the region is the top right quadrant. I live in Newport,
Vermont, right on the Quebec border. The region I’m talking about essentially
spans from Lowell, Vermont area on the west side, all the way to the eastern
border of the state. And it goes from the Canadian border down to the Saint
Johnsbury, Vermont area.” 6-Nov.-2015
887
Ross Powers, Olympic
snowboarder
Peru
Vermont
YouTube
video More than one contributor has
said that Ross Powers does not have a
real Vermont accent, and the non-pink examples are probably better. However,
my question is: does southern Vermont have a less pronounced accent than the
north? 6-Sep.-2013
888
Ron and Cheryl Machia (pronunciation?), dairy farmers
Sheldon, Franklin County
Vermont
YouTube video (Sent in by R.E.M. Thanks!) She sounds very
much like Mark Magnan, but it isn’t clear whether she is from Sheldon or not.
He, on the other hand, definitely is from Sheldon, and he pronounces one of
his vowels, /ă/
[æ], quite differently from all the other people from
Franklin County: it is noticeably lower and slightly more backed, exactly the
way a Canadian would pronounce it. But all the rest of his vowels seem to be
just like the other people from Franklin County, so this is a bit of an
enigma. And he certainly does not have Canadian raising! 5-Sep.-2013
889
Bill, old timer
Stowe
Vermont
YouTube video Contributor Jon Protas says none of the
preceding three pink samples from Vermont shows a real Vermont accent, so I
added this one. There were several even better ones, but they used some words
you can’t use on TV, so I couldn’t use it. There were some others, but they
seemed to be of people imitating a Vermont accent, so they didn’t work
either! 2-Feb.-2011
890
George Woodard, dairy farmer
Waterbury
Vermont
YouTube video This was sent in by Charlie Farrington as a
more representative sample. Thanks!
11-Feb.-2011
891
John Bowman, bluegrass gospel singer
Ararat
Virginia
YouTube video (www.caccwarriors.com/john-bowman) 9-Sep.-2010
892
Katie Couric, CBS news anchor
Arlington
Virginia
YouTube video (more info) (“pin”≠“pen”) 5-Oct.-2010
893
Rich Lowry, National
Review editor
Arlington
Virginia
YouTube video (more info) (“pin”≠“pen”) 5-Oct.-2010
894
Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google
Arlington
Virginia
YouTube video (“pin”≠“pen”,
except “any”, “many”) 5-Oct.-2010
895
Hope Elliott, lifelong resident
Chesterfield
Virginia
video (Sent in by Sam Williams. Thanks!) Very much
standard Lowland Southern, does not
have either of the features that make Tidewater speech distinctive: the raising
of “out” but not “down”, and the r-dropping of Classical Southern. This is
typical of younger people in this area, according to contributor Sam
Williams, though he says that her grandfather has both. 19-Aug.-2015
896
Charles Stanley, pastor
Danville (Dry Fork)
Virginia
YouTube video 4-Sep.-2012
897
Elliott Sadler, NASCAR driver
Emporia
Virginia
YouTube video (His clip starts at 4:12.) He is clearly
both Classical Southern, dropping most of his droppable r’s, and he is quite a young man at 37,
showing that Classical Southern is alive and well! He is also clearly
Tidewater, as his pronunciation of “out” shows! (Sent in by Karl Gerlach.
Thanks!) 23-Nov.-2012
898
Various residents
Guinea (Gloucester Country)
Virginia
YouTube video (Sent in by John Drummond. Thanks!) A unique
accent, with some features reminiscent of the Chesapeake Islands. However,
unlike the Chesapeake Islands, clearly falls within Classical Southern, with
both Lowland Southern long /ī/ vowel and r-dropping. However, I do not know
whether “pin”=“pen” or not, since no diagnostic word seems to occur, but I am
guessing it is like Norfolk. All speakers have the accent (except the
narrator, of course), though Nannie Mae has it much less than the others. 8-May-2013
899
Chris Kraft, NASA engineer
Hampton
Virginia
YouTube video 21-July-2009
900
James King bluegrass
Cana
Virginia
YouTube video, YouTube
video, YouTube video, YouTube
video Very consistent Inland
Southern, which defines the border clearly at this point. (See the discussion
at the entries for Mount Airy, North Caroline.) What a tear jerker the second
clip is! 11-Nov.-2015
901
Jackson Family, bluegrass gospel singers (Joe Jackson,
banjo)
Hurley
Virginia
YouTube video 9-Sep.-2010
902
white male, born 1979
Leesburg
Virginia
IDEA audio
(source) 8-Nov.-2013
903
Jerry Falwell, preacher
Lynchburg
Virginia
904
June Carter Cash (of the Carter Family), country singer
Maces Spring
Virginia
audio,
YouTube
video 16-Apr.-2013
905
Ralph Stanley, bluegrass singer
McClure
Virginia
YouTube video (Replaced dead links.) He sings tenor and
plays the banjo. 5-Nov.-2015
906
Carter Stanley, bluegrass singer
McClure
Virginia
YouTube video (Replaced dead link.) He sings lead and
plays the guitar. 5-Nov.-2015
907
“Mother” Maybelle Addington Carter (of the Carter Family),
country singer
Nickelsville
Virginia
YouTube video 16-Apr.-2013
908
Bill Fanney, TV spokesman
Norfolk
Virginia
YouTube video Delightful clip, clearly both Classical
Southern and Tidewater, and clearly “pin”≠“pen”,
which is only true for a few Tidewater cities, as the ANAE also shows. 8-May-2013
909
L. Douglas Wilder, mayor of Richmond, governor of Virginia
Richmond
Virginia
YouTube video, YouTube
video Sent in by Carlisle Childress. Thanks! He comments: “I’d like to
offer the following video as a candidate for a native Richmond speaker. Doug
Wilder was the first elected African-American governor in the US in 1990.
Although you have said that you were not following African American dialects,
he does speak just like my father and his siblings (all Caucasians), all born
in the same neighborhood about the same time (Church Hill neighborhood in
Richmond VA, in the 20’s and 30’s).” I am now including some African American samples, but only in the
Lowland South where their dialects originated. However, I hardly perceive any
AAVE features in Doug Wilder’s
pronunciation, and wonder how he compares with other African Americans in
Richmond. He has both the Tidewater raising and Classical Southern, which
made me redraw both of these lines. 25-Apr.-2013
910
Margaret Gibson, poet
Richmond
Virginia
YouTube video I at first
thought that she was representative of the traditional Richmond accent, but
contributor Carlisle Childress clarified that she is not. She has neither the
Tidewater raising nor Classical Southern, unlike Douglas Wilder, who does
represent the traditional accent.
25-Apr.-2013
911
U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Taubman
Roanoke
Virginia
912
U.S. representative Virgil Goode
Rocky Mount
Virginia
913
E.C. Ball, gospel & folk singer
Rugby
Virginia
YouTube video 3-Apr.-2010
914
Wayne Henderson, guitar maker
Rugby
Virginia
YouTube video, YouTube
video 3-Apr.-2010
915
Harrison Tyler, grandson of president John Tyler
Sherwood Forest Plantation
Virginia
C-span video (His clips start at 7:00) (Sent in by Robert
Taylor. Thanks!) He clearly demonstrates both Classical Southern and
Tidewater raising, as in his
pronunciation of “house”. His wife Payne Tyler (her clips start at 18:20)
also has a very interesting accent, somewhat different from his, but I have
not found any definite information on where she grew up. Adj. 2-Oct.-2017
916
Anne Tyler Netick, great-granddaughter of president John
Tyler
Sherwood Forest Plantation
Virginia
C-span video (Her clip starts at 2:22:40.) (Sent in by
Robert Taylor. Thanks!) (more info) She clearly demonstrates both Classical
Southern and Tidewater raising, as in
her pronunciation of “about”. 13-Apr.-2013
917
Brothers Don & Harold Reid, southern gospel singers
Staunton /stăntən/ [ˈstænʔn̩]
Virginia
YouTube video 8-Apr.-2013
918
Various residents
Tangier Island
Virginia
YouTube video 9-Sep.-2010
919
The Singing Cookes, bluegrass and southern gospel singers
Wise
Virginia
YouTube video, YouTube
video, YouTube video, YouTube
video, YouTube video, YouTube
video, YouTube video (more info)
Gorgeous harmony and Inland Southern! 6-Apr.-2013
920
Douglas Osheroff, physicist
Aberdeen
Washington
YouTube video (Replaced dead link.) 16-May-2013
921
Bob Hickman, saddle maker
Colfax
Washington
YouTube video (more info) 6-Dec.-2010
922
Kirk Triplett, pro golfer
Pullman
Washington
YouTube video 25-Nov.-2010
923
Travis B., contributor
North Bonneville
Washington
Audio (Self-recording for this site. Thanks!) This
contributor has precisely the accent we would expect for this location. He
also clearly pronounces “poor” as /pȯr/
[ˈpʰoɹ] and “tour” as /tōōər/ [ˈtʰᵿʉɚ],
showing that he only has 5 r-colored vowels, just like my wife who speaks
West Midland, suggesting that the special r-colored vowel /ŏŏr/
may be limited to the northeastern U.S. (See R’s Between Vowels: To Color or Not to Color and
footnote Error!
Bookmark not defined. for more details.) 29-Aug.-2015
924
Judy Collins, folk singer
Seattle
Washington
YouTube video 6-Sep.-2011
925
Aya Sumika, actress
Seattle
Washington
YouTube video (Replaced dead link.) 16-May-2013
926
Bill Gates, Microsoft cofounder
Seattle
Washington
YouTube video (Replaced dead link.) 17-May-2013
927
Richard Karn, actor & game show host
Seattle
Washington
YouTube video (Replaced dead link.) 17-May-2013
928
U.S. representative George Nethercutt
Spokane
Washington
YouTube video 25-Nov.-2010
929
Tom Maccarone, restaurateur
Walla Walla
Washington
YouTube video (Sent in by S. Radtke. Thanks!) 19-Feb.-2011
930
Jay Randolph, sports commentator
Clarksburg
West Virginia
931
Homer Hickam, NASA engineer
Coalwood
West Virginia
932
Richard Thompson, politician
Fort Gay
West Virginia
YouTube video (more
info) (Cannot get a long enough clip to be sure “cot”=“caught”, but the
surrounding samples are clear.) 28-Apr.-2010
933
Jim Grobe, college football coach
Huntington
West Virginia
YouTube video 2-Dec.-2009
934
Don Blankenship, coal CEO
Matewan /mātwŏn/ [ˈmeɪtˌwɑn]
West Virginia
YouTube video 26-July-2012
935
Matewan
West Virginia
YouTube
video 28-Apr.-2010
936
Tom Chafin, descendant of the feudin’ Hatfields
Matewan
West Virginia
YouTube video (Clip starts at 4:50.) 30-Apr.-2010
937
Lawrence Kasdan, movie producer, director, and
screenwriter
Morgantown
West Virginia
YouTube video (His clip starts at 2:20.) (more
info) This is the second northernmost example of Southern (after nearby
Cumberland, Maryland), and is a rare case of someone in the movie industry
who retains a strong regional accent! He seems to have “cot”=“caught”, unlike
Cumberland, but this is not surprising.
23-July-2011
938
Mark Funkhouser, Kansas City mayor
Paden
West Virginia
939
Steve Chapman, gospel singer
Point Pleasant
West Virginia
YouTube video (more info) 1-Sep.-2014
940
John McKay, football coach
Shinnston
West Virginia
941
General Chuck Yeager, test pilot
Myra
West Virginia
YouTube video I have listened to various samples of his,
and clearly “cot”≠“caught”,
though they are fairly close! Now need to verify Charleston. 28-Apr.-2010
942
Annie Chapman, gospel singer
Southside
West Virginia
YouTube video (more info) 1-Sep.-2014
943
Sara Stapleton, high school principal
Wayne
West Virginia
YouTube video (Her clip starts at 3:57.) 28-Apr.-2010
944
Steven Akers, high school student
Wayne
West Virginia
YouTube video (His clip starts at 0:41.) 28-Apr.-2010
945
Arden Cogar, Sr., lumberjack
Webster Springs
West Virginia
YouTube video 1-July-2010
946
John Corbett, actor
Wheeling
West Virginia
YouTube video Oops! I had put Wheeling in the “pin”=“pen”
region, but I must have been in a hurry: Both speakers clearly distinguish. 12-June-2010
947
Bob Ney, talk radio host
Wheeling
West Virginia
YouTube video 22-Aug.-2009
948
J. P. Hayes, pro golfer
Appleton
Wisconsin
YouTube video 3-June-2011
949
Matt Kenseth, NASCAR driver
Cambridge
Wisconsin
YouTube video Not as strong as some Inland North, but
still representative. 31-Dec.-2011
950
Thomas Christianson, boil master
Door County
Wisconsin
YouTube video (Sent in by Y.I. Thanks!) 28-Oct.-2010
951
State senator Dave Hansen
Green Bay
Wisconsin
YouTube video 29-Dec.-2010
952
Laura, cancer patient
Green Bay (Hobart)
Wisconsin
YouTube video (Sent in by Anneke Majors. Thanks!) 24-Jan.-2011
953
Defense secretary Les Aspin
Milwaukee
Wisconsin
YouTube video 16-Mar.-2010
954
Craig Counsell, pro baseball player
Milwaukee
Wisconsin
YouTube video (Clip starts at 4:00) 16-Feb.-2010
955
John Koepke /kĕpkē/ [ˈkʰɛpki],
dairy producer
Oconomowoc /ōkŏnəmōŏk/ [ˌoˈkʰanəmoˌak]
Wisconsin
YouTube video 3-June-2011
956
State senator Joe Leibham /līphŏm/
[ˈlaɪpˌham]
Sheboygan /shəboigən/
[ʃəˈbɔɪɡən]
Wisconsin
YouTube
video, YouTube
video This guy speaks what I’ve always thought of as a typical
Wisconsin accent, though I now realize that it’s limited to southern and
eastern Wisconsin, and is simply a fairly pure (or extreme) example of Inland
North, also heard elsewhere in the region.
2-Mar.-2011
957
Secretary of state Lawrence Eagleburger
Stevens Point
Wisconsin
YouTube video 16-Mar.-2010
958
Chris Bangle, car designer
Wausau
Wisconsin
YouTube video 6-Sep.-2011
959
Lynne Cheney, wife of U.S. vice president
Casper
Wyoming
960
U.S. representative Cynthia Lummis
Cheyenne
Wyoming
961
U.S. senator Alan K. Simpson
Cody
Wyoming
962
Steve Moulton, Western singer and rancher
Encampment
Wyoming
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum interview
(Source suggested by archivist Laura Anne Heller. Thanks!) 23-Apr.-2011
963
Douglas Owsley, forensic anthropologist
Lusk
Wyoming
YouTube video, YouTube
video What I said about Torrington below still seems to be true, but the
pin-pen line makes a fairly sharp twist now, and it makes me wonder. 1-Sep.-2014
964
Jesse Garcia, actor
Rawlins
Wyoming
YouTube video 8-Feb.-2010
965
Lexie Madden, Miss Wyoming 2012
Torrington
Wyoming
YouTube video, YouTube
video Sent in by M.W. Thanks! He complained that in Torrington “pin”≠“pen”, and he was right. In fact,
Torrington has several features that distinguish it from the rest of Wyoming
and from nearby towns in Nebraska. 9-Mar.-2013
966
Phil Gatensby, counselor
Carcross
Yukon Territory
967
Stanley, Sr., Native American from Gwich’in tribe
Old Crow
Yukon Territory
Rejected Data:
(These are people raised in a certain place, but not
representing the local dialect. If any of you have local knowledge and think
that these people do represent the
local dialect, please let me know!) 3-Nov.-2011
Reject:
Collin Raye, country singer
De Queen
Arkansas
YouTube
video When I first heard him, singing this clip, I thought, “Okay,
he’s from De Queen, Arkansas, and he speaks Inland Southern.” Turns out I was
wrong on both counts. First, he is totally inconsistent: he sometimes sings
Inland, as in this clip, but usually sings Lowland, as in the first song on
this interview clip: YouTube video, but he doesn’t actually talk Southern at
all, as can be heard in the interview. Also, though he was born in De Queen,
he was raised someplace
in Texas. The first clip is a cool song, and I had at first assumed that
it was a true story about Collin Raye’s grandparents, but I can find nothing
to indicate this. Even so, he probably sang it in Inland Southern because he
was thinking of his own grandparents, who may have been from De Queen. (I
only included all this because I like the song.)
25-Feb.-2011
Reject:
Joe Spano, actor [50]
San Francisco
California
Reject:
Christopher Lloyd, actor
New Canaan
Connecticut
YouTube
video 26-Sep.-2009
Reject:
U.S. president George H. W.
Bush
Greenwich
Connecticut
YouTube video (Evidently spent too much time in Texas!) 16-Nov.-2009
John
Malkovich, filmmaker
Benton
Illinois
YouTube video (Has “pin”≠“pen”,
but Benton is “pin”=“pen”) 8-Jan.-2011
Bill
Doba, football coach
New Carlisle
Indiana
YouTube video (Evidently has picked up some Southernisms
from places he has coached!) 8-Jan.-2011
Reject:
Hank
Harris, actor
Duluth
Minnesota
YouTube video 1-May-2010
Reject:
Cape Girardeau
Missouri
YouTube
video 7-May-2009
Reject:
Sikeston
Missouri
YouTube
video 7-May-2009
Reject:
Melanie Wilkinson, reporter
Clearwater
Nebraska
YouTube video (more info) “cot”=“caught”; where did that come from?
Reject:
Kyle Rosfeld, boot maker
Valentine
Nebraska
Reject:
Harvey Perlman, Chancellor,
UNL
York
Nebraska
YouTube video (more info) According to the previous website, he was
raised in York, but this website and several others say he was born in
Lincoln. So the question is, when did
he move to York? Based on the other samples from York, which are Northern, I
assume he does not represent York. 7-Nov.-2011
Reject:
Leah Dizon, model
Las Vegas
Nevada
YouTube video Native Las Vegan contributor Jim Hoffman
said that this speaker has a slight Asian accent, and suggested Andre Agassi
instead. Thanks! 5-Mar.-2011
Reject:
Matt Bonner, pro basketball
player[52]
Concord
New Hampshire
YouTube
video 2-June-2009
Reject:
Richard Lederer, columnist
Concord
New Hampshire
YouTube
video 2-June-2009
Reject:
U.S. first lady Barbara Bush
Rye
New York
YouTube video (Evidently spent too much time in Texas!) 16-Nov.-2009
Gavin Veris, pro football
player
Chillicothe /chǐlǐkôthē/ [ˌtʃʰɪlɪˈkʰɒθi]
Ohio
YouTube video Oops! He looks African American, but speaks
General American, with no hint of AAVE, and with “pin”≠“pen”!
I thought this was for historical reasons, e.g.: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chillicothe,_OH#History, and
that he represented the local “white” dialect, but in fact the local white
dialect has “pin”=“pen”, something I was able to determine by watching a
documentary about the town, in which all the speakers were locals. 3-Nov.-2011
Reject:
Gerald Tremblay, mayor
Montreal
Quebec
YouTube video Does not have Canadian raising, but is a native French speaker! 1-July-2010
Mayor James Ruberto /rəbârtō/
[ɹəˈbeɹˌtʰoʊ]
Pittsfield
Massachusetts
YouTube video (Sent in by Nicole Garzino. Thanks!) (more info)
Nicole Garzino had proposed this speaker as representative of Pittsfield,
even though he clearly has an Inland North accent. What makes it all
confusing is that he apparently was raised and born in Pittsfield, at least
according to the above web site, and for a while I adjusted the map assuming
that he was representative, even though it makes some weird bends in the
lines. However, I have finally had to reject him, for reasons given under Gary Kitmacher.
20-Apr.-2011
Jean Charest, Premier of
Quebec
Sherbrooke
Quebec
YouTube video Does not have Canadian raising, but is a native French speaker! 1-July-2010
Reject:
Two residents
Trenton
Tennessee
Google video (It is not clear if this lady is from
Trenton, but she speaks Lowland, and the people in the other clip from
Trenton, who are far more likely to be natives, speak Inland. The sample of
the other person in this clip is too short to be sure.) (Sent in by Eli K.
Thanks!) 20-Feb.-2010
Reject:
Jim “Reverend Horton” Heath,
“country-fed punkabilly” singer
Corpus Christi
Texas
YouTube
video The ANAE had claimed that Corpus Christi did not speak Southern, and
I thought this clip proved it, but actually the Labontes demonstrate the
opposite. 23-Nov.-2012
Reject:
Dan Blocker, “Hoss” on Bonanza
O’Donnell
Texas
YouTube video (Supposedly grew up in O’Donnell, in west
Texas, but speaks Lowland. However, the information in Wikipedia is sketchy.)
Reject:
Jimbo Fisher, FSU assistant
football coach.[53]
Clarksburg
West Virginia
Reject:
Larry Wilcox, actor
Rawlins
Wyoming
YouTube video (Because he is an actor, he has evidently
learned to say “ten-four” instead of “tin-four”!)
8-Feb.-2010
The three largest dialects that are characterized by the
cot-caught merger, The West and the two main Canadian dialects, also have one
other feature in common: the vowel of “too” is significantly more fronted than
the vowel of “toe”. Now this situation is not seen in England, but it is in
Scotland, where the difference in fronting of “too” and “toe” is even more
extreme. And it turns out that many
speakers of Scottish English also have the cot-caught merger! (In fact,
they only have 12 vowels, having also merged the vowels in “good” and “food”.)
Canadian English has other features like Scottish English, in particular the
pronunciation of the “long vowels” in “boat” and “bait” as pure vowels rather
than diphthongs, and the lower, more central pronunciation of the vowel in
“bat”. Therefore, it seems likely that Canadian English, which had very heavy
Scottish immigration, took all of these features from Scottish English. (Newfoundland also had very significant
Irish influence, and this has given its English a distinctive Irish
pronunciation, especially in Irish Newfoundland.)
The dialect of the West in the U.S. may then have taken just the cot-caught
merger and the fronting of the vowel of “too” from Canadian English, since no
other U. S. dialect has the latter. 4-Apr.-2011
How the other dialects with the cot-caught merger got it is
less clear, but it is evident from the map that they are all close to the
Canadian border! In particular, based on the western settlement patterns, it
seems fairly clear that the North Central dialect is simply a case of speakers
from the North dialect who have adopted the cot-caught merger from the West and
from Canada.
|
|
/ä/ “ah”
|
short /ŏ/
|
/ô/ “aw”
|
|
England:
|
[ɑ]
|
[ɔ]
|
[o:]
|
|
GNYC:
|
[ɑə]
|
[a]
|
[oə]
|
|
ENE:
|
[a]
|
[ɒə]
|
|
|
South:
|
[ɑ]
|
[ɒʊ]
|
|
|
MEA:
|
[ɑ]
|
|
[ɒ]
|
|
Before↓
|
|
|
|
|
/k/ [k]
|
Bach’s†
|
box
|
balks*
|
|
/r/ [ɹ]
|
sparring
|
horrid
|
warring
|
|
/ŧħ/ [ð]
|
father
|
bother
|
(broader)
|
|
/b/ [b]
|
Saab†
|
sob
|
|
|
/n/ [n]
|
Kahn†
|
con
|
|
|
/l/ [l]
|
Mali†
|
Molly
|
|
|
/m/ [m]
|
balm*
|
bomb
|
|
|
/m/ [m]
|
psalm*
|
Somme
|
|
|
/m/ [m]
|
palm*
|
pompom
|
|
|
/m/ [m]
|
qualm*
|
||
|
/m/ [m]
|
alms*
|
||
|
/m/ [m]
|
calming*
|
common
|
|
|
—
|
ah
|
|
awe
|
|
—
|
ha
|
|
haw
|
|
—
|
la
|
law
|
|
|
—
|
ma‡
|
|
maw
|
|
—
|
pa‡
|
paw
|
(11-Mar.-2016)
The Father-Bother distinction
In Eastern New England (ENE), many Greater New York City
(GNYC) speakers, England, Australia, various other former British colonies,
and possibly a few speakers in the Maritime Provinces of Canada, the words “father” and
“bother” do not rhyme, having different vowels in the first syllable. Not
only that, but in all of these areas except Eastern New England and possibly
the Maritimes the words “father”, “bother”, and “broader” all have different
vowels. However, the words with /ä/ (the vowel in “father”) are relatively few, so there
are few minimal pairs (scroll down to the second group; I found a
few more here). 11-Mar.-2016
I have only found one minimal triple, which was only
possible by including the name Bach, which is not an English word in the
strictest sense. The three words “Bach’s”, “box”, and “balks” would each be
pronounced differently in most of these areas, including England. However, in
Greater New York City “Bach’s” and “box” are the same (confirmed by GNYC
contributor Kevin McNamara), even though GNYC speakers make the three-way
distinction in the other words listed, because of the fact that the phonetic
pronunciations of /ä/
and /ŏ/
are reversed from the other regions, as shown in the chart.[55]
In Eastern New England “box” and “balks” would be the same, but “Bach’s”
would be different. (In the chart, MEA means “Many Eastern Americans”.
Obviously, all of those with the cot-caught merger
would say them all with the same vowel, and I have not shown this.) 11-Mar.-2016
Part of the issue is the limited number of consonants
which may follow the /ä/ vowel. That is, native English words with /ä/ are
relatively few if you don’t count words in which an r has been dropped in the
pronunciation, since most of these areas (though not the Maritimes) are systematic r-dropping regions. Thus, in most of
these areas the words “father” and “farther” are identical, and most words
spelled with “ar” are pronounced with /ä/. 17-Dec.-2015
But apart from these words with dropped r’s, or with /ä/ before an
/r/ between vowels as in the second row in the
chart, native English words with /ä/ before a consonant are almost nonexistent, the only
genuine cases being “father” and the “alm” words.
(This is why I had to add the foreign names marked with †, just to
help fill out the chart, and even these don’t work in GNYC.) On the other
hand, there are quite a number at the end of a word, as the last five rows of
the chart show, but none of these have minimal pairs with short /ŏ/,
only with /ô/. 17-Dec.-2015
The chart on the left shows examples of these three groups
of words. 26-Sep.-2016
There is another group of words that have /ä/ in
southern England (and occasionally in Eastern New England), but /ă/ in
most of North America and the rest of Britain, like “staff”, “pass”, “half”,
“bath”, “rather”, etc. I have not included any of these in the chart. 30-Mar.-2010
Scotland is a special case: “father” and “bother” do not
rhyme, but there is no distinction between /ä/ and /ă/, so “palm”=“Pam”, “psalm”=“Sam”,
and “father” rhymes with “rather”. See the previous
section for more info about the Scottish vowel system. 11-Jan.-2011
Those who lack the father-bother distinction will
pronounce the vowels in the first two columns the same, except that the word
“horrid” is variable, being pronounced /hŏrid/
([ˈhɑɹɪd]
or even [ˈhaɹɪd]) in the northeastern
U.S., but /hȯrid/ [ˈhoɹɪd] by most Americans. (There may or may
not be an intermediate group that says /hôrid/
[ˈhɔɹɪd].) Many similar words have
this same variation, as in “horrible”, “porridge”, “coral”. 7-Feb.-2013
* Most English speakers
worldwide do not pronounce the “l” in these words, and in particular all of
those with the Father-Bother distinction or who are systematic r-droppers
apparently do not. However, many Americans do. See the following section, The Pronunciation of “-alm” and “-olk” and “-alk”, for a discussion of these
words. 24-Sep.-2011
† In Greater New York
City each of these words is the same as the corresponding word in the next
column, but apparently in all other areas with the Father-Bother distinction
they are different. See also the discussion in the second paragraph above. 17-Dec.-2015
‡
Many Eastern Americans (MEA) may pronounce these two words the same as
the corresponding word in the third column, but I doubt that any with the
father-bother distinction do. 17-Dec.-2015
Do you pronounce the “l” in the
red words in the chart below? How about in the blue words? I don’t pronounce
the “l” in any of them! However, I do pronounce the “l” in all of the green
words, though some people don’t pronounce it in all of these. I only became
aware in 2011 that many Americans pronounce the “l” in the red words, and I’m
trying to find out if the distribution is regional, or is just all mixed up!
(The words in parentheses are not very common, so don’t pay attention to them
if you aren’t sure, or if they don’t work like the others.) 15-May-2012
Most Americans apparently
pronounce the “l” in the red words in the first column below, a smaller number
pronounce the “l” in the red words in the second column, and an even smaller
number pronounce the “l” in the red words in the third column, but like me some
Americans definitely do not pronounce the “l” in any of them, nor do the vast
majority of English speakers outside North America.
1-June-2011
I am fairly certain that no
native English speakers pronounce the “l” in the blue words. However, I thought
that was true of the third red column, and I was proved wrong, so please let me
know. 8-June-2011
Please let me know which words
you pronounce the “l” in, and which you don’t. Be sure to compare them with the
words in black below to see if they rhyme. If they do, then you aren’t
pronouncing the “l”! 1-June-2011
I became aware in late 2011 that
some speakers pronounce “my folks” without the
“l”, but “folk song” with an “l”.
Similarly, some speakers pronounce “corn stalk”
(a noun) without the “l”, but “I stalk the deer”
(a verb) with an “l”. If any of you who have already answered the survey find
that you do the same, please let me know. 15-May-2012
In English the number of words
which end in “-alm” or “-alms” is
limited. The only ones of these which are really common, well-known words are
listed in the first column of the first chart above, although obviously there
are other words derived from these that are also common, like “embalm” or
“becalm” or “psalms”. (This
web site lists a few more, but they are so rare they don’t even show up in
standard dictionaries. The word “realm” doesn’t count, since its pronunciation
is completely different.) So, the list is short, though it is clearly a
pronunciation pattern. Now, around the world most English speakers, including
myself, do not pronounce the “l” in these words, and these words contribute to
the short list of words containing the /ä/ vowel for those speakers who
do not rhyme the words “father” and “bother”, as discussed in the previous section. For this reason this list of words,
though short, is somewhat important when discussing how many vowels a
particular speaker has. 19-May-2011
Until 2011 I had assumed that
historically the “l” in all of the red words above was completely lost in all
English dialects, and that the few speakers who did pronounce the “l” did so
because it had been reintroduced based on a “bookish” pronunciation. However, I
seem to have been quite wrong. A number of contributors to this page have
written in and told me so, after seeing the “-alm”
words listed in the previous section, and marked as
having a “silent l”. Thus, contributor Jon from Sacramento, California
disagrees: “I would also note that all of the words that you list with a silent
‘l’ in your father-bother distinction (balm, psalm, palm, alms, calming) I
would say with a swallowed but still present to varying degrees “l” sound, and
I think the majority of people I grew up with in Sacramento would too.” Thus he
pronounces “balm” as /bŏlm/ ([ˈbɒɫm]
(he does not distinguish “cot” and “caught”), with a “dark l”, which
would sound almost “swallowed”, as he describes it, though clearly there. 15-May-2012
I should have realized that it
wasn’t a bookish pronunciation, since it only applies to certain groups of
words, as shown in the first chart above, not to all words with silent “l”, of
which there are many.
I have listed the main groups in the first chart above. 3-June-2011
After I was challenged by these
two contributors, I went looking on the Internet, and found that there is
indeed one American dictionary that lists a pronunciation of some of these
words with the “l” pronounced, the Online Merriam-Webster dictionary, in all of
these words: calm, palm,
balm,
psalm,
qualm,
alms,
and napalm,
and even provides audio samples of the “l” pronunciation. This was surprising
to me, since most dictionaries, both American and British, give only a
pronunciation with no “l”. (Merriam-Webster also gives another pronunciation /kăm/
for “calm”, which would evidently be the Scottish pronunciation, like “palm”
mentioned above.) 16-May-2011
Contributor Y.I. has pointed out
to me that the ANAE Ch. 2, p. 14 had also observed this phenomenon: “Words
with vocalized /l/ formed a part of this class: calm,
palm, balm, almond, though a large number of North
Americans have retained or restored the /l/.” Like
me, they are apparently unsure whether the “l” was retained or restored, and
unfortunately they have not provided any help about the regional distribution.
(In this book, also found by Y.I., the assumption is simply
made that these “l”s are retained because
of spelling pronunciations, without providing any evidence.) I had not
previously thought of the word “almond” as belonging to this class, since I myself pronounce the “l” in this word, as /ôlmənd/ ([ˈɒlmənd], quite different from my “calm” /kŏm/ ([ˈkʰɑm]. (I distinguish “cot” and “caught” but not
“father” and “bother”.) However, after consulting my many dictionaries, none of
them recognize such a pronunciation, but say that the proper pronunciation is
either /ämənd/
or /ămənd/!
I checked with my wife, who is from Nebraska and does not pronounce the “l” in
“calm”, though she does in “balm”, and she does
pronounce it in “almond”, just as I do. The Online Merriam-Webster dictionary comes the closest to our pronunciation, at least recognizing that
some people do pronounce the “l”, but they give the options as /ämənd/,
/ămənd/,
/älmənd/,
or /ălmənd/.
I find the third of these four options extremely unlikely, and speculate that
perhaps a speaker for whom /ä/ = /ŏ/ = /ô/ may have worked on this entry.) Most American
dictionaries give both /ämənd/ and /ămənd/, and
according to contributor Marna Ducharme, her grandmother who always lived in
New York City said /ămənd/
[ˈæmənd]. Not only that, but several
contributors (Emmor Nile, James Divine, John Kelly), have told me that it has
the /ămənd/
[ˈæmənd] pronunciation throughout California’s
Central Valley, where they grow lots of them! In any case, it seems clear that
“almond” often does not go along with the other “-alm”
words. 2-Oct.-2011
Later I realized that a lot of
people also pronounce the “l” in “folk” and “yolk”, as shown in the Initial Survey Results chart below. Almost all of
these also pronounce the “l” in “calm”, suggesting that the two word groups are
part of the same pattern of “l” retention. 8-June-2011
So this seems to be a
conservative feature harking back to a time when the “l” in the red words was
pronounced by all speakers, and as such, is probably a regional feature like
the others on the map. 8-June-2011
If this is a conservative
feature, then it must have been brought over to the U.S. from some region of
Great Britain or Ireland. However, there is almost no trace of this “l”
anywhere in this area, not even in Scotland or Ireland, from which many of the conservative
features in American English came. However, my trusty contributor Y.I. has been
able to track down one possible source: what is called the West Country
of England (really the extreme southwest) apparently continues to pronounce
this “l”, according to John Wells in The Accents of English, page
346, in a section describing the vowels in the West Country.
According to this article, <<The West Country accent is probably
most identified in American English as “pirate speech” – cartoon-like “Ooh arr, me ’earties! Sploice the mainbrace!”
talk is very similar. This may be a result of the strong seafaring and
fisherman tradition of the West Country, both legal and outlaw.>> Clearly
this accent could have had influence in the Americas (as suggested in this linguistics book tracked down by contributor Y.I.),
though why the influence has been so pervasive is unclear. 6-Sep.-2011
In any case, the retention of
this “l” thus does not seem to depend on whether or not “cot”=“caught”, since
it occurs across the continent. However, I am fairly certain that all speakers
who are systematic r-droppers always lack the
“l” in the “calm” group, and that all speakers with the father-bother
distinction do too. This makes sense, since the resulting vowel is /ä/, which
mainly occurs as the result of r-dropping. It is less clear why the “yolk”
group would drop the “l” for this group, since the resulting vowel /ō/ [oʊ] does
not normally occur as a result of r-dropping.
2-Oct.-2011
Unlike the other data on the main
map, this data is not from audio or video sound samples, but from self-analysis
and direct interviews, since finding individual words in sound samples is
almost impossible. It appears that the vast majority of Americans pronounce the
“l” in “calm”, except for those in systematic
r-dropping areas (as mentioned in the previous
section), and nearby areas like Poughkeepsie and Port Chester, New York, in
the Eastern North dialect. (New Orleans seems to have followed GNYC in this as
in many other features, at least as far as the common words go.) So it would
seem that I am in a small minority! Evidently my dialect
was influenced by my parents more than I realized: my Dad was from Port
Chester, New York, an area that does not pronounce the “l”, and my mother was
originally from Australia, which is a systematic r-dropping area, and so again
does not pronounce the “l”. Even so, I can’t believe I didn’t even notice such
a widespread pattern for so long! As for Canada, it seems likely that many or
most there also retain the “l”, though so far I only have data for one location. 6-Sep.-2011
We now seem to have enough data
that the geographical pattern is becoming clear for the “calm” group and to a
lesser extent for the “yolk” group, though the “talk” group remains unclear.
However, we clearly still need more data to map these patterns fully. In
particular we need more locations where the “l” in these words is definitely not pronounced. Help me out, people.
This is a very simple thing for you to write in and tell me: “I grew up in X,
and I pronounce the “l” in all these words,” or “I grew up in Y, and I don’t
pronounce the “l” in any of these words except ‘almond’,” or whatever the case
may be. 15-May-2012
Inland and Lowland Southern and their relationship to the extent
of slavery before the Civil War
Before discussing the distribution of Inland Southern and
Lowland Southern, I need to define them more clearly, since I find that there
is a lot of confusion as to what I mean by Inland Southern versus Lowland
Southern. 17-Apr.-2013
Inland Southern has full monophthongization of long /ī/ [aɪ] to [a].
This means that all long /ī/ vowels are not diphthongs [aɪ],
but essentially pure vowels, usually [a] (which is
clearly distinguished from /ŏ/ [ɑ]). Thus, the “i”s in “ride”, “buy”, and “right” are all the
same, and all sound quite Southern! However, this doesn’t mean that “ride” [ˈɹad] is pronounced the same as “rod” [ˈɹɑd], or that “right” [ˈɹat]
is pronounced the same as “rot” [ˈɹɑt]:
these words still have distinct pronunciations, though Yankees may have trouble
hearing the difference! 27-Apr.-2013
Lowland Southern is similar, except that Lowland Southern only has partial monophthongization of long /ī/ [aɪ] to [a].
This means that the vowels of “ride” and “buy” have the Southern vowel [a] just like Inland, but the vowel of “right” is a diphthong [aɪ], with a pronunciation a bit more like other parts of
the United States. The specific rule is this: before voiceless sounds the vowel
is a diphthong, but elsewhere it is not. Voiceless sounds are /p,t,ch,k,f,s,sh,th/ (as is “python” /pīthən/
[ˈpʰaɪθən], where it is
voiceless, not as in “lithe” /līŧħ/
[ˈlaɪð], where it is voiced). Why does it work
that way? Ah, that kind of question doesn’t have a good answer in human
language! However, to put it another way,
how is it that they follow such a technical rule without knowing it? That does
have an answer: patterns such as this are common in human language, even though
the speakers are totally unaware of them at a conscious level. 17-Apr.-2013
Thus, to determine if a particular speaker speaks Inland or
Lowland Southern, first make sure he speaks Southern at all by listening to
words like “ride” and “buy”. If he does, then listen to words with voiceless
sounds like “ripe”, “bite”, “righteous” (which has a /ch/
sound in spite of the spelling), “like”, “life”, “ice” (s sound), “python”,
etc.
The ANAE chapter 18 uses more complex criteria to distinguish
their varieties of Southern, but I find theirs to be unwieldy, so I have gone
for the simpler criterion, which seems to be sufficient, as seen in the next
paragraph.
A surprising pattern seen on the map is the peculiar way in
which the two Southern dialect areas are intertwined. It turns out that the
current pattern of Lowland Southern matches to an amazing degree the areas with
a high percentage of slaves before the Civil War, as shown by this famous antique map (viewable in one piece and
downloadable here).
Granted, there are a few minor surprises, but what is astonishing is not the
occasional surprises, but how few the surprises are!
8-Nov.-2013
What seems likely is that the Inland Southern dialect spread
west and south first, and then the Lowland Southern dialect was spread later by
the slaveholding “aristocracy”, but never penetrated into areas unsuitable for
large plantations, such as mountainous areas or dryer areas in the west. An
exceptional area is Virginia and West Virginia, where Lowland Southern spread
westward into non-slaveholding areas (see My
Theory about the Original Area of Inland Southern below for more on this).
Another exceptional area seems to be south
Georgia and north Florida, which no Inland Southern speakers apparently ever
reached. Other exceptional areas are discussed below in Southern Areas Settled after the Civil War. 8-Nov.-2013
The “r-dropping” areas (the green lines) and “Tidewater raising” (the pink line) also seem to be
restricted to these slaveholding areas.
One result of this later spread of Lowland Southern is that
Inland Southern was nearly broken into two sections, divided by what might be
called the “Nashville-Florence Corridor”. If you
look at a satellite map of this area, you can actually see this corridor in a
lighter color outlined by darker forests, a fascinating geographic
demonstration of my theory. This is not to say that, as a general rule, Inland
areas are forested and Lowland areas are not, though this is often the case,
and holds true in this case. The forested area to the east of the corridor
matches rather precisely the Cumberland
Plateau, a stretch of higher and often rugged land which often rises
abruptly from the flatter land to the west. In fact, the line dividing Inland
Southern from Lowland Southern seems to follow exactly the northwest edge of
the Cumberland
Plateau from just west of Monterey, Tennessee all the way to Hackleburg,
Alabama, with the entire plateau being solidly Inland Southern (except for its
southern tip in Alabama, which was mostly settled
later). 16-Mar.-2013
A narrow neck around Iuka, Mississippi remains to connect
the two sections of Inland Southern. 16-Mar.-2013
However, as more data comes in an expected result of this
should be that there will be occasional islands of one dialect surrounded by
the other. I had thought that Chattanooga, Tennessee was such a case. This is
an important city in southeastern Tennessee. I most recently spent some time
there in October, 2011, and was able to listen to many native speakers, all of
whom spoke Lowland Southern. However, I have since realized that these speakers
were all higher class speakers, since my exposure was socially quite limited.
Since then I have heard various working class speakers from Chattanooga (mainly
policemen) on TV, and have confirmed that Chattanooga is Inland Southern, and
that Kevin Burke, whom I had originally assumed was not from Chattanooga, is
actually a native, and represents the dialect quite well. However, many higher
class speakers speak Lowland Southern, as discussed below in Possible Southern
Class Distinction?. So we will have to look for another example of
such a linguistic island! 11-Aug.-2014
The obsolete terms Tuckahoe
and Cohee, used in the northeastern part of the South before the Civil War,
seem to have been used to reflect the strong cultural and linguistic
differences between these two groups, though again West Virginia was clearly
Cohee without getting the Inland Southern dialect. The article confirms my
analysis of the settlement patterns, saying, “As the frontier moves westward,
the third zone (slave-based plantation society) moves into land formerly held
by the second (the frontier society).”
8-Nov.-2013
One interesting corroboration of my theory is political: After the Civil War,
the former slave states tended to elect exclusively Democratic Party
candidates, rejecting the Republican Party as the party of Lincoln. This
phenomenon is referred to as the Solid South,
which remained so at least up into the 1960’s. However, certain areas of the
south, primarily in mountain areas like the Appalachians and the Ozarks, where
little or no slavery had existed, resisted this tendency, and aligned
themselves with the Union and with the Republican Party, consistently electing
Republican candidates throughout this period. The fascinating map on this web page shows what areas of the south these were, at
least in the 1940 election. (Notice particularly the circled areas, and the
discussion about these.) Notice the correlation between these areas, my map,
and the slavery map mentioned above: If we exclude the areas in
Texas (which apparently represent later German immigration, at least according
to the discussion on the web page), none of these areas is Lowland South
(except for Sampson County, North Carolina, for which I have no explanation).
Instead, ignoring the exceptions mentioned, they are all Inland South, except
for part of Missouri, which is Midland! Winston
County, Alabama, is in fact famous for the degree to which it opposed
secession during the Civil War, being known as the “Free State of Winston”!
This is not to say that Inland South areas in general voted
Republican: they didn’t, and in Texas and Oklahoma they were as Solid South as
anywhere else. I am only saying that such areas are consistently in the Inland
South region. (Nowadays, of course, everything has changed, and the south
overwhelmingly votes Republican.) 9-Mar.-2012
Charleston is clearly a special case of Lowland Southern, as
is clear by listening to it. The Down East & Outer Banks dialect doesn’t
sound very Southern at all, but does at least have the “Tidewater raising”.
Florida doesn’t count, since it had a huge influx of Yankees in the 20th
century. In fact, Florida is effectively upside down: the farther south you go
in Florida, the more Northern people sound! 19-Nov.-2011
Obviously areas in the South settled after the Civil War may
not follow this pattern, especially those which are near the border between the
two subdialects. The Birmingham, Alabama area is a case in point. Birmingham
did not exist before the Civil War, but was
founded in 1871 as a steel production center, and grew so fast between 1880 and 1920 that it was given its
well-known nickname “The Magic City.” It lies in a very mountainous area (part
of the Cumberland Plateau mentioned above), and thus was probably originally in
the Inland South, but because of the huge influx of people from all over the
South, it is now Lowland Southern. Trussville
was founded much earlier, around 1820, but remained small until it was swamped
by the growth of Birmingham, and now follows its pattern, as do the other
nearby towns, but towns just a little farther removed like Odenville or Jasper
do not. 16-Mar.-2013
However, it turns out that there is at least one town south
of Birmingham and Anniston which speaks Inland Southern and which was
definitely settled before the Civil War, the town of Sylacauga,
which was originally incorporated in 1838, though it had been a Creek (or
Shawnee?) Indian village as far back as 1748.
The name of the town is pronounced /sĭləkŏgə/
[ˌsɪləˈkʰɑɡə],
not /sĭləkôgə/ [ˌsɪləˈkʰɒʊɡə],
in spite of the spelling: it was originally called Syllacoga, which in turn was derived from the Indian name Chalaka-ge,
according to the Wikipedia article). So far I have not been able to find any
good sound clips for Sylacauga (if you know of one please send it me!), but I
made a visit there in the spring of 2012, where I met a native who clearly
spoke Inland Southern, and who had lived there all her life. In November of
2012 I met two more natives of Sylacauga and talked with them at length, and
they also spoke clear Inland Southern. As can be seen by looking at a map of
the Talladega National Forest, which runs in a northeast to southwest direction
just to the east of Anniston, and which includes the highest point in Alabama,
Mount Cheaha, Sylacauga lies at the tail end of the southernmost ridge of the
Appalachian mountains. (This ridge can also be clearly seen on this map and this
map.) 12-Aug.-2014
Because of all this, the Inland South line makes several
sharp curves along its southern edge in Alabama. Presumably at the time of the
civil war, Inland Southern was spoken throughout the entire Cumberland Plateau
and the southern part of the Appalachian Mountains, shown fairly well on this
map, whereas the Piedmont was mainly Lowland Southern. 26-Aug.-2014
Another example is the Asheville-Waynesville area of North
Carolina. Both of these towns existed before the Civil War, but they both saw
massive growth after the war, Asheville
more than tripling in size between 1910 and 1930, apparently because of strong
growth of manufacturing, and Waynesville only beginning to grow after the arrival of the
railroad in 1884. In both cases this seems to have brought in Lowland Southern
speakers, whereas the surrounding towns are still solidly Inland Southern. (The
one exception seems to be Burnsville: why it is Lowland is unclear.) 8-Nov.-2013
It has been often been suggested (or assumed) that in some
areas there is also a social-status distinction between what I have called
“Inland Southern” (sometimes referred to as “hillbilly” or “country”, as in “He
sure talks country!”) and “Lowland Southern”, with people from higher-class
family backgrounds favoring the “Lowland Southern” pattern, and this would make
sense if my hypothesis as to its spread is true. Even so, evidence of such a
social distinction does not appear in very many places, and only near the
border between these two regions. 11-Aug.-2014
Two such areas are an area surrounding Dallas and Fort Worth
in Texas and an area around Greenville in South Carolina, which are evidently
Inland Southern areas, but in which a number of people born and raised there
(like Ross Perot, Jr. or Kenny Marchant) have Lowland Southern accents, mostly
people in the middle and upper socioeconomic class. 11-Aug.-2014
A third such area is Little Rock, Arkansas, which is clearly
a Lowland Southern area, but in which several samples of people born and raised
there show traces of Inland Southern, notably people in what are often viewed
as working class professions. 11-Aug.-2014
Recently (2014) I have realized that Chattanooga, Tennessee
is a fourth area where this holds true, which makes it unusual in that it is
not on the border between the two dialects, but is surrounded on all sides by
solidly Inland South areas, though Lowland South areas are not far away, such
as Decatur and Florence (and partially Huntsville) down the Tennessee river. 4-Nov.-2015
Most such areas are marked on the map surrounded by a dotted
red line, and with both background colors as alternate bars. Samples showing
this variation will often refer to the Possible Southern Class Distinction? 4-Nov.-2015
If only one town seems to
have both Inland and Lowland speakers, with this presumed class distinction
distinguishing them, then rather than the dotted line I simply run the dialect
boundary through the middle of the town. Examples of this are Huntsville and
West Blocton, Alabama and Kannapolis, North Carolina. 4-Nov.-2015
Very rarely I run the dialect
boundary through the middle of a town if the only sample I have is highly
mixed, as in the case of Junior Johnson from Ronda, North Carolina. 4-Nov.-2015
However, “Inland Southern” is NOT
equivalent to “hillbilly”, nor do people who talk “really, really southern” or
even “really, really country” necessarily speak Inland rather than Lowland.
Some people who sound “really, really Southern” actually speak Lowland Southern
based on the definition I am using, which seems to match high slave density
areas, whereas some people whose speech doesn’t sound quite as “strong”, or who
are obviously well educated and sophisticated, actually speak Inland Southern.
Even so, it is true that areas
generally recognized as more “hillbilly”, such as the Appalachians or the
Ozarks, do indeed fall within Inland Southern, so one could say that
“hillbilly” is definitely a subset of Inland Southern and not of Lowland
Southern. As for “redneck”, this term has absolutely no linguistic meaning, so
don’t try using this map to find out where the “rednecks” live! 12-Dec.-2011
According to contributor A.T.W., in Texas the status of
Inland Southern is different from its status in the east:
But all this leaves the question: Where did Inland Southern
start out? What was its original area? If we look at this map showing settlement as of 1800, we see that the earliest
settled areas of what is now the Inland South region are located on either side
of the Cumberland
Gap, which allowed easy crossing of the Appalachian Mountains and through
which nearly all of the western settlement from the South took place after the
Revolutionary War in 1776. This settlement process would have involved much
mixing of populations and dialects, and it seems likely that Inland Southern
was the result of this mixing, thus distinguishing it from the more settled
Lowland Southern. I have marked the Cumberland Gap on my map, and it can be
seen that it lies almost exactly in the center of the northernmost node of
Inland Southern, which would have been its original area. The Appalachian
Mountains themselves, including the Cumberland Gap area, were not settled until
later, since it was not desirable land, but the settlers were evidently
speakers moving south from this original area, as the map suggests. 7-Nov.-2013
Technically the Cumberland Gap allowed easy crossing of the western ridge of the Appalachian Mountains, called at
this point the Cumberland Mountains, not the eastern
ridge, which is called the Blue
Ridge. This western ridge (technically the eastern escarpment of the Appalachian
Plateau) was generally harder to cross than the eastern ridge. Between the
two runs the Appalachian Great Valley (the map on that page shows fairly
clearly the two ridges and the valley). As can be seen on the map mentioned in
the preceding paragraph, part of this valley, the upper reaches of the Tennessee
River valley, was settled fairly early, in the Overmountain Settlements
from the late 1760s, in what is now the extreme northeast corner of Tennessee.
It is possible that these settlements formed the original melting pot that
created Inland Southern. 8-Nov.-2013
Does this mean that Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett spoke
Inland Southern, since they lived in this area? Well, in spite of the fact that
many of us grew up hearing Texan Fess Parker play him
on television with an Inland Southern accent, Daniel
Boone certainly did not have the accent, for two reasons. One is that he
was born and raised in Pennsylvania, not in the South at all, and didn’t move
to the south until he was 16, in 1750. The second is that he lived way too
early, long before Inland Southern would have even formed according to my
theory, being born in 1734. He was one of the prime movers in encouraging the
population movement that would have created it, but he would have been an old
man before it really coalesced. His grandchildren probably did speak it. 12-Aug.-2014
What about Davy Crockett?
His is a different story, and he very likely did speak it. He was born about 50
years after Daniel Boone, in 1786, and was born in the heart of the Inland
South area, in the Overmountain
Settlements mentioned above, during the existence of the short-lived State of
Franklin. 8-Nov.-2013
This does not explain why Inland Southern is almost
non-existent in West Virginia (except for the Hatfield-McCoy
area), which speaks almost entirely Lowland Southern in the southern part, in
spite of being almost entirely mountains, and Midland in the north. It turns
out that its settlement pattern was different from the rest of the
Appalachians (check out this
interesting 1861 voting map, which lines up very closely with my map,
showing that most of those who voted for statehood spoke Midland, not
Southern). In any case Inland Southerners apparently tended to move east and
south into new lands, not north. 8-Nov.-2013
The r-dropping areas in the Lowland South (marked with a
dark green line) could be described as “Classical
Southern”. This is the accent that Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh) is
attempting to imitate in this clip from Gone with the Wind. This area
represents the heart of the old plantation system, as can be seen on the map mentioned above. However, this feature seems to only
occur in older settled areas, and does not occur in western areas on the
Mississippi River or farther west that were settled after about 1825. 23-Sep.-2015
Within this area older speakers seem to be consistent in
maintaining this pattern. However, many younger ones in this area seem to be
pronouncing all of their r’s, and I will include some of these with a comment.
Outside of this area (but always within the Lowland Southern area) there will
occasionally be much older speakers who do speak Classical Southern. I will
comment individually on each of these, and will mark their city surrounded by a
dotted green line. 23-July-2011
African American Vernacular English (AAVE), the dialect of
most African Americans in the United States, is derived from Classical
Southern, and shares its main features and many other features. However, it
also has a number of distinctive features. I have not generally included AAVE
in this study, since its geographical distribution tends to be independent of
“white” dialects, primarily because after the Civil War large numbers of former
slaves moved to all parts of the U.S., and tended to form their own
communities, retaining their unique dialect. However,
in many areas of the Lowland South no such migration occurred, and in these
areas AAVE and “white” dialects share features and clearly have developed
together, so in these areas I have sometimes included AAVE samples. AAVE
tends to retain r-dropping more than “white” dialects do, even among younger
speakers, and throughout the United States in African American communities. 2-Jan.-2012
One feature that was formerly common among (white) speakers
of Classical Southern is their special pronunciation of the vowel /ûr/ in words
like “hurt”, “turning”, and “concerning” as [ɜɪ],
much like Greater New York City, rather than the now more common [ɝ]. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina is an excellent
example (see his sample). (Unlike GNYC, this vowel [ɜɪ]
is quite distinct from the /oi/ vowel in words like “coin”, which is usually pronounced [ɔɛ] in the South.)
Contributor Jason Reid provides further info: “According to
the linguist John Wells in his book Accents of English (1982),
this pronunciation was at one time common. Erik R. Thomas in his very detailed
phonetic description of Southern speech in A Handbook of Varieties of
English (2004) says this pronunciation was at one time very widespread, but
very few speakers born after 1930 show it (Strom Thurmond was born in 1902).”
The latter writer’s indicated range seems to cover all of my
Lowland Southern area except North Carolina and Virginia (and Florida, though I
have personally heard it there also, from African American speakers, many of
whom retain it to the present day). This same pronunciation can also be heard
in most of the New Orleans samples, from both whites
and blacks, and is still heard today. In general, my observation is that it
persists today among some African Americans, especially older ones, in many
regions, an example being Elizabeth Allen of North Carolina (see her sample).
However, I visited with a number of older white speakers in
Augusta, Georgia, in the spring of 2012, and though they all had consistent
Classical Southern accents, none of them showed any sign of the [ɜɪ]
pronunciation. Nor did I hear it from the Classical Southern speakers I met in
Brewton, Alabama in February of 2012. However, the [ɜɪ]
pronunciation is not dead among whites in the older south: in November of 2012
I met an older gentleman from Sumter, South Carolina, who spoke Classical
Southern and used the [ɜɪ]
pronunciation in a number of words.
Not even all Classical Southern speakers from this area born
before 1930 have it: George Wallace does not, nor do Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter.
As can be seen on the map, the pin-pen merger is primarily a
Southern feature, but has spread well beyond the South. I suspect that this has
happened for two principal historical processes, both of them involving
Southerners moving west and North. 12-June-2010
1. The first was the settlement of the Kansas
and Nebraska
territories, driven in part by the political issues concerning slavery
surrounding the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Evidently the bulk of the
Southern settlement stopped at the Platte River in what is now eastern
Nebraska, as can be seen by the comment about people “sympathetic towards the
Confederate cause” in the Wikipedia
article about Lincoln, Nebraska. This is where the pin-pen line runs in
Eastern Nebraska: south of the Platte River. (The rest of Nebraska was not
really settled until after the Civil War, and the line crosses to the north
side of the Platte River west of Grand Island, though it does return to it
briefly between Gothenburg and North Platte. At North Platte the river splits
into the North and South Platte, and as the pin-pen line moves west it stays
north of the North Platte.) 7-Nov.-2011
2. Farther west the line runs much further north, and, I
suspect, was spread north up the cattle drive trails from Texas in the late
1800’s, presumably by Texas cowboys who hired on for a drive and decided to
settle down somewhere along the trail home. This can be seen by comparing the
pin-pen line with this map of the cattle drive trails (replaced bad link). (The sites I originally
had for this map are all gone, and no full-size map seems to be available
except for purchase.) This map is quite accurate, even though the red trails
were added to show details from a fictional book, and the “Hat Creek Cattle
Company” is fictional. Other maps corroborating the northern extent of the
cattle trails are: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cattle-trails.jpg
and nps.gov/hfc/carto/RELIEFS/GRKOrelief3_c.jpg
(replaced bad link) (from nps.gov/hfc/cfm/carto-detail.cfm?Alpha=GRKO
(replaced bad link)), which shows a trail going as far north as Buford, though
neither shows the full course of the Bozeman Trail, which can be seen here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bozeman_Trail. See also en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_drives_in_the_United_States,
where Miles City, MT and Medora, ND are specifically mentioned. 26-Sep.-2016
In fact, the pin-pen line seems to only have been stopped in
its northward progress by the Canadian border! Apparently none of the cattle
drives felt free or were invited or were contracted to cross that border. 26-Sep.-2016
Most of these trails stayed in the Great Plains, not
venturing into the mountains, because it was much easier to move cattle on the
flatlands. However, Nelson Story certainly used the Bozeman Trail
to bring cattle from Texas to Bozeman, which is west into the mountains. And
one trail shown on the nps.gov/hfc/carto/RELIEFS/GRKOrelief3_c.jpg
map, the 1870-78 Kohrs Trail, also moves west into the mountains, but
apparently this was only used by en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_Kohrs
to move cattle to his ranch at Deer Lodge, which is west of Helena and Butte
and is not in the pin-pen merger area. In any case, these movements may partly
explain why the pin-pen line bends west of the western edge of the Great Plains line
to encompass all of Wyoming and parts of Idaho. Adj.
2-May-2018
This doesn’t quite explain why the pin-pen merger also
reached the Salt Lake City area, which was solidly Mormon throughout this
period and would not seem to have had much settlement by Texas cattle drivers.
Contributor Trevan Richins suggested the following: «I think the answer is
because of the Mormon missionary program and their desire to “gather in
Zion”. Up until the turn of the century
(1900), almost all converted Mormons would move to Utah. In the 1870 census, it showed that 1 in 3 Utahns were born outside of the United
States. There was an extensive
missionary program at that time to convert people from all of the United
States, Canada, Europe, and elsewhere.
So, the pin/pen probably reached Utah on the tongues of Southern
converts.» Seems reasonable… Adj. 14-Sep.-2017
In addition to these two major influences, there are several
additional areas for the pin-pen merger. One, which is no surprise, is that
there is a small area of pin-pen merger that spreads west from the tail end of
the Southern area. This seems to reach as far west as Arizona, but does not
reach California. This area was settled by a mixed population even before the
Civil War, but these included a large proportion of southerners, and during the Civil war the southern half of what
became Arizona and New Mexico seceded from the Union, as discussed in the Wikipedia
article on Traditional Arizona. 29-Apr.-2011
Another very interesting area is the San
Joaquin Valley in California, which apparently adopted the pin-pen merger during the Great
Depression, as a result of over a million “Okies” who moved there in the 1930’s. The ANAE had marked just Bakersfield as “pin”=“pen”,
but the merger appears to cover the entire valley. However, obviously older
speakers do not have it: contributor James Divine, who grew up mostly around
Fresno, and was born in the mid 1940’s, has “pin”≠“pen”.
(I had previously thought that this merger also extended north to include parts
of the Sacramento
Valley as well, which is the northern part of California’s
Central Valley, but contributor Jon, a native of Sacramento, assures me
that in Sacramento “pin”≠“pen”). 20-May-2011
The Greater New York City dialect is the second most unusual
dialect in all of North America (after New Orleans). It has many unusual
features, and, more than any other city, New York seems to have historically
shown great variation by social class, which is why I give so many audio
examples. The following descriptions explain the classes marked in the chart
with **: 10-May-2011
The classic working class dialect has “curl”=“coil”, and “dese” and “dose”; the latter is still
heard in the modern working class dialect. Bennett Cerf and Humphrey Bogart are
classic middle class, and have “curl”=“coil”, but not “dese” and “dose”. The curl-coil merger has nearly died out, according to William
Labov, though there are plenty of well-known examples in recent history.
Actually, it hasn’t completely died out! I have recently found two clips of
people from Greater New York City who do
still retain the curl-coil merger, Tommy DeVito
and Skip Tollefson. And even Regis Philbin still seems
to use the old pronunciation of the “curl”/”coil” vowel in a few words, like
“circus” in his video clip. 3-Mar.-2011
Franklin Roosevelt and Teddy
Roosevelt both speak what is sometimes called Mid-Atlantic
English, (quite distinct from what the ANAE chapter 17 calls Mid-Atlantic, which I am calling
Atlantic Midland). According to the Wikipedia
article, Teddy speaks more “naturally” than Franklin, but structurally I
see little difference between their dialects. They do not seem to have the
had-bad distinction of Greater New York City, reflecting instead the British
15-vowel system. Eleanor Roosevelt, Teddy’s niece and Franklin’s wife, went to
an even greater extreme, and spoke
almost pure Standard British English. (She was raised mostly in the U.S.,
but was
educated with private tutors, and went to finishing school in England.)
Another sample, that of Doris “Granny D” Haddock, shows the Eastern New England
variety of Mid-Atlantic English, with only the 14 vowels of Eastern
New England. 14-Apr.-2011
The ANAE chapter 17 says
that “One of the most startling facts about New York City is the narrow extent
of its influence in the surrounding area,” and that its boundary “has remained
fixed for more than two centuries… This geographic restriction appears to be
associated with the negative prestige of the New York City vernacular…” In
other words, everybody thinks the New York City dialect is really weird, even
though we are all fascinated with it!
The differences are of class, not section of town, according
to William Labov: The ANAE chapter 17 says
“Within this metropolitan linguistic area, there is no reliable evidence for
geographic differentiation. The stereotype Brooklynese is used to refer to
working-class GNYC speech, whether the speaker is a resident of Brooklyn,
Queens, the Lower East Side of Manhattan, or Jersey City. Many members of the
public are convinced that they can recognize a Queens or Bronx or Jersey
accent, but it appears that these geographic labels are in fact labels for
perceived social class differences.”
Though its influence on the surrounding area has been
limited, it has had a lot of effect on the speech of Cincinnati and of New
Orleans (see the Dialect Description Chart), and shares the short-a
split with the Atlantic Midland region.
The various dialects of New Orleans make it the most unusual
dialect situation in all of North America. Some neighborhoods speak Classical Southern, and other neighborhoods speak
a dialect which doesn’t sound Southern at all, but instead sounds exactly like
Greater New York City until you listen for a while, and others are somewhere in
between. I have taken several dialect samples from this clip
from the “YEAH, YOU RITE” documentary. This clip is a dialect student’s dream,
and explains in some detail the dialect situation in New Orleans. I used four
samples from this clip because it was clear what neighborhood of New Orleans
they were each from, and now I have tentatively added the guy on the park
bench. I would have used more, but it was impossible to determine what part of
town the other speakers were from, or else they had too much General American
to be a useful sample. 17-Dec.-2015
The entire documentary does not seem to be available on the
Internet, except for purchase. I did, however, find a transcript,
which helped a bit in identifying speakers.
14-Jan.-2011
New Orleans seems to be the only city in North America that
has more than one distinct dialect.[56]
In this respect it is like London of the early 1900’s, as is implied by the
speaker on the park bench who refers to “’Enry
’Iggins or Higgins”, the dialect expert in the movie My Fair Lady. This fact, explained in
some detail by several of the speakers in the “YEAH, YOU
RITE” documentary, seems to have been missed by the ANAE (Ch. 18) (see pages 259 and following), since they
treat the city as a whole in their descriptions.
17-Dec.-2015
Thanks to samples that many of you sent in, and others that
I have found, I now have a much clearer picture of the New Orleans
neighborhoods and their dialects. Even so, I would still like to know who the
guy on the park bench is, and where exactly he grew up. (Contributor Charles
Meeks cited below has at least confirmed that he is evidently Uptown, so I added him tentatively to the map.)
11-Mar.-2016
Actually, my biggest question now is about what I am calling
the Downtown New Orleans dialect, the only New Orleans dialect with no Southern
features at all (most importantly, all of her long /ī/ vowels are [aɪ], making her not Southern by
the definition we are using here), and which I have listed under the Greater
New York City dialect. I only have one sample for this, Deborah Chauvin, which
is very short, and the transcript suggests that this is the only time she
speaks, even in the full documentary. Every other New Orleans sample I have
found has at least some long /ī/ vowels reduced to [a], which
reduces my Downtown New Orleans dialect to just the Ninth Ward. Is this valid?
For now I will continue to assume that it is, but I need more data to confirm
this. 11-Mar.-2016
Wards: It is not uncommon for New Orleanians to identify
where they are from by their ward number, and several of the speakers do so.
These are not neighborhoods, but voting wards, and seem to radiate away from
the Mississippi River in long strips. For a map
of the wards see: wards.pdf.
(This map was originally at www.louisianarebuilds.info/files/wards.pdf,
but this link is no longer valid.) 26-Jan.-201
Where do they speak without an accent? Or where do they
speak “General American”?
This question implies that there is an accepted standard of
spoken American English which is perceived as not having any strictly regional
features. In other words, any features which are distinctly northern, southern,
eastern or western would be excluded. And indeed there is such a standard, used
by most radio and television news staff throughout the U.S. Applying such a
definition rigorously leaves us with the orange striped areas on the map, in
parts of the Central Midland and South Florida, and the southern fringe of the
North. Applying a slightly less rigorous definition would also include some
neighboring areas on the map, although these all have some noticeable regional
features. For instance, San Francisco and East Midland both sound just a little
bit too eastern, areas below the pin-pen line sound just a bit southern, etc.
The Wikipedia
article on General American covers the question fairly well, and in some
detail, and I recommend reading it. The area mapped in that article covers the
same general area in the Midwest as mine, but I would not include all of the
cities included there.
The Canadian standard dialect is obviously distinct from the
American one, and corresponds to what is spoken in most of Canada, excluding
the Atlantic Provinces. The dialect of eastern Ontario or of most of British
Columbia would probably be considered more standard than the Prairie Provinces
and western Ontario, since these are above the bite-bout line, as shown on the
map. 15-Aug.-2015
Obviously there are many differences in pronunciation
details between Canadian and American English, as explained in the description
of the Canadian dialects in the Dialect
Description Chart, but most of these are not structural details affecting
how many distinct sounds (phonemes) the dialects have. However, there is one
very important difference between “General American” and “General Canadian”,
and that is the Cot-Caught Merger: “General American” makes
the distinction, whereas no Canadian dialect does. People from California might
disagree with me, claiming that their dialect is as “General American” as any,
but in fact the majority of Americans retain
the distinction, as discussed in The Cot-Caught Merger section and in the footnote
there. (California also has the distinctly Western fronting of the long /ōō/ [u] vowel which it shares with Canada and not with “General
American”.) 15-Aug.-2015
Do some geographic
features coincide with dialect boundaries or areas? 17-Dec.-2010
Yes, some do, though obviously many do not. I have included
a number of the former on the map, and even a few of the latter. These are all
marked on the map in Dark Blue, or in a few cases in Rust.
The following geographic features (arranged more or less
from west to east) seem to have a direct correlation with some dialect area,
boundary, or feature: 1-Nov.-2011
Suisun
/səsōōn/
[səˈsun] Bay: This bay, along with the Carquinez /kärkēnəs/
[ˌkʰɑɹˈkʰinəs]
Strait, San Francisco Bay, and the Golden Gate (which are not marked) define
the northern border of the San Francisco Bay dialect. 28-Apr.-2011
The Sierra Nevada
(California): The dip in long o fronting in the Great Basin
(possibly represented by Mormon settlement) stopped at the Sierra Nevada.
Death Valley:
Obviously a geographic barrier to travel! Continues
the Great Basin line. 5-Mar.-2011
Grand Canyon:
Obviously a geographic barrier to travel! Continues
the Great Basin line. 5-Mar.-2011
The western edge of
the Great Plains: (Thanks to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_physiographic_region
for a map of the U.S. portion of this line.)
One thing that is
immediately obvious about this line is that most of the West dialect in the U.S. is found
to the west of it, but that this dialect also spills over a hundred miles or so
east into the Great Plains for most of its length (except in the far south).
This dialect was probably created in the rough country to the west of this
line, in a great melting-pot process in the late 1800’s with tremendous
population movements. Then it appears that it spilled back over the mountains
into the Great Plains for some distance, as part of those same population
movements, leveling from that point all of the dialects that had travelled west
from the eastern seaboard. Adj. 2-May-2018
This happened everywhere except
in the far south, where Inland Southern had already spilled over the mountains
onto the western side, a process which probably began before the Civil War.
(See The Pin-Pen Merger, the Kansas-Nebraska Act,
and the Texas Cattle Drives.)
16-Jul.-2016
A couple of bulges in the
eastern edge of the
West dialect which push it farther east can be seen. One is the Black Hills,
discussed immediately below, which had a gold rush that brought people from all
over. Another is Dodge
City, Kansas, which became famous as a Wild West town with many famous
gunfighters, and may have been a magnet for people from farther west. New! 2-May-2018
But besides this fact,
this line seems to affect only one other dialect feature, and only in extreme
northern United States and Canada: Adj. 5-Oct.-2017
When the bite-bout line hits the Rocky Mountains in
Wyoming as it moves west, it turns north and mostly follows the edge of the
plains all the way into northern British Columbia, suggesting that the Rocky
Mountains tended to block the continued westward movement of speakers from
north of this line, and that points west were settled primarily by speakers
from south of the bite-bout line.[57]
If we look at a map of the Oregon Trail, by which the vast majority of early
settlement (mainly 1846-1869) of the northwest took place, we can see that this
was true, whereas there were no major trails north of the Oregon Trail, either
in the U.S. or in Canada. After 1869 the First Transcontinental Railroad replaced the Oregon Trail
as the primary means of travelling west, but followed approximately the same
route across the Great Plains and for the first part of its path into the
mountains. The funneling effect that these two processes had on western
settlement can be seen on this map and this map
showing where western settlement had reached in 1890. 19-Aug.-2015
It would appear that even
most of British Columbia was primarily settled from the south or by
the Pacific Ocean, not from the east: Coastal B.C. was apparently already well
settled when it joined the Canadian Confederation in 1871, before any of the Prairie
Provinces did, and there had been a huge influx of Americans in 1858
because of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. Even the first railroad
connecting B.C. to the rest of Canada was only completed in 1885. Even so,
over the decades these transplants seem to have fully accepted their Canadian
identity and even adopted the “Badge of Identity”!
I had originally thought that
the western edge of the Great Plains also blocked further westward expansion of
the Inland South dialect from southern New Mexico all the way to the Mexican
border, but contributor Karl Gerlach has informed me that this is not so, but
that the Inland South dialect reaches as far west as Fort Hancock, and he was
able to find me a sound sample for Marfa. Thus the mountains apparently had
little or no effect on settlement in this area.
19-Aug.-2015
This leaves El Paso as the only city in Texas that does not have a
Southern accent. Gerlach says, “This makes sense historically, since settlement
patterns traditionally moved toward El Paso along established routes, but never
from it. I can’t speak for southern New Mexico, but I can at least assert that
the ‘Midland island’ section of deep West Texas likely only includes the city
of El Paso County and its immediate surroundings, but that the rest, at least
where Anglos are concerned, sound like the rest of Texas.” Even so, the El Paso
dialect probably owes the fact that it is east of the cot-caught line and south
of the pin-pen line to influence from the South, but it clearly is not Southern
by the definition of that dialect, and must have had significant admixture from
the West and the Midland. 19-Aug.-2015
The Black Hills
(South Dakota): The purple pin-pen line bends around these on the west side. Thus
they avoided the pin-pen merger, not being on the route of any of the cattle drives from
Texas, for obvious geographic reasons. Another reason they avoided
it is that they were settled very rapidly during the 1875-1878
gold rush, by people from all over the place! In 1880, the area was the
most densely populated part of Dakota Territory. This gold rush also probably
pushed the eastern edge of the West dialect farther east to include it, so it is more
similar to areas much farther west than it is to those that are closer. Adj. 5-Oct.-2017
The Appalachian
Mountains, Ozark Mountains, Ouachita Mountains, and St. Francois
/frănsĭs/
[ˈfɹænsɪs] Mountains: These are all
mountain ranges associated with the Inland South.
The Ohio River:
For a long time I have been saying that this marks the border between the South
and the Midland for much of Kentucky, but it really doesn’t! In fact, the line
follows the river very little, spending most of its time north of it, but
dipping south of it near Cincinnati. Larry Bird, the
Hick from French Lick finally did that notion in! (That’s really his nickname,
I didn’t make it up!) Even so, there still seem to be a few stretches where it
follows the river. How much of this was due to geography (it was easier for
settlers to stay on their own side of the river as they went west), and how
much was due to politics (slavery was only allowed on the south side of the
river) is unclear. Probably mostly the latter, since the line only dips south
of the river once. 17-Apr.-2013
Abraham Lincoln is
reported to have had a southern accent, often called a “Kentucky accent” as here, but in fact he moved to Indiana when he was six. However, there was
evidently a large influx of southerners, so he probably spoke a lot like Larry
Bird. Thus, he spoke Lowland Southern, the same dialect spoken by most of the
slave owners. 22-Nov.-2012
The Cumberland Gap:
According to my origin theory, this was the
area where Inland South originated and spread.
23-Sep.-2015
The Hudson River
and the Erie Canal: The North dialect, and its central subdialect
the Inland North were largely spread westward by way of these two waterways, as
discussed in ANAE Ch. 14, pp. 212-213. This partially explains the
strange hourglass shape of the Inland North subdialect, since all of the
settlement came by boat to Buffalo and then continued up Lake Erie. (Originally
the hourglass did not have quite so tight a waist, since originally Erie,
Pennsylvania and probably also Ashtabula and Painesville, Ohio were part of the
Inland North, as explained in Shared Features Across the U.S. – Canada Border.) 11-Feb.-2011
I have also included a few geographical features which do
not seem to have any correlation with dialect features:
The Sacramento
River: Unlike the San Joaquin River above, this does not seem to
have any special features. 28-Apr.-2011
The Mississippi
River: In spite of being the greatest river in the U.S., and forming
state boundaries for almost its entire course, it has had absolutely no effect
on dialect patterns! Of course, it stood perpendicular to the entire western
settlement flow, so people had no alternative but to find a way across!
The Tennessee and Cumberland
Rivers: (Not labeled for reasons of space.) These rivers run mostly
through rugged mountains or broken plateau country, and for the most part do not
have a wide flood plain suitable for plantation agriculture, required,
according to my settlement theory, for the
spread of Lowland Southern. The only areas that do are the middle section of
the Cumberland River, centered on Nashville, one section of the Tennessee River
in Alabama, and the small area around Chattanooga.
23-Sep.-2015
No, they don’t! From the map it is clear that the dialect
boundaries totally ignore state and provincial borders,
except for a very few exceptions. One of the few places where a dialect
boundary does seem to follow a state boundary is certain sections of the
northern border of Kentucky, which also mark the northern border of the South.
However, even in this case it is not the state border that is being following
but a geographical feature, the Ohio River, and even then the line doesn’t
follow it all that much. 4-Sep.-2012
In spite of this, one often hears people refer to a “Texas
accent” (there are really three, just considering the blue and red lines!), or
a “Massachusetts accent” (there are really four!). In fact, there isn’t a
single dialect area on this map that could be described as a “state dialect”:
they are all either significantly larger or smaller than a state! 17-Aug.-2010
As for which state has the most distinct dialect areas
(defined by the blue and red lines), the winner appears to be Pennsylvania,
with five dialect areas, though Louisiana may also have five, depending on how
New Orleans is treated. 17-Aug.-2010
The runners up, with four, are: Illinois, Kansas,
Massachusetts, Nebraska, and Ohio, and possibly also Maryland and New York
(data is lacking for the latter two). It could also be argued that West
Virginia has four, since in all other cases I have treated the loss of a vowel
phoneme as grounds for defining a new dialect, but I am hesitant to introduce a
new dialect on these grounds alone, “Allegheny Lowland Southern”, since this
phoneme loss here may be viewed as a minor spillover from up north. 23-Mar.-2011
The U.S. – Canada Border and the
“Badge of Identity”
How about the national border between Canada and United
States? This is a different story, and in fact this border is also the southern
boundary of the Canadian dialect for its entire length. This dialect’s notable
characteristic is the “Canadian raising” of the vowels in words like “out” and
“house” (where the vowel is followed by a voiceless consonant), but not in
“loud” and “now”. This feature appears to be viewed by Canadians as a sort of badge of identity, and defines the border rather
clearly! Granted, it also occurs in the Tidewater South, but since this is far
from the Canadian border, and since their dialect bears no other resemblance to
Canadian English, it doesn’t matter! Adj.
4-Oct.-2017
I suspect that historically the retention of this badge of identity has been to some degree conscious
and intentional: It is important for Canadians to counter the idea that many
Americans have that “Canadians are really just like us”, and to have some kind
of distinct identity. I really like Pierre
Trudeau’s famous quote: “Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping
with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I
can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt”. 15-Apr.-2011
However, this doesn’t fully explain the situation. At least
two Canadian contributors have written in and begged to differ with this
analysis, saying that the vast majority of Canadians are totally unaware of how
they pronounce things, and are certainly not consciously putting on the
Canadian raising as a kind of affectation. And of course they are absolutely
right! The vast majority of speakers of any language are totally unaware of the
fine detail of their pronunciation system, and most Americans and Canadians
cannot tell what side of the border someone is from simply by their
pronunciation. So why hasn’t this feature seeped across the border to the U.S.
side at any point? Other features have crossed the border freely, as the next section shows, but this one has not. Well, part
of the explanation may be that a small percentage of people are able to discern features like
Canadian raising, and perhaps some of
these people, perhaps on both sides of the border, have lit on this particular
feature as being a badge of identity for
Canadians, and have helped keep it from crossing the border. So maybe it’s as
much the Americans as the Canadians who have kept it a Canadian feature! 6-Sep.-2011
On the other hand, at least one section of Canada, southern
British Columbia, was evidently settled mostly by Americans or Europeans, with
little direct immigration from previously settled areas of Canada, since the
center of the country was still largely unpopulated, as discussed in the “Do some geographic
features coincide with dialect boundaries or areas?” section under the discussion of the bite-bout line.
And yet all of these settlers adopted the Canadian raising, and the line
follows the U.S.-Canadian border all the way to the Pacific. Why did this
happen unless at least some people felt that this was a badge of identity for Canadians?
15-Apr.-2011
However, there is one exception
to this rule about Canadian raising and the national border: Newfoundland and
Labrador do not have Canadian raising.
Again, since they are nowhere near the national border, in a way this doesn’t
matter, but it is unexpected, given how solid the feature is throughout the
rest of Canada and even in the Maritimes!
However, contributor Bob Goudreau has pointed out that there is really a simple
explanation that actually bolsters my badge of identity theory: “The province
of Newfoundland and Labrador did not even join Canada until 1949. ‘Newfies’
would have had no reason to sound self-consciously Canadian, because they were
NOT Canadian until then (just a British colony a la Bermuda, etc.).” Cool.
(Parts of Baffin Island also seem to follow the Newfoundland / Labrador accent,
as can be seen by the various lines in this area. This presumably resulted from
greater influence from this area than other parts of Nunavut.) Adj. 2-Oct.-2017
For a while I had thought that there was a second exception,
because I thought I had found an area in Southeastern Quebec where Canadian
raising did not apply, specifically the cities of Montreal and Sherbrooke.
However, the samples I had selected were ethnic French speakers, and even though
their English showed no trace of a French accent, Chris Harvey says that ethnic
French speakers are not the best samples of the native English Montreal accent.
Check out the two samples I have now included for
Montreal. It seems my entire idea was wrong that, because the Stanstead area
was settled by Americans, they would still speak like Americans rather than
Canadians. Chris Harvey assures me that they do not. Apparently the “Badge of
Identity” applies here, too! However, I am still looking for good
sound samples for Sherbrooke and Stanstead. Please send me some if you have
them! 17-July-2010
Because native French speakers do not typically have the
Canadian raising, I have now explicitly shown the pink Canadian-raising line as
excluding the French-speaking area in Canada. (Earlier I had simply not shown
it in this area, but the result was confusing even to me, so I put it in.) Adj. 4-Oct.-2017
This is not to say that this is the only feature that
distinguishes Canadian from American English: The Canadian shift, discussed in
detail in ANAE Ch. 14, affects many Canadian vowels. However, the
Canadian raising is what most people tend to notice, which is why I think that
it has become the badge of identity. 29-Dec.-2010
Read the next section for more insight on this question. 15-Apr.-2011
Shared Features Across the U.S. – Canada Border
Another thing that suggests that Canadian raising is a badge of identity is that plenty of other dialect
features cross the border freely. If we look at the map we see that in the west
several dialect feature lines cross the border, in particular the bite-bout
line, making parts of British Columbia sound more like the neighboring
Americans than the neighboring Canadians, except of course that they do have
the Canadian raising. In the Great Lakes area the bite-bout line again crosses
the border three times, making Windsor similar to its neighbor Detroit in only
this one feature, and farther north making the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie
share this feature as well, but on the other side of the line.
But of course the big thing shared by Canadians with many
Americans, in both the east and west, is the cot-caught merger. In fact, this
feature is shared along the western two-thirds of the border, and it seems
almost certain, simply by a quick look at the map, that the North Central
dialect borrowed this feature from Canada, since this is the only feature that
distinguishes North Central from the North. How much the West derived this
feature from Canada is uncertain, but it must have been significant, since they
not only share this feature, but also the fronting of the long /ōō/ [u] vowel.
In the east there are two areas along the border where this
feature is shared across the border. Obviously the border shared by the
Maritimes and Quebec with New England is one of them, and it is extremely
probable that this feature was shared across this border very early in the
history of the two nations, or even before they split into two nations in 1776!
The other area is Lake Erie, where there are a line of cities on the American
side that have the cot-caught merger. Was this due to Canadian influence? It
would seem unlikely, except that another dialect feature crosses into Canada at
this same point: one of the long o fronting lines of dots (the pink ones), and another dialect line is split
at this point, the bite-bout line. So who knows? On the other hand, the ANAE Ch. 14, pp. 203-206 suggests that there was no such
influence, since the city of Erie, Pennsylvania was originally part of the
Inland North (and presumably Ashtabula and Painesville were also, though these
are not mentioned in the ANAE), and only later became Allegheny Midland.
Because of this I have not shown the cot-caught line crossing Lake Erie. 12-Mar.-2013
However, even with various features crossing the border,
this does not mean that towns on opposite sides of the border will sound
particularly similar. As mentioned above, Windsor and Detroit sound extremely
different, sharing only one important feature. But even towns sharing more
features don’t really sound that close: Tammy Faye Bakker Messner from
International Falls, Minnesota, and Duncan Keith from across the river in Fort
Frances, Ontario pronounce their /ō/ [o] vowels the same, and also
their /ou/
[ɑʊ] vowels in words like “down”, but many of
their other vowels are very different. The fact that they are neighboring towns
in a remote area doesn’t seem to matter: one is American and the other
Canadian, and that matters more! 8-Aug.-2014
The information in most of these layers is described in the
legends on the map and elsewhere on this site.
You can make each layer visible or invisible by clicking the
checkmark for that layer in the Layers window. You should usually keep layers
1, 2, 3, 13, and 15 visible (those outlined in red below),
except when you really want to see something without the clutter. However, even
then you should leave level 1 visible, because otherwise you get a weird cross-hatching which is the “invisible
color”. Level 10 (outlined in blue) is the most
important data on the map, but it can be made visible or not depending on
whether you want the main dialect lines over or under the other
lines, since all of the data in level 10 is also included in level 2. This data
can only be made completely invisible by making both layer 2 and layer 10
invisible. 12-Aug.-2014
Related Posts
(Oops, I only recently, 20-Oct.-2016, realized that I had
swapped the order of layers 10 and 11 on the map, though the intended order was
correct in the chart above. I don’t know how long I had it wrong. I have now
adjusted these.) 20-Oct.-2016
I am a professional linguist and a Christian missionary,
working in indigenous Amerindian languages. My work has nothing to do with
English, so that is why this project is just a hobby.
A few readers have asked where I am from, and what dialect I
speak. Actually, I am the total opposite of the kind of people I am looking for
for the sound samples on my map: They
have each been born and raised in one specific place in the U.S. or Canada. I
was born in Mexico City, the son of Christian missionaries, and moved back and
forth between Mexico and various places in the U.S. throughout my childhood,
spending most of my time in the U.S. in the Oklahoma City area. My parents met
in Mexico. 6-Nov.-2015
My father was born and raised in Port Chester, New York. He
spoke a number of different languages. He did not have a Port Chester accent
(Eastern North; check out the two sound samples I
have listed), but instead spoke essentially General American, the one relic of
his Eastern North upbringing being that he distinguished words like “merry” /mĕrē/
[ˈmɛɹi] and “marry” /mărē/ [ˈmæɹi].
My mother had an even more interesting background. She was
born in Sydney, Australia, of parents who emigrated there from Scotland. When
she was 10, the family moved to Berkeley, California. When she arrived, she had
a strong Australian accent, but due to the ridicule of her peers, she quickly adopted
a Bay Area accent, and sounded thoroughly American for the rest of her life.
However, the Australian system had apparently established itself in her
subconscious, because after I got interested in English dialects, I asked her
if the words “father” and “bother” rhymed for her (see The
Father-Bother Distinction above).
She said, “Oh, no, they are quite different!” “Really?”
I said. “Say them for me.” And when she said them, they both had the very same
vowel, rhyming perfectly, following the Bay Area pattern. But they still felt different to her, because in her
childhood she had pronounced them with very different vowels, and that phonemic
system was apparently still there, though covered up by a Bay Area surface
system. She also clearly distinguished “merry” and “marry”, which is not a Bay
Area feature, but evidently a remnant of her Australian childhood. She also
rhymed “on” with “Don”, which matches both Berkeley and Australia. (For other
cases in which a phonemic system can be fixed by the age of 10, see the
footnote for John Hoeven). 12-Aug.-2014
So, what accent do I have? I turns out that I speak fairly
pure General American, probably because all of my schooling was in English in
an American style school, even when I lived in Mexico. For the most part I
don’t follow my parents’ speech patterns. For instance, they both distinguish
“merry” and “marry”, and I do not. Specifically, in my dialect “cot”≠“caught” (with a clear Central Midland
pattern, not the raised /ô/ [oə] of the northeastern
U.S.), “pin”≠“pen”, and “on” rhymes
with “Don”. Even though I spent seven years in the Oklahoma City/Norman area
between the ages of 7 and 18, I didn’t pick up any influence there, since in
this area “pin”=“pen” and “on” rhymes with “Dawn”.
8-June-2011
The one area in which I seem to have followed my parents,
and differ from most Americans, is that I don’t pronounce the “l” in “calm” or
“yolk” or “talk” (see The Pronunciation of “-alm” and “-olk” and “-alk”). 8-June-2011
So what area matches my dialect? No area matches my dialect
exactly, though the closest seems to be South Florida, especially the southern
part below the “on” line, though I think my native pronunciation of the long /ō/ [oʊ] vowel is a bit more backed, and
I don’t know yet how South Florida handles the words in The Pronunciation of “-alm”
and “-olk” and “-alk”). (I had previously thought that Canton, Ohio
was also a close match, but it has a strongly raised “bat” vowel, whereas I do
not.) I suspect that many others who moved constantly in their youth, such as
“army brats” or missionary kids like me, will have a similar pattern, which
could be called something like “Transient General
American”. (South Florida was populated by transients, especially the
southern half, so the fact that it has this dialect should not be surprising.)
On the other hand, most people who grow up in those Central Midland areas which
have a General American accent as their native dialect normally rhyme “on” with
“Dawn”, not “Don”. 12-Aug.-2014
Article structure:
– A short lead paragraph stating the core news and why it matters
– 2 or 3 sections with H2 headings expanding on:
• the company or product
• context or competition
• market or industry implications
– A brief closing paragraph explaining what happens next or why it matters
Writing rules:
– Use clear, direct language
– Keep paragraphs short (1–3 sentences)
– Maintain a neutral, factual tone
– Avoid generic statements about innovation or disruption unless tied to a specific development
– Prefer concrete details such as funding amounts, timelines, locations, and competitive context
Formatting:
– Use H2 headings only
– No more than 3 headings total
– No emojis or hashtags
Linking:
– If the company discussed has a public website, include one natural link to it
– Do not list links separately
Restrictions:
– Do not write a headline
– Do not mention AI, prompts, tools, or analysis
– Do not include SEO explanations or keyword commentary
– Avoid the phrases:
“in this article”, “overall”, “in conclusion”, “additionally”, “moreover”
Output:
– Output only the finished article body
– No notes, no explanations, no metadata
[/gpt3]
