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Author Archives: Ben
When Free Variation Isn’t So Free
[Ed note: I made two slight edits to an earlier version of this post for purposes of clarity.] Like most people, my pronunciation is inconsistent. Take the word ‘thought,’ for example. I sometimes rhyme this with ‘lot,’ while other times I … Continue reading
The Irish ‘Strut’
When English phoneticians refer to the ‘strut vowel,’ they mean the ‘u‘ in ‘luck,’ ‘fudge,’ and ‘cut.’ In American English, the sound usually lies somewhere between the ‘a’ in ‘father’ and the ‘a’ in ‘comma.’ Your ‘strut’ vowel may vary. … Continue reading
The Mississippi Accent in 1893
I recently stumbled upon a remarkable 1893 tome on Google Books entitled Some peculiarities of speech in Mississippi by the delightfully-named Hubert Anthony Shands. A glossary of words native to the dialect(s) of that state, the book opens with a detailed … Continue reading
Do Southerners Speak Slowly?
One of the most commonly held assumptions about American accents is one with arguably negative connotations. That would be the pernicious rumor that Southern people speak ‘slower’ than Northerners. I put this assumption in quotation marks, of course, because it … Continue reading
Posted in American English Tagged American Southern Accents, phonetics, stigmatized accents 15 Comments
Accents of the Pacific Northwest, Part II
Since moving across country, I’ve only had intermittent internet access. I’ll be more active here and in the comments once we get everything set up on Friday. A brief anecdote, however. As I foreshadowed some time back, I just moved … Continue reading
Foreign Accents
As much as I hate to admit it, ‘foreign’ accents don’t pique my interest the way ‘native’ accents do. That’s not to say I don’t love foreign languages. I’m fascinated by the grammatic intricacy of Navajo and the differences between … Continue reading
The Vowel in ‘Yeah’
Of English’s many alternatives to ‘yes,’ the word yeah is perhaps the most common. I’d go so far as to say there is some type of ‘yeah’ or yeah-like word in nearly every native dialect of English. Yet despite its ubiquity, … Continue reading
Why Americans Don’t Get ‘Dialect’
I first heard the word ‘dialect’ within a bizarre context. It was the 1980s, and some adult (whose identity I forget) used it as a euphemism for African American English*. It was something along the lines of, “He speaks dialect, … Continue reading
Speech Recognition and Accents
I don’t have time for a lengthy post today, which is unfortunate: the way software deals with regional accents deserves a longer discussion (led by someone more knowledgeable than me, frankly). Regardless, I want to share a Slate article apropos … Continue reading
‘Aunt’ in a New England Accent
Like many New Englanders, I pronounce ‘aunt’ with a broad-a (i.e. the vowel in ‘father’). This is one of several ways the New England accent retains a linguistic connection to its semi-namesake (for most other Americans, ‘aunt’ and ‘ant’ are homophones). … Continue reading