Folk Awareness oif Dialect

[Donald M. Lance]

"Steve K." wrote:

> On Mon, 4 Dec 2000, Tim Frazer wrote:
>
> > Illinois has many foreign place names which are often anglicized, including
> > the name of the state (el @n )YZ.
>
> I've never heard anyone from Illinois pronounce it with the the z on the
> end. Many (including me) do say ell instead of ill for the first syllable
> though, yes. I have heard non-Illinoisians say it with the z though.

My next-door neighbor's family has lived in Marion, Illinois (near Carbondale) for several
generations, and he says El at noiz.  A sample of 1 isn't very large, but I'd be surprised if
he's the only one in his family to use this pronunciation.  There's NO evidence that the
speech of his friends in Columbia MO has had the slightest effect on his South Midland
vowel system, the el-, however, not being SM.
DMLance