vowels...

[Mark_Mandel at DRAGONSYS.COM]

Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OAK.CATS.OHIOU.EDU> writes:

>>>>>
Actually, no, this isn't an example of the Southern Vowel Shift; rather,
it's one of many mergers going on in the Midland, the West (as David Bowie
said) and, to some extent, in the South.  Thus, hail and hell merge to hell
(vs. the Southern Shift diphthongizing of hell to hail), fill and feel
merge to fill, still and steel merge to still, pool and pull merge to pull,
etc.  In fact, I heard 'hail' pronounced like 'hell' just a few days ago in
a weather report from West Virginia.  But you're right; the written version
(signaled by * *, I presume) disambiguates, while the oral doesn't.
<<<<<

Well, actually I meant *...* to stand in for italics, indicating stress.

>>>>>
     [...]          As I
recall, Mark's wife is from the "real" South, so her pronunciation to
'hail' exhibits the Southern (diphthongizing) shift.
<<<<<

Um, not this Mark. My wife, Rene, was born in Greeley, Colorado, and moved to
NYC at age 7. So she was doing a "storyteller's accent" rather than an authentic
one. And it was (intended as) a "real South" accent, doing the diphthongization
shift.

-- Mark A. Mandel
       To distinguish from other Mark Mandels: http://world.std.com/~mam/