Introduction & Question

[James Aune]

My name is Jim Aune, and I teach in the Speech Communication Department at
Texas A & M.  I am mainly interested in the history of rhetorical theory,
especially legal rhetoric.

I have been puzzling over something for several years, and I don't really
know what to call the phenomenon.  I'm going to describe it, and then ask
if folks on this list have any suggestions for analyzing it.

The phenomenon in question is the devaluation of clear oral communication
by elites in the Eastern and Southern U.S.  I mean by devaluation two
things:  1)  speech patterns in which mumbling or other barriers to clear
articulation mark an upper class speaker ("Princeton lockjaw," for
instance;  a civil rights lawyer also once told me that in the old days
elite Atlanta lawyers would mumble in court or in conference);  2)  a lack
of care in public speaking or an association of oral eloquence with lower
status.

Any thoughts?  Is there a similar pattern in other languages?

Jim Aune
Texas A & M