quest for info/suggestions. re: dialects

[Dennis R. Preston]

Natalie,

Of course most southerners have a velar nasal in "anything," but I suspect
we lower (rather than raise) the onset of the vowel if we assume
northerners have something like "thIyng" and we have something like
"thEyng." Of course, that leaves a high "y" at the end of the diphthong so
the height before nasal characterization (a universal phenomenon I believe)
is still OK.

What is the provenience of 'n' in "anything" (and like words, excluding
"something," of course, which is "summ else," with a syllabic nasal)?

dInIs


>>  But I stil cringe when I hear strength
>> pronounced "strenth" rather than "straingth" like all normal,
>
>This somehow reminds me of something I've meant to mention before.
>Why do so many of the Southern-accent-fakers in movies pronounce
>"anything" with the last syllable sounding like "thin"?  I've never
>heard any Southerner do that.  We raise the vowel slightly, as one
>might expect before a nasal, and we have a strong [ng] (nasal velar).
>   --Natalie Maynor (maynor at ra.msstate.edu)

Dennis R. Preston
Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736