plausible?

[Andrea Vine]

"Donald M. Lance" wrote:
>
> >On Mon, 4 Oct 1999, Michael K. Gottlieb wrote:
> >
> >>- Is the ultimate homogenizaton of American dialects plausible?
>
> And Bethany Dumas responded:
>
> >I think "fictional" is a more accurate term that "plausible." I have
> >been reading for nearly 30 years that dialects are dying in this
> >country, that we are all beginnign to sound just alike, Yet, I can drive
> >less than a mile in any dirextion from my home, which is only two
> >miles from my UT office, and introduce you to a speaker of a dialect
> >sufficiently different from yours, most of you [dInIs is an exception, of
> >course), that you will have trouble understanding the speaker.
>
> Where there's a myth, there's often a fact.  I suspect that the fact
> underlying the myth of homogenization of American dialects is that certain
> public-use registers like tv and radio announcing, acting,
> professionals-on-the-job, etc are sounding more alike.  Some people, like
> English teachers, use this register all the time.  But out there in the
> trenches where the buck hits the road (to mix metaphors) people choose and
> apparently prefer to maintain and promote regional, socio-economic, and
> ethnic variation.
>

Interestingly enough, it looks like dialects in the media are on the rise in
Britain.  It seems people in the BBC are increasingly retaining their native
dialects, or at least a standard version of their native dialects, e.g.
Scottish, Irish, and Indian.  I have yet to hear Welsh, West Country, Yorkshire,
or Cockney, though, so I suspect there are limits.

I can't say that I've seen the same trend in the US.  I must admit that I would
have some trouble listening to the news in San Fernando Valley, Bronx, Boston,
or South Texan.  I think it's partially because US dialects sound too "local",
providing the atmosphere of neighborhood news or even gossip.

Andrea