PEAS: "crick" in North, N Midland; "creek" in South, S Midland

[D. Ezra Johnson]

This from "Pronunciation of English in the Atlantic States" (1961):

"creek (Map 97)

"_Creek_ has either the vowel /i/ of _peak_ or the /I/ of pick. The
dissemination of the variants is largely regional.

"/i/ is in general use in the South, except for the South Carolina coast,
and in the South Midland from the Kanawha River southward. Within this
extensive area, the /I/ of _pick_ has some currency along the lower Potomac
and in a pocket in western North Carolina (here clearly a survival of
Pennsylvania usage). On the other hand, /i/ is used to some extent on upper
Chesapeake Bay; by older persons on the Eastern Shore of Maryland; by
younger and by cultured speakers -- clearly as a prestige pronounciation --
on the Western Shore, especially in Annapolis and Baltimore. /i/ has also
been adopted by some younger and better educated speakers in the Valley of
Virginia and in West Virginia north of the Kanawha (Charleston to Wheeling).

"In coastal South Carolina, from the Pee Dee to the Savannah, /i/ and /I/
are equally common. There is no marked social cleavage in usage, and in
Charleston and elsewhere many speakers waver. Here the /I/ of _pick_ is
clearly old in _creek_; it is noteworthy that it has not been accepted in
the Piedmont, as so many Low Country features have been adopted there.

"The vowel /I/ of _pick_ predominates throughout the North Midland and the
North, except for southern New England and, perhaps, Metropolitan New York.
It has nearly universal currency in New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and
northern West Virginia, as well as in the valleys of the Hudson and the
Mohawk in New York State and in northeastern New England and New Brunswick.

"In southern New England, from Plymouth to the Housatonic in western
Connecticut, /I/ and /i/ are equally common, and the usage of some speakers
fluctuates. The dissemination of the variants is local rather than social
(e.g. Martha's Vineyard and the communities on the lower Connecticut have
only /I/, Rhode Island more commonly /i/).

"Long Island has /I/, which also predominates in Brooklyn. In Manhattan
usage seems to be equally divided, but cultured speakers use the /i/ of
_peak_.

In western Vermont (where _creek_ means a fresh-water stream, as farther
west), and in the northern and western parts of New York State, /i/ runs a
close second to /I/, especially in the speech of the better educated. Here
/i/ is presumably derived in part from coastal New England (where _creek_
means a tidal inlet of the sea); but the spelling of the word has doubtless
been a contributing factor in favor of /i/. The rather frequent use of /i/
in Ontario and in northern Ohio has a similar background. In southern Ohio,
however, /i/ is a contribution of the South Midland."

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