FW: Nebraskans/Standard English

[Tom Kysilko]

I wonder if the reporter's remark was an imitative allusion to the trailer
for POLTERGEIST II (or some other horror flic?), and thus not reflective of
her other /ae/s.

At 07:35 PM 1/18/2002 +0800, Laurence Horn wrote:

>As it happens, a feature on Michael Jordan's return to Chicago to
>play with the Washington Wizards against his old Bulls on ESPN last
>night began with the reporter saying (against a backdrop of the
>Jordan statue in front of the United Center that Jordan "built")
>"HE'S BEEE-AACK", with a very exaggerated Northern Cities shifted
>/ae/ (as a diphthong beginning with a high front vowel).
[snip]
> Anyway, for the reporter in
>question--I forget her name--Northern cities /ae/ is a functioning
>shibboleth.


  Tom Kysilko        Practical Data Services
  pds at visi.com       Saint Paul MN USA