dialect change?

[Dennis R. Preston]

Joshua,

The word "register" is prescribed for cases just like these. Be
careful though! Register and dialect are often intertwined. When I am
in my basketball-playing register (clearly not a dialect), I find it
difficult (perhaps impossible) to use the BSMS (bullshit Michigan
speech) I have come to use in place of my LLL (lovely Louisville
lilt).

dInIs

>  this thought hit me on the way to the shower.  any takers?
>
>when people sing, they pronounce words differently (they drop
>consonants, substitute phonemes, etc.)  doing this isn't technically
>a dialect change, so what would we call it?
>
>-joshua
>
>
>
>
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--
Dennis R. Preston
Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics & Germanic, Slavic,
      Asian & African Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1027
e-mail: preston at msu.edu
phone: (517) 353-9290