More on dialect and song

[Karl Krahnke]

Thanks to all who replied to my question about rhotacism in song. If only
my opera singer mother had lived a little longer I would have had that
information long ago. Unfortunately, what I inherited was a phobia towards
singing.

The r-stuff makes good sense, but I wonder a bit about the
monopthongization, especially of /ai/. I can't hear in my own head the
choir in my old church singing, "A mahhty fawtress is ah God." (Excuse the
crude representation.)

The "flavor" of the popular song phonology I hear is southern US, where, of
course, the two phonetic phenomena stereotypically (and otherwise) occur. I
have interpreted it as a "ruralization" of pop song. Heard an old, old
recording of Bing Crosby on "Fresh Air" yesterday and did not hear it
there. I guess I am just wondering of there is some generalized shift in
the sociolinguistics of pop song in addition to the fact that /Vr/ is hard
to sing.

Karl Krahnke
English Department
Colorado State University