on-line dialect survey (B. Vaux)

[Towse]

Dale Coye wrote:
>
> I see now I was confused (too hasty in looking it over) -- c and d are not
> the same answer...d is for those who merge the vowels of cot and caught...
> also there is a race question (optional) when you sign in.   It's tricky to
> do this kind of survey as I found several years ago...

> >  1. aunt
> > >       a. [] as in "ah" (9.94%)
> > >       b. [] as in "ant" (75.16%)
> > >       c. [] as in "caught" (2.24%)
> > >       d. I have the same vowel in "ah", "caught", and "aunt" (2.24%)
> > >       e. I pronounce it the same as "ain't" (0.64%)
> > >       f. I use [/] when referring to the general concept of an aunt, but
> > []
> > >  when referring to a specific person by name. (7.21%)
> > >       g. I use [] when referring to the general concept of an aunt, but
> > [/]
> > >  when referring to a specific person by name. (1.76%)
> > >       h. other (0.80%)
> > >      (624 respondents)

I'm interested in f/g.

I'm in the Silicon Valley which a large Indus population and I'm
used to the younger grade-school-aged generation calling me
"Sally auntie," with "auntie" as the honorific they use for an
older family friend. I once listened to a fourteen-year-old
dismayed because a five-year-old called her "auntie." The
fourteen-year-old said she wasn't _that old.

In a recent news article about the services for Prem Kumar
Walekar, a victim of the East Coast sniper, the AP report said,

   "Nieces and nephews sang songs and remembered a man they
    called "Prem Uncle" while standing under a video screen
    that flashed snapshots from his life."

Now, maybe the young people were all nieces and nephews of Prem
Kumar Walekar, but my first thoughts were that the reporter
misunderstood the use of the "Uncle" honorific and the young
people were not necessarily related to the deceased.

Anyone else know?

Sal

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