AP on Southern "accent" reduction

[Dennis R. Preston]

Erica Tobolski's accent wouldn't be welcome at my house either.

dInIs

>-----
>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051123/ap_on_re_us/southern_identity_accents_1
>
>Whither the Southern Accent?
>
>By JEFFREY COLLINS and KRISTEN WYATT, Associated Press Writers
>
>COLUMBIA, S.C. - "Y'all" isn't welcome in Erica Tobolski's class in voice and
>diction at the University of South Carolina. And forget about "fixin'," as in
>getting ready to do something, or "pin" when talking about the writing
>instrument.
>
>Tobolski's class is all about getting rid of accents, mostly Southern ones in
>the heart of the former Confederacy, and replacing them with Standard American
>Dialect, the uninflected tone of TV news anchors that oozes authority and
>refinement.
>-----
>
>
>Interesting that the first two examples of Southern "accent" are lexical. The
>article goes on to discuss the "diversity of dialects" in the South, with
>obligatory references to "Appalachian twangs" and "Elizabethan lilts".
>
>
>--Ben Zimmer


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
Morrill Hall 15-C
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1036 USA
Office: (517) 353-4736
Fax: (517) 353-3755