lawn-loan

[Paul A Johnston, Jr.]

Dennis,
But the raising of the NIGHT V1 (first element) is common, seemingly, in all areas of Michigan (if never invariable)--it isn't something viewed as "foreign" or "Yooper" like OUT-raising is (even though I've heard OUT raising from Thumb residents also, and among very old Northern LP'ers sporadically).  Interesting is that my students are beginning to perceive that their vowels in NIGHT and TIME aren't the same, whereas in 1989, when I started here, they were at the same values as now, but they wouldn't believe they weren't the same.  I wonder what perceptions of this are like in central WI or southern MN, where you can get the same asymmetrical raising.

Paul Johnston

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at MSU.EDU>
Date: Friday, April 21, 2006 10:48 am
Subject: Re: lawn-loan

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at MSU.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: lawn-loan
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> ------------
>
> Larry,
>
> I'd say BOAT versus BOOT are about equal in inaccuracy (since the
> glide final position is probably at GOOD); it's the fact that the
> diphthongal quality of the Canadian-raised goody is missed altogether.
>
> The related puzzler is that the Canadian raising of the NIGHT vowel
> awakens no response at all, while the OUT vowel is a real howler.
>
> Sort of like my WH - W distinction, which causes no notice or comment
> here in MI, but when I neutralize I/E before nasals, the locals yuck
> it up.
>
> dInIs
>
> >At 8:47 AM -0400 4/21/06, Dennis R. Preston wrote:
> >>Ron,
> >>
> >>Ah dint know you were doin folk perceptual dialect phonology. I
> >>suspect you are right. I'm always amazed that local Michiganders
> hear>>Ontario "about" (and imitate it) as "a boot")
> >
> >And not just Michiganders.  I've always wondered why--even if the
> >misrepresentation is influenced by the need to come with a form that
> >has a transparent orthographic form (cf. "boid" and "earl" for
> >so-called Brooklynese), it wasn't "a boat" rather than "a boot" that
> >folks came up with for Canadian--that's at least closer, isn't it?
> >
> >L
> >
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>
> --
> Dennis R. Preston
> University Distinguished Professor
> Department of English
> 15C Morrill Hall
> Michigan State University
> East Lansing, MI 48824
> 517-353-4736
> preston at msu.edu
>
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