online accent quiz

[Dennis R. Preston]

>---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
>Subject:      Re: online accent quiz
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>>From: "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at MSU.EDU>
>
>>Tom,.
>
>>Not quite; since aspect is the phonological componenet of dialect,
>>your monsieur from Indianapolis won't quite cut it.
>
>aspect?  You're saying you can't have a French accent in a midwestern
>dialect then?

Typo for accent. Since accent is a part of dialect (the phonoogical
part), part of your dialect would not be Midwestern if you had a
French accent.

>
>>Please refer to former conceted efforts to change language. The
>>caught-cot distinction will go, and our grandchildren will not be
>>linguistic dummies for the loss.
>
>The caught/cot distinction won't go because it shouldn't.  You may not care,
>but there are those that do.  Awe-droppers do the language a disservice,
>create unnecessary homonyms, thereby lessening intelligibility and ease of
>learning English.

We obviously have very differenbt opinions about how the language and
its users mnight be doen a disservice.

>Are all efforts to change language conceted?
>
>>dInIs (who, as you notice, does very well with I-E conflation beore nasals)
>
>conflation?  Another word for merging.  Of I-E.  What's this SAMPA for short
>i and short e?

Yes; conflate, among linguists, particxualrly when talking about
rules, means merege.

>
>I have no clue what dInIs is.  SAMPA for Dennis?  Both vowels are short i?
>This does not happen in USA.  You must be a Brit?

Doesn't happen? You apparently don't know about Southern US English
or even South Midlands where two high front lax vowels (/I/) can
occur in the same word.


dInIs


>
>Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL4+
>See truespel.com and the 4 truespel books at authorhouse.com.
>
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--
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Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
15-C Morrill Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1036
Phone: (517) 353-4736
Fax: (517) 353-3755
preston at msu.edu

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