Northern Cities /aI/

[Paul A Johnston, Jr.]

Dennis,

IIs it your experience that you get more of thiis Raising before voiced consonants in the Upper Midwest, where Canadian Raising as usually described is strong, or in the rest of the lower peninsula of MI, where there's a lot of variability before voiceless consonants.  Seems like the first one to me, from observing my Yooper and Thumb students.

Incidentally, the film "North Country" --set on the Mesabi Range-was on TV the other night, and the actors gave plenty of examples of this.  How good was their dialect coach? Or were they just hyperdialectizing?

Paul

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at MSU.EDU>
Date: Wednesday, December 20, 2006 7:32 am
Subject: Re: Northern Cities /aI/

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------
> ------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at MSU.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Northern Cities /aI/
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> ------------
>
> Alice,
>
> Operating on the theory that others' vowels are often placed in a
> peceptual position relative to our own and (and I apologize for
> this), knowing your own linguistic background as I do, isn't it
> possible that the probably backer and higher onset of your own /ay/
> (or those you grew up with, even if you ahve eschewed it) would make
> any lower and fronter one sound even more dramatically lower and
> fronter?
>
> Just a thought.
>
> Remember too that Canadian Raising in the US borderlands often fails
> to observe the voce-voiceless rule of the original, perhaps a related
> fact. We have recent local (rural) MI evidence of  this is /ay/
> before /r/.
>
> dInIs
>
> >---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >-----------------------
> >Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >Poster:       Alice Faber <faber at HASKINS.YALE.EDU>
> >Organization: Haskins Laboratories
> >Subject:      Northern Cities /aI/
> >------------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------
> >
> >I was listening to call-in radio on my way home this evening. A
> caller>from Buffalo (oh, you should have heard the vowel in the
> first syllable
> >of Calgary!) pronounced "time" with an onset that I don't remember
> >having noticed before. It was fronted and raised to the extent
> that I at
> >first thought he'd said "tame", until the context rescued me. Am
> I just
> >behind the curve noticing this?
> >--
> >======================================================================
> >Alice Faber
> faber at haskins.yale.edu>Haskins Laboratories
>  tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
> >New Haven, CT 06511 USA                             fax (203) 865-
> 8963>
> >------------------------------------------------------------
> >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> --
> It should be the chief aim of a university professor to exhibit
> himself in his own true character - that is, as an ignorant man [sic]
> thinking, actively utilizing his small share of knowledge. Alfred
> North Whitehead
>
> There are many different religions in this world, but if you look at
> them carefully, you'll see that they all have one thing in common:
> They were invented by a giant, superintelligent slug named Dennis.
> Homer Simpson
>
> 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
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org