Dawgs

[Charles Doyle]

Well, maybe.  But sometimes it actually sounds like it's on the OTHER side of /O/!  I have overheard my son speaking unguardedly to his beloved mongrel hound in a way that makes "doggie" sound almost like "dogie."  Of course, he may be attempting to imitate the dialect of his addressee . . . .

At this point (perhaps because it's late in a long weary day) I am reminded of a student paper I read a while back; it referred extensively to the Dog of Venice.

--Charlie
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---- Original message ----
>Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2006 16:36:31 -0400
>From: Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OHIO.EDU>
>Subject: Re: Dawgs
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
>Actually, I'll modify my vowel a bit: In this area, at least, the core
>vowel is midway between /a/ and /O/, the so-called "turned script a".  It's
>in IPA, and Kurath & McDavid use it in their West PA/eastern OH/general
>Appalachian transcriptions extensively.  The full open O doesn't glide into
>/U/ easily, does it?  The "turned script a" is what Wells uses for British
>English "pot" too.  I just elicited it today from an Ohio grad student who
>has homophonous 'cot' and 'caught' but with this midway vowel, not either
>/a/ or /O/.  It's also in Ontario, and it's the vowel in homophonous 'Don'
>and 'dawn' in western PA.  Is this a bit closer to what you're hearing in
>"dog"?
>
>At 04:03 PM 10/25/2006, you wrote:
>>I just gotta say, Beverly: the core vowel I hear in "dog" in
>>Appalachian/Inland Southern (white) speech--whatever the nature of the
>>glides--is definitely /O/, not /a/!
>>
>>The situation is more complex and variable for "hog," "sausage," and
>>"laundry" (for example) in those dialects.
>>
>>--Charlie
>>_____________________________________________
>>
>>
>>---- Original message ----
>> >Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2006 14:24:18 -0400
>> >From: Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OHIO.EDU>
>> >Subject: Re: Dawgs
>> >To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> >
>> >Yes, that's BE, but it's not Appalachian/Inland Southern--for example,
>> rural Georgia.  I suggested [daUg] to capture the offglide Matt
>> mentioned, but it's not fully accurate either.  We have it in Athens
>> County/SE Ohio too, and it's definitely not [dOUg].
>> >
>> >Beverly
>> >
>> >At 11:30 PM 10/24/2006, you wrote:
>> >>I vote for Paul's 'the U-glide--like [dOUg]," which strikes me as a
>> decent representation of the BE pronunciation. Cf., e.g. the original
>> "you Ain't Nothin' But A Houn'-Dog," by "Big Mama" Willa Mae Thornton or
>> "No More Doggin'," by Rosco Gordon.
>> >>
>> >>-Wilson
>> >>
>>
>> >>>
>> >>>The schwa glide?  Or the U-glide--like [dOUg] ?  I know that's an old
>> Southern form.
>> >>>
>> >>>Paul Johnston
>>
>> >>>On Oct 24, 2006, at 4:53 PM, Matthew Gordon wrote:
>>
>> >>> >
>> >>> > I thought the "dawg" spelling was meant to represent not just the
>> open-o pronunciation but the more specifically southern diphthongal form
>> with the schwa glide.
>> >>> >
>> >>> >
>> >>> > On 10/24/06 3:34 PM, "Charles Doyle" <cdoyle at UGA.EDU> wrote:
>>
>>.. . . that spelling in a region where "dawg" represents what has been the
>>traditional pronunciation anyway--with that "open o" that dialects of many
>>regions are losing apace.
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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