Dawgs

Thu Oct 26 00:32:07 UTC 2006

I don't see an icon.  But in any case, these two are, as you say, the
ah/awe variants (the /a ~ O/ forms, as we say in approximate IPA).  The
third variant is the one we've been talking about--the presumed
Appalachian/South Midland/"hillbilly" form (if that helps), where you have
a low or back vowel (it's variable, I agree) gliding upwards and backwards
to form a kind of diphthong.  If you've never heard this, you won't know
what we're talking about.  But remember--dictionaries only REPORT what the
compilers are familiar with; they don't LEGISLATE!       We linguists try
to describe what we really hear, not what we think we ought to hear (or
say, or teach).

At 06:24 PM 10/25/2006, you wrote:
>m-w.com gives two pronunciations of "dog".  Click icon to hear it.
>
>Main Entry: 1dog
>Pronunciation: 'dog, 'däg
>
>Again, the awe/ah duplicity. Looks like "awe" is primary.
>
>Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL4+
>See truespel.com and the 4 truespel books at authorhouse.com.
>
>
>
>
>
>>From: Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OHIO.EDU>
>>Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>Subject: Re: Dawgs
>>Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2006 14:24:18 -0400
>>
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OHIO.EDU>
>>Subject:      Re: Dawgs
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>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 aa
>> >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
>> >
>> >On 10/24/06, Paul Johnston <paul.johnston at wmich.edu> wrote:
>> >>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> >>-----------------------
>> >>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> >>Poster:       Paul Johnston <paul.johnston at WMICH.EDU>
>> >>Subject:      Re: Dawgs
>> >>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> --------
>> >>
>> >>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:
>> >>
>> >> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> >> > -----------------------
>> >> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> >> > Poster:       Matthew Gordon <gordonmj at MISSOURI.EDU>
>> >> > Subject:      Re: Dawgs
>> >> >
>>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >> > ---------
>> >> >
>> >> > 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:
>> >> >
>> >> >> I went to a football game this past weekend, the University of
>> >> >> Georgia vs.
>> >> >> Mississippi State.  Each university has for its totem the
>> >> >> bulldog.  Each
>> >> >> university features its team as the "Dawgs"; the University of
>> >> >> Georgia (at
>> >> >> least) has been doing so for many years.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> It wasn't much of a game, so I had time to wonder about 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.
>> >> >> Among (old-fashioned) "Southern" speakers, the "dog"/"dawg"
>> >> >> distinction would
>> >> >> be simply orthographic (like "come"/"cum"). But what about the
>> >> >> semantics?  Is
>> >> >> it (or was it when it originated) merely a playful bit of self-
>> >> >> conscious
>> >> >> eye-dialect?
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Or, is the spelling something like a Confederate battle flag to be
>> >> >> waved into
>> >> >> the face of non-Southerners?  Or perhaps it simply suggests
>> >> >> "tradition" for
>> >> >> fans of the University of Georgia (I don't know about MSU), whose
>> >> >> campus is
>> >> >> now prevalently populated by first- and second-generation /dag/-
>> >> >> speaking
>> >> >> Northern immigrants?
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Is it because we lost that war 140 years ago that Southerners have
>> >> >> been so
>> >> >> absorbed, obsessed with issues of our regional identity?  A mom-
>> >> >> and-pop
>> >> >> restaurant in a small Georgia town will advertise its "Southern
>> >> >> cooking," as
>> >> >> if that weren't the default . . . .
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Oh, yes, the Dawgs won the game.  Barely.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> --Charlie
>> >> >>
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>> >> >
>> >> > ------------------------------------------------------------
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>> >
>> >--
>> >Everybody says, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange
>> >complaint to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>> >-----
>> >Whoever has lived long enough to find out what life is knows how deep
>> >a debt of gratitude we owe to Adam, the first great benefactor of our
>> >race. He brought death into the world.
>> >
>> >--Sam Clemens
>> >
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