slang/slant

Fri Oct 27 06:23:30 UTC 2006

And you've just come out with a regionalism--and one that is NOT traditional in American dictionaries.  My students will love you for it, though.

Paul Johnston

----- Original Message -----
From: Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
Date: Friday, October 27, 2006 0:13 am
Subject: slang/slant

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------
> ------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      slang/slant
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> ------------
>
> Indeed the words "slang" and "slant" have different vowels as
> spoken in
> m-w.com.  M-w.com is correct in saying that these are typical USA
> pronunciations, but their notation is incorrect.  The word "slang"
> soundslike "slay" with and "ng" (that's a long a).  The word slant
> has a short a.
> This goes for many "ang" words and many "ank" words as well.
>
> Say "bay", then add "nk" for "bank".  That's how m-w.com says "bank".
>
> Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL4+
> See truespel.com and the 4 truespel books at authorhouse.com.
>
>
>
>
>
> >From: "Gordon, Matthew J." <GordonMJ at MISSOURI.EDU>
> >Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >Subject: Re: Slang poster
> >Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2006 20:22:38 -0500
> >
> >---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >-----------------------
> >Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >Poster:       "Gordon, Matthew J." <GordonMJ at MISSOURI.EDU>
> >Subject:      Re: Slang poster
> >------------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------
> >
> >Christine Zeller published an article in Journal of English
> Linguistics =
> >in 1997 that studied short-a before /g/ in Milwaukee. I pasted
> the =
> >abstract from LLBA below. Notice she suggests it's also found in =
> >Minnesota.
> >
> >My sense is that this raising is not historically related to the =
> >Northern Cities Shift. In addition to the obvious distinction
> that NCS =
> >raising is not phonologically restricted, I think this pre-/g/
> raising =
> >tends to be phonetically different from the NCS raising which
> frequently =
> >spawns diphthongal variants. I also suspect the pre-/g/ raising
> is =
> >actually older than the NCS despite Zeller's apparent-time evidence.
> >
> >
> >Abstract: Realizations of /ae/ before voiced velars (orthographic
> , , ) =
> >are considered. Subjects (N =3D 10 adults from around Milwaukee, =
> >Wisconsin, 8 related by blood or marriage to the investigator)
> were =
> >tape-recorded on semantic differential, word list, & rhyming
> tasks. Data =
> >were digitized & spectrograms were generated. Formant
> measurements taken =
> >at midpoint were plotted on F1-F2 vowel charts. Younger speakers
> (aged =
> >(less than or equal to) 40) show considerable overlap in
> allophones of =
> >/ae/ & /e/, whereas older speakers (aged (greater than or equal
> to) 40) =
> >show either no significant overlap (males) or what seems to be an =
> >intermediate stage in the change (females). Interviews of
> additional =
> >subjects (N =3D 17 natives of Wisconsin & Minnesota) suggest that
> the =
> >sound change pervades the region. Analogues & possible sources of
> the =
> >sound change are discussed.=20
> >
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Beverly Flanigan
> >Sent: Thu 10/26/2006 7:27 PM
> >To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >Subject:      Re: Slang poster
> >=20
> >Interesting!  I'm from SW Minnesota, but I now have a niece in =
> >Alexandria;
> >I'll listen to her closely next summer (she also has a pronounced =
> >"Canadian
> >raised" 'aboot', more than anyone else in the family).  This may
> be new
> >since I left the state.  Your blog page is also interesting; some
> of the
> >changes sound like the Northern Cities Shift, but not only raised
> but =
> >also
> >tensed.  But are "baggel" and "vague" really lowered to /ae/ or
> laxed to
> >/E/?  I wonder what Matt thinks?
> >
> >The IPA is difficult to reproduce in e-mail--unless someone has a
> good>suggestion?
> >
> >Beverly
> >
> >At 05:01 PM 10/26/2006, you wrote:
> > >Quoting Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OHIO.EDU>:
> > >
> > > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > > -----------------------
> > > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > > Poster:       Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OHIO.EDU>
> > > > Subject:      Re: Slang poster
> > > >
> > > =
> >------------------------------------------------------------------
> -------=
> >------
> > > >
> > > > Where in Minnesota is your wife from?  My entire family
> lives in =
> >Minnesota
> > > > (as I did for 25 years), and I've never heard [e] for [ae]
> before a =
> >voiced
> > > > velar stop.
> > > >
> > >
> > >She grew up in St Cloud.
> > >
> > >I have found it from the Twin Cities up to the ND border but
> most =
> >reliably
> > >in a
> > >central to north-western strip.  In North Dakota in the =
> >northern/eastern
> > >quarter. I mentioned it in a post a little bit ago. (Sorry
> about the =
> >title.)
> > >
> > ><http://wishydig.blogspot.com/2006/09/oyah-good-fox-up-dare.html>
> > >
> > >Several residents from these areas attest the difference in the
> vowel =
> >and just
> > >recently a Wisconsin resident agreed with the alternation.  The
> most =
> >common
> > >words in which I've heard it -- and on which the speakers
> report they =
> >get the
> > >most reaction -- are "flag" and "bag."  Very different from
> "flack" and
> > >"back."
> > >
> > >I have heard a very slight diphthongization in Michigan but
> never the =
> >complete
> > >raising of the vowel.
> > >
> > >Question: any suggestions for using IPA symbols in these pure-text
> > >messages?  I
> > >hate to see my posts coming back to me with the bracketed html
> code =
> >instead of
> > >the phonetic symbols I was trying to use.
> > >
> > >----------------------------------------------------------------
> --------=
> >-------
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Are the vowels in "slang" and "slant" pronounced the
> same in =
> >m-w.com?
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL4+
> > > > > > See truespel.com and the 4 truespel books at
> authorhouse.com.> > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >Although the pronunciation key uses the same symbol for
> both, in =
> >the
> > > > >recording I
> > > > >hear either a slight diphthongization or a raising in "slang".
> > > > >
> > > > >This is similar to the [e] for [=E6] alternation I heard in
> North =
> >Dakota and
> > > > >Minnesota.
> > > > >
> > > > >When I ask my wife to say "wagon" she says [weg?n] and when
> I ask =
> >her
> > > > to
> > > > >syllabify it she says [wej - g?n]. She claims the first
> vowel is
> > > > >identical to
> > > > >the vowel in "ray gun." And it's a true rhyme with "Reagan"
> she =
> >offers.
> > > > >
> > > > >I recently posted the claim:
> > > > >"[A]pparently before a voiced velar stop or nasal (either
> [g] or =
> >[?])
> > > > >she raises
> > > > >/=E6/ to /e/. Adding the [i]/[j] diphthongisation is
> probably just =
> >a natural
> > > > >effect when a coda is lost and the following onset is
> noticeably> > > suspended."
> > > > >
> > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > >
> > >     Michael Covarrubias
> > >     Purdue University
> > >     mcovarru at purdue.edu
> > >     wishydig.blogspot.com
> > >
> > >USA - MI4, OH3, MD3, MI13, ND5, MI3, IN1+
> > >
> > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > >
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