The duration of /ae/ and /ai/

[Dennis Preston]

Randy,

In the parts of Labov et al. (i.e., the ANAE) you can't see, there
are very strict accounts of both consideration of stress and
exclusion of certain function words.

I know; it's expensive (and I got mine free).

dInIs



>---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       LanDi Liu <strangeguitars at GMAIL.COM>
>Subject:      Re: The duration of /ae/ and /ai/
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>I'd like to chime in and say thank you, as well.  It's really great to see
>someone plotting it over time.  There is so much variation in that vowel.
>
>I didn't join ADS (yet), so I can't see the article [feel free to send me a
>PDF!  : ), but plotting multiple points gives a much clearer picture.
>Ash-tensing plays a big role in this, as do reduced forms of function
>words.
>
>I was very disappointed with Labov's "Atlas of North American English" for
>this reason.  In that book (or at least the free parts I could see on the
>web), it was clear that in tracing differences in pronunciation of the word
>"can", and dividing it's pronunciation into dialects based on whether or no=
>t
>the vowel was tensed, Labov et al. seem to have ignored that function words
>can be accented or not, affecting the tensing of ash: "I can do it." (not
>tensed because it is reduced) vs. "Yes, I can." (tensed because it is
>accented).
>
>Anyway, bravo for plotting multiple points!
>
>Randy
>
>On Jan 22, 2008 1:00 AM, Joseph Salmons <jsalmons at wisc.edu> wrote:
>
>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  -----------------------
>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       Joseph Salmons <jsalmons at WISC.EDU>
>>  Subject:      The duration of /ae/ and /ai/
>>
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>>
>>  The article in question is this:
>>
>>  Jacewicz, Ewa, Joseph Salmons & Robert Allen Fox. 2007. Vowel duration
>>  across three American dialects. American Speech 82.367-385.
>>
>>  The main finding is that, in our sample, vowels produced by speakers
>>  from westernmost North Carolina are significantly longer than those of
>>  speakers from southern/eastern Wisconsin (Madison and points east and
>>  somewhat northeast -- basically, the western edge of the Northern
>>  Cities area), while central Ohio (the Columbus area) takes an
>>  intermediate position.
>>
>>  We did indeed find that /ae/, the vowel in 'bat' and 'bad', was longer
>>  than /aI/, the vowel in 'bite' and 'bide', in looking across the whole
>>  set of dialects. I don't have the numbers in front of me right now,
>>  but I think /ae/ and /aI/ were pretty comparable in duration for NC
>>  speakers, but /ae/ was longer for Ohio and Wisconsin speakers.
>>
>>  Our NC speakers had pretty monophthongal /aI/, as you'd expect, but it
>>  is surely not a monophthong in Wisconsin.  It's important to note
>>  that /ae/ is really diphthongal, especially in Wisconsin. Tom Purnell
>>  is doing really nice work finding the same kind of pattern across
>>  Wisconsin and into Minnesota. If you plot Upper Midwestern /ae/ in the
>>  F1/F2 space over multiple points of its duration, in fact, you'll see
>>  a striking U shape for many speakers. I guess the traditional reliance
>>  on single measurements at the mid-point of the vowel or even two
>>  measurements has tended to obscure just how much movement there is in
>>  this vowel.
>>
>>  Joe
>>
>>
>>  On Jan 20, 2008, at 10:13 PM, James Harbeck wrote:
>>
>>  > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  > -----------------------
>>  > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  > Poster:       James Harbeck <jharbeck at SYMPATICO.CA>
>>  > Subject:      Re: which would take longer to say /ae/ or /ai/
>>  >
>>  -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
>------
>>  >
>>  > I would think that in those dialects where the I
>  > > in /aI/ is elided, the tendency would be to
>>  > lengthen it in order to preserve distinctiveness
>>  > (those who are more used to Southern US speech
>>  > can comment on whether this seems actually to be
>>  > the case). I don't have the current issue of AD
>>  > (this reminds me: I need to go do some business
>>  > at the ADS website) -- is there an indication of
>>  > the sample base? It would be useful to break it
>>  > out by rendering of the diphthong, or at least
>>  > geographically.
>>  >
>>  > Is any suggestion made in the article to account
>>  > for the relative times -- tongue movement time,
>>  > for instance, or typical context, or need for
>>  > distinction (in some Northern dialects now the
>>  > area around [=E6] is getting crowded, I think)?
>>  >
>>  > James Harbeck.
>>  >
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>--=20
>Randy Alexander
>Jilin City, China
>
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--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
Morrill Hall 15-C
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48864 USA

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