Gov Palin

[Joseph Salmons]

Yeah, I've noticed that too, not just with plural -s, but broader
devoicing, I think. Somebody told me a couple days ago that this is
typical of some Alaskan speech, but I don't know anything about it.
The blogosphere has been on fire about Palin's accent, and I've been
waiting for insightful discussions of the topic here!

Whatever the status of Palin's accent and Alaskan English, this
feature is definitely a stereotype of Upper Midwestern English -- like
'da Bears' on Saturday Night Live, and robust in Wisconsin and
westward too.

Joe



On Sep 4, 2008, at 7:22 AM, Marc Velasco wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Marc Velasco <marcjvelasco at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Gov Palin
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I noticed Gov Palin does not voice the /s/ on plural nouns, e.g.
> brokers (vs
> brokerz), boys (vs boyz).  Is this particular to Alaska, or is it
> common in
> the northern reaches?
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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