Rare Dialects

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

Go back and read the messages on slurred speech this week! As the linguists 
on the list have noted, "slurred" is not an appropriate label for dialect 
variation because:

1. it has pejorative connotations reminiscent of prescriptivist labeling
2. it is generally used in the scientific literature, if at all, to 
characterize qualities of speech that stem from brain damage or neurological imparement
3. as a descriptor of dialect variation it is otherwise vague and imprecise.

Of course, not being a prescriptivist myself, I have no right to prescribe 
how you use words. You can call Mississippi speech shit-tongued for all I care. 
I'm just suggesting that, on a list-serv that was initially started so that 
people with a serious interest in American Speech could exchange information 
about their work and observations, you might want to bend in the direction of 
paying attention to the precise language of the trade. 

In a message dated 2/23/09 6:53:56 PM, gww at OLEMISS.EDU writes:


> At 05:42 PM 2/23/2009, RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:
> >---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >-----------------------
> >Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >Poster:       RonButters at AOL.COM
> >Subject:      Rare Dialects
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >Your speech may have been slurred from all the drinking, but not because 
> you=
> >=20
> >were from Mississippi.
> 
> Actually might be a combination.
> Gerald
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
> 




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