"Authentic pronunciation" - but does she creak?

Sat Oct 2 17:09:31 UTC 2010

An interesting fad apparently from Calif spreading around USA is the "creaky voice", especially for young females.  The name "creaky" is given to it in a paper in this Fall's ADS "American Speech" by Ikuko Patricia Yuaso.  I've noticed creakiness and wondered what the name for it was.  The Ikuko study is an interesting read.

The paper said that in some languages creakiness can be "phonemic," such that a word that's creaked has a different meaning than the same word that's not creaked.  My problem here is terminology.  If the two words are said with no difference in phonemes (only a suprasegmental difference in creakiness) why should it be called "phonemically" difference?  The phonemes are the same.  Basically, it's a lexical difference, not a phonemic one, caused buy suprasegmentals like creakiness or tone, not by phonemes.  This is semantic twinge of mine.

My take on the psychology of the creakiness is this.  It's all about being a rich kid in school that is above it all having a secure multimillion dollar future.  So a super-relaxed, non-uptight creaky voice is a power thing.

I've no problem with creakiness as a new thing.  The author says, "Arguably, creaky voice can signify sexual desirablity of American women", citing another study.  So if she creaks, she's!!!????

Regarding other phonetic fads, I heard my first double zinger phoneme swap (ones I don't like).  It was from a female newscaster who said the word "flaws" with an awe-drop and a "s" spelnounce.  She said ~flaas (~aa as in Saab and ~s as in "sad") instead of ~flauz (~au as in laud and ~z as in zoo).  And she didn't even creak it!

Reflecting on the letter "s" spoken as ~z, it's done about 98% of the time in text if usual pronunciation of plurals is applied (ref truespel book 4, "the alphabet and sounds of USA English".  This study looks at pronunciation of words in text (considering word repetition).

Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL7+
see truespel.com phonetic spelling

>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Jonathan Lighter
> Subject: Re: Singing in a dialect and "Authentic pronunciation"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> My experience is that, beyond two or three stereotypical pronunciations in
> each case, most people don't know what another dialect should sound like.
>
> A fellow graduate student (from Georgia, I believe) once told me that I
> didn't sound like a New Yorker because I didn't say "boid." Another was
> dismayed by my unfamiliar pronunciation of the O's in "Florida" and
> "Oregon." She thought it was just a personal idiosyncracy.
>
> I have a friend from middle Tennessee whose (very) Upper-South accent
> was described by an English woman as "characteristically American." This
> statement is both true and false.
>
> My wife's New York accent is rather more "typical" than mine (though she
> doesn't say "boid" either). When she was living in a small town in
> Tennessee, some people thought she was from "across the water." (And no,
> smart guys, they knew where New York is.)
>
> Not everyone is a dialectician. People are usually quite sensitive to bad
> imitations of their own accents, however.
>
> I can recall some English people decades ago remarking on Peter Sellers'
> "marvelous" ability to mimic an "American" accent (as though there were just
> one). He was fairly good, actually, but once did a commercial (for an
> airline, IIRC) in which he portrayed an American "businessman." Every time,
> however, he said "businessm'n." This struck me as howlingly bad - so wrong
> that I remember it forty years later. His director, however, apparently
> never noticed.
>
> Some actors of a later generation are indeed brilliant at dialects,
> however. I especially remember Londoner Emily Loyd as a Kentuckian girl in
> _In Country_ (1988). Real Kentuckians with linguistic training may have
> found grounds to cavil, but she sounded perfectly authentic to me. Mel
> Gibson seems to have wowed 'em in Oz with his fake accent.
>
> Then there are these guys:
> http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128567769
>
> I know I've heard some very credible fake accents, but I can't name any
> other performers at the moment. Of course, what I think credible may sound
> execrable to somebody with a better ear.
>
> Finally, singers who adopt fake accents may do it out of respect for the
> song and the source rather than simply to show off. The accent, even if
> poorly reproduced, is part of the sound.
>
> JL
>
>
> On Sat, Oct 2, 2010 at 2:52 AM, Eric Nielsen wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society
> > Poster: Eric Nielsen
> > Subject: Singing in a dialect and "Authentic pronunciation"
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > There's an ongoing thread at this music (mostly harmonica) site,
> > harp-l.org, concerning performers singing in dialects they were not
> > born to.
> >
> >
> >
> > Using the search terms "authentic pronunciation" in the site archive will
> > bring you to the thread listings:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > http://harp-l.org/mailman/mmsearch/harp-l?config=3Dharp-l&restrict=3D&exclu=
> >
> > de=3D&method=3Dand&format=3Dshort&sort=3Dscore&words=3Dauthentic+pronunciat=
> > ion
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Here are some samples:
> >
> >
> >
> > "Yup, when i'm in the UK I get asked " wot part of Aussie 'r you from then"
> > In the States they think I'm english.
> >
> > I remember years ago Brendan Power getting a laugh once by remarking after
> > he had just sung his 'Onion Blues' on a Newzealand stage "Why do we all
> > sin=
> > g
> > in American accents?"
> >
> > Maori rappers in NZ all sing like they come from inner city Stateside yet
> > when they are being interviewed or whatever, out comes a broad kiwi accent.
> >
> > But hey,I have heard some singers at an Irish 'session' try to sound like
> > they come from Dublin ;-)
> >
> > Rick
> >
> > in the land of fush an' chups"
> >
> >
> >
> > http://harp-l.org/mailman/htdig/harp-l/2010-September/msg01175.html
> >
> >
> >
> > "...Hearing non-Americans trying to do an American pronunciation is not a
> > turnoff to me, though I must admit to absolutely never seeking out the
> > musi=
> > c
> > of, say, Italian blues bands. Unless a band has something new to say, I'd
> > rather hear the original.
> >
> >
> >
> > What absolutely kills a record for me is to hear a white American band
> > playing well in the first few bars, followed by a white singer who tries to
> > use English like a Black Mississippi man from 1930. I get the same feeling
> > when I hear those horrible old Amos and Andy radio shows from the 1930's.
> >
> >
> >
> > I run away screaming, often leaving a Deifik-shaped hole in the drywall."
> >
> >
> >
> > http://harp-l.org/mailman/htdig/harp-l/2010-September/msg01058.html
> >
> >
> >
> > =93I have followed this thread with interest and some amusement. I guess
> > it=
> > is
> >
> > a worldwide phenomenon.
> >
> > Here in Ireland singers who aspire to the 'big time' seem to think that it
> >
> > is necessary to sing in what they believe is an "American" accent.
> >
> > I silently applaud anyone I hear singing in their natural locally acquired
> >
> > voice: Dolores Keane or Frank Harte for example.
> >
> > As for non-native speaking guys singing in Gaelic (self included) Lets not
> >
> > go there!
> >
> > Beannachtai
> >
> > Aongus Mac Cana=94
> >
> >
> >
> > http://harp-l.org/pipermail/harp-l/2010-September/msg01188.html
> >
> >
> >
> > In the case of other performance artists, I have noticed that many actors
> > have a command of dialects (?) that sounds very convincing to my ear. How
> > many of the general public know that Hugh Laurie is British or didn=92t
> > readily accept Cate Blanchett as American when she acted in =93The Gift=94
> > =
> > or
> > =93The Shipping News=94.
> >
> >
> >
> > To paraphrase an old song, do you have to live the life you sing about in
> > your song?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Hope this is of interest to some,
> >
> >
> >
> > Eric
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org