"earl" for "oil"

[Michael Newman]

Labov declared this form dead in NYCE. However, I have a 20 year old participant who uses the [əɪ] form for the bird vowel as a variant. So the boids still fly, at least above Howard Beach.



Michael Newman
Associate Professor of Linguistics
Queens College/CUNY
michael.newman at qc.cuny.edu



On Apr 25, 2012, at 7:44 PM, Bruce Hunter wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Bruce Hunter <bhunter3 at MINDSPRING.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "earl" for "oil"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Another one for your consideration...
>
> Thoity poiple boids,
> Sittin' on a coib,
> A choipin' and a boipin',
> From eatin' doity woims.
>
> Thanks for allowing me to monitor. I really enjoy, and learn from, the
> various discussions.
>
> V/R,
>
> Bruce Hunter
>
> On 4/25/2012 6:15 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>> A top Iowa-born CNN anchor revealed today that she believes Texans say
>> "earl" for "oil."
>>
>> Her assumption was met with appropriate ridicule.
>>
>> What, they don't make kids memorize poetry anymore?
>>
>> "Prince, when you call on a Brooklyn goil,
>> Say 'oil' for 'earl' and 'earl' for 'oil.'"
>>
>> PS: In another unsolved mystery of the universe, I find no trace of these
>> lines (attributed in memory to Don Marquis) online, in GB, YBQ, JSTOR,
>> Bartlett's, or NewspArch.  Just who is behind the cover-up???
>>
>> JL
>>
>> --
>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>>
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>>
>
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