Labov on vowel shifts

[David Metevia]

How does he pronounce Peter to sound like Nutella?

On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 11:06 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Labov on vowel shifts
>
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>
> On Aug 27, 2012, at 12:50 AM, W Brewer wrote:
>
> > TZ wrote: <<<"do" and "dew" - can you hear the difference?">>>
> > WG: <<<Yes.>>>
> > WB: No. When first starting graduate school, I had a British landlady,
> who
> > was very helpful in getting me settled in Los Angeles. One morning, at
> the
> > breakfast table, she read me a notice in the local newspaper: “Oh,
> Warren.
> > Here's something you might like. UCLA chess club. No Jews.” The item read
> > <no dues>. I say <dues> --> [dews].
> >
> That palatalization in British English, applying also to voiceless
> coronals, reminds me of Peter Trudgill relating how when he provides his
> first name to Americans their immediate reaction is sometimes to wonder why
> anyone would be named after a popular snack food of Italian origin.
>
> LH
>
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