dese, dem and dose

[Ronald Butters]

Thanks for this. What I observe is that Ralph's "these" are generally full fricatives, and some are affricates, whereas "in the" becomes "inna." But this just mirrors the inherent sociolinguistic variability of the feature (as I said). If Alice invariably uses the fricative, that, too, follows the sociolinguistic "rule" that women are more likely to use standard forms than are their menfolk. One would predict that Norton, being a plumber, would have more "dese" and "dose." 

The scene is set in Brooklyn, but nothing is noticeably Jewish or Dutch or Italian (or Finnish) about their heritage.


On Feb 13, 2012, at 10:41 AM, Dan Goncharoff wrote:

> Ralph Kramden didn't say 'the' though.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbCv6b96OK0
> 
> Alice clearly did, however.
> 
> DanG

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