[Ads-l] Query about dialectal "warsh" (wash)

[Gordon, Matthew J.]

As others have noted, this feature is widespread in and beyond the Midland region. If you're interested in StL in particular, Thomas Murray has some info on "warsh" in his 1986 book on the St. Louis dialect (Peter Lang). He describes it as pervasive among all social classes and gives some data to support that. I won't bother to cite particular numbers here given how, um, unconventional his methods were.

Matt Gordon

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From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Cohen, Gerald Leonard
Sent: Sunday, December 07, 2014 10:40 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Query about dialectal "warsh" (wash)

Does anyone know of any article treating the insertion of /r/ in the St. Louis, Mo. pronunciation of
"wash", "Washington": "warsh," "Warshington"?

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

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