Alaskan?

[Jim]

Robert Lawless comments:
************
My son heard Sarah Palin today and said, "She talks funny. Is that an
Alaska accent." Frankly I didn't notice anything that I could label a
regional accent -- just that she sounds rather strident. Any comments?

************


My fiancée and I have noted what we discern as a "Canadian accent"...

As an "armchair linguist" I would guess Western Canadian...or more
precisely, North American West Coast. (Northern Oregon...Washington
State...and Brit Columbia all seem to have the same hollow sound to their
broad vowels.  (Surely, there's a term for this sound I hear...???)

I have limited experience with true Alaskans...and almost none with native
born Alaskans... So N American W Coast is about the best I can do.

As to her philosophical accent--I think she is clearly from one very
distinct, very American region: the private sector. (Is Stepford the capitol
of Alaska???)

I hope my linguistic attempts offer you any insights whatsoever. (Please
keep us posted if you track down anything more on this matter of
Palin-guistics.)

Jim

http://www.uwosh.edu/filmandhistory/index.php 
http://www.uwosh.edu/filmandhistory/events/documents/CinematicExtraterrestri
als.doc
 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Linguistic Anthropology Discussion Group
[mailto:LINGANTH at listserv.linguistlist.org] On Behalf Of Robert Lawless
Sent: Saturday, September 06, 2008 2:29 PM
To: LINGANTH at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
Subject: Alaskan?

My son heard Sarah Palin today and said, "She talks funny. Is that an
Alaska accent." Frankly I didn't notice anything that I could label a
regional accent -- just that she sounds rather strident. Any comments?