LL-L: "Language varieties" LOWLANDS-L, 14.MAR.2000 (07) [E]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 14.MAR.2000 (07) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at fleimin.demon.co.uk]
Subject: "Language varieties"

> From: Jorge Potter [jorgepot at caribe.net]
> Subject: LL-L: "Language varieties" LOWLANDS-L, 12.MAR.2000 (03) [E]
>
> pronunciation). Another well-known accent is "Scouse", the accent of
> Liverpool, which though just 50 miles from Manchester (represented by
> Elaine in 'Frasier'!) is quite unmistakeably different. It is

"Daphne Moon" in Frasier - played by Jane Leeves (I'm displaying my
predeliction for TV sitcoms again!).

I don't think I'd take Daphne's accent as representative of Manchester. Jane
Leeves is from the south of England and several Mancunians have told me that
her attempt at a Manchester accent sounds rather odd!

Sandy
http://scotstext.org
http://www.fleimin.demon.co.uk

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From: Jim Gretch [jgretch at ugf.edu]
Subject: LL-L: "Language varieties" LOWLANDS-L, 14.MAR.2000 (04) [E]

Wilf Ratzburg wrote:

>I must say that I have NEVER heard "about" pronounced as
>"aboot", or anything even close to that. Now, I've heard
>Americans make that comment on numerous occasions, but I
>just can't/don't hear it. "About" is pronounced "abOWt" (as
>is wOW, pOW, etc.) around hear. Next time you're up this
>way, Ron, you'll have to have a listen. Peter (in Victoria)
>and Reuben (in Kelowna), what do you think?

Writing from Great Falls, Montana (just a hop, skip and a
jump from the Canadian border), I would say the accent
just north of the border pronounces "about" almost
exactly like "a boat," just as Ron responded:

>However, I do hear quite a lot of Canadians say [?@'b at Ut] or [?@'boUt] with
>more duration on the second part of the diphthong.

Other recognizable "Canadianisms" are "Mum" for "Mom"
and what sounds to me like "Mom" for "Ma'am,"
pronouncing "schedule" with initial [S] rather than [sk],
and occasional misleading differences in usage such as
requesting a university "calendar" instead of a
"catalog" (for a listing of courses and curricula), etc.

Then there's the tell-tale use of "eh?" in the sense
of LG "nich wahr?" (in an effort to bring in a LL
touch)....

Wilf added:
>Once again, there's absolutely NO chance of hearing "rate"
>in British Columbia.

To _my_ ear, a pronunciation of "rate" for "right" strikes
me as sounding like the pronunciation in the Wisconsin and
Minnesota region.  That's the same region that pronounces
"God," "rock," and "concert" with a vowel that sounds more
like [gæ:d], [ræ:k] and [kæ:nsrt] (wish I could invert that "r"
to show retroflex).

Again, these perceptions are based on my own regional
pronunciation, which falls within the "non-distinctive"
dialect Ron mentioned earlier.

Jim Gretch

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