LL-L: "Language varieties" LOWLANDS-L, 05.MAY.2000 (10) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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From: Keith Kennetz (K_Kennetz at hotmail.com)
Subject: LL-L: Language Varieties" LOWLANDS_L, 05 May,2000

At 15:04 PM 05/04/00 Ed Alexander wrote:
>Yes, generally one hears the more General American "abowt" in Canada, >as
>one does all around North America.  However, on the factory floor >or in
>the rural village, the "aboat" is much more prevalent here.

I'd like to add to this discussion that the Canadian Raising exemplified in
"about" to "aboat" is also prevalent in some areas of northern Wisconsin and
Minnesota. Although I grow up in Chicago, I have relatives in the areas
mentioned above, and I hear the "aboat" pronunciation frequently. And
although it is deeply entrenched in the minds of most Americans that all
Canadians use "eh" as sort of a tag particle at the end of question,(as in
"How's it going, eh ?") I have heard this quite often in my travels to
Michigan. It seems that certain aspects that are otherwise considered to be
stereotypical Canadian have somehow "spilled" across the border and used in
US speech as well.

>It is interesting to watch "This Old House" on the TV, for the rest >of you
>who live in North American, and listen for the varying degrees >of New
>England speech pattern of the various participants, from the >host, Bob
>Vila.

I have noticed that too. This show provides a great opportunity to hear
local accents of varying degrees.

>The vast majority of TV in North America does not reflect local >accent,
>tending rather, in my opinion, towards a more general speech
>pattern.

I agree with you, but I'm not sure that mainstream TV reflects the way most
people talk (in any country for that matter). Many US accents as you know,
are highly stigmatized, and are therefore not popular in TV programs or in
other forms of media. And sometimes when local accents are used in programs
(and usually they are badly contrived I might add), it's purely to create or
enhance a negative image or questionable trait of that character as in the
"bad guy" or the "not so smart" character. What we hear through the media
definitely does not give us the complete picture.

>I don't know if my observations of regional accents represent a >decline in
>ancient distinctions as the population becomes more mobile and >educated or
>that these original substrata accents will endure, including the
>"Canadian".

I think that, although North American dialects have become more "mild" in
recent years, I don't think regional accents and to a lesser extent dialects
are going to disappear anytime soon. In fact, there is evidence that just
the opposite is happening (as can be seen with the Northern Cities Vowel
shift and other sound shifts taking place in North America). In my home
state of Illinois, numerous regional accents are alive and well in northern
(not forgetting nasalized vowels in Chicago), midlands, and southern
regions.

Just thought I'd be a first time contributor .....
best,

Keith Kennetz

Keith Kennetz
Otto-Friedrich Universtät Bamberg
An der Üniversität 9
Bamberg 96047
0951/863 2169
K_Kennetz at hotmail.com

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From: John M. Tait [jmtait at altavista.net]
Subject: LL-L: "Language varieties" LOWLANDS-L, 03.MAY.2000 (01) [E]

Having grown old and sad enough to watch Neighbours, I have once or twice
heard the phrase 'to take a len of' in the sense of 'to play a joke on'. The
phrase 'ti tak a len o' is common in Scots, with a similar meaning; but OED
cites the noun Len(d), meaning Loan, as being Scots or Northern dialects. Is
this a Scots phrase adopted wholesale into Australian, with 'len' as a noun
fossilised in it?

John M. Tait.

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