LL-L "Language varieties" 2002.11.12 (06) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 12.NOV.2002 (06) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
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From: kkennetz at arches.uga.edu <kkennetz at arches.uga.edu>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2002.11.10 (04) [E]

>From: Candon McLean <candon3 at yahoo.com>
>Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2002.11.10 (01) [E]
>
>It's true that Americans are not adopting Candain raising, but you
>are wrong in thinking that Jennings' pronunciation of 'harassment'
>hasn't
>spread "like wildfire" in the past ten years.

I have to admit I have never heard such a pronunciation of 'harassment'
and I hang out with many 'educated' speakers throughout the US. This is
not to say that I don't think it could exist. Speakers will periodically
try to use new or foreign sounding pronunciations to sound "more
educated" or exotic, but (1)I remain skeptical without further evidence,
and (2) I doubt that this pronunciation could come solely via Canadian
newcasting. What other examples of Canadian speech can you point to in
"educated" American English? A few isolated examples of pronunciation do
not point to a significant influence as you have claimed. If anything,
quite the opposite is true --US English is strongly influencing other
varieties of English. George Gibault seemed to have pointed this out
when he mentioned that younger Canadians sound more like US newscasters.
American English is not only a major influence on varieties from across
the border but also has been effecting many
languages(unfortunately)around the world for quite some time now.

>We're talking apples and oranges.  American pop culture with its
>mixture of California speech patterns and ethnic-Englishes (e.g. "my
>bad") appeals to children, teenagers, the 20-somethings, and the
>tragically hip.

We aren't really. George (whom you misquoted above, those were my words
that you replied to) had mentioned that young Canadians were sounding
more like American newscasters. My remark to this, which was cited in my
original mail, was that this phenomena most likely was due to the
influence of American pop culture. Significant language change is more
likely to occur because of perceived pop culture appeal rather than
through newscasts.

Keith Kennetz

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