LL-L "Phonology" 2003.12.08 (04) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 08.DEC.2003 (04) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Malcolm Shackelford <wmshackelfordii at lycos.com>
Subject: Phonology

Hello, all.  I've never posted before, so forgive me if I make a mistake.

Dan Prohaska wrote:
"The discussion is whether <pie> and <pa> are homophonous in the southern
United States accents of English. I always thought a distinction was
maintained, something like SAMPA /pa:/ vs /pA:/. The list member spoke of
'two a-vowels that are the same.'"

I believe that whether or not there is a distinction depends upon where one
is in the South.  I'm speaking from experience here, but I've noticed that
my family in southern Mississippi pronounces "pie" (the thing you eat) as
SAMPA American [paI] with a very short [aI], whereas a North Carolinian
would pronounce it as [pA:].  "Pa" (like father?) on the other hand I'm not
too sure about.  I've usually heard [pO].  Perhaps the list member was
getting the a-vowels confused with the famous Southern homophones of "pen"
and "pin," "ten" and "tin."  Maybe this helps.  Incidentally, my
transcriptions derive from
http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/sampa/american.htm.
Bye (in Miss. [baI], round here, [bA:]) y'all.
---
Malcolm Shackelford
Greensboro, NC

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Phonology

[ha:], Malcom!

Welcome, and thanks for joining in!  You did perfectly, by the way; couldn't
have been better.

> I believe that whether or not there is a distinction depends upon where
one is in the South.

I had been tempted to say this soon after Dan posted the question, but I
hoped that someone else, preferably someone from "the South" (which is an
awfully large catch-all category), would point it out instead.

While I do not exclude the possibility of there being dialects in which
"pie" and "pa" are homophonous, my experience is that "Southern" dialects
retain some sort of differentiation, as you seem to point out, "pa" having a
"darker" (i.e., lower, non-frontal) vowel, and "pie," if monophthongized,
having a more frontal vowel (due to "absorption" of [I]).   South Georgians
and Alabamans I know tend to pronounce them <pie> [pA:] vs <pa> [pO(:)], and
someone from Western Louisiana I work with pronounces them <pie> [pa:] vs
<pa> [pQ:].

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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