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“Most of the important changes in American speech are not happening at the level of grammar or language—which used to be the case—but at the level of sound itself.” New Yorker article
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That's really cool, Father Steve; thanks for posting it.
These days, Labov found, the most extreme dialect change in the country is taking place in the Chicago area. “The ‘eah’ sound, which you hear in ‘happened’—heahppened—is a young, very invasive sound that is rapidly changing a number of other sounds around it,” he said. This so-called “Northern Cities Shift” is spreading toward St. Louis along I-55, transforming the Inland North dialect, which used to be the model for standard American pronunciation.
I had no idea, and ...I wonder why it's changing. Fascinating that it's along an interstate highway--do that many people regularly run up and down between Shy-town and St. Louis?
Re:
locals in such areas as northern Ohio and Michigan traditionally spoke precise English because they wanted to distinguish themselves from the speakers of Southern dialects in their states This may also (as he said in another part of the article) be due to class: a lot of poor people from Kentucky and southern Ohio went up there hoping to find work in the early-middle part of the 20th. century. Usually Detroit because of the auto factories there.
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Professor Labov has been around for quite a while. His The Social Stratification of English in New York City was published in 1966. I read it quite a while ago back in my university days.
but at the level of sound itself
I believe this to be the case in most language change.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Quote:
but at the level of sound itself
I believe this to be the case in most language change.
really? rather than usage?
formerly known as etaoin...
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Indeed, nuncle, he's been around a long time but -- gee whiz and harrumph -- the article gives the mistaken impression he's the only (or even main) researcher involved in mapping American dialects.
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Jackie, this is (long) known as the south side accent. It is wrung dry by established(ing) radio personalities who are partial to the local sports franchises. He made a comparative comment about NY having an accent called Brooklynese which he claimed was The city’s dialect, he said, is much more indicative of one’s social status than of one’s neighborhood. “Although no one wants to admit this,” he added, “because we’re supposed to live in a classless society.” ... and this holds fairly true as it combines the city into one football team yet *clearly divides the city into north side/south side baseball teams... 
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Yes, rather than usage. But, it is a gut feeling: I have no proof.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Pooh-Bah
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Quote:
Yes, rather than usage. But, it is a gut feeling: I have no proof.
Shucks. I have the same gut, and I was going to ask you for a reference.
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>>the “aw” sound in words like “coffee” (cawfee), << I've always heard and said, cawfee. And I ain't no Brooklynite. >>sound<< Which is what I was saying about the transition from used to to use to. The loss of the "d". It's silent in speech. [crossthreading a bit] >> yet *clearly divides the city into north side/south side baseball teams... << You mean there's a baseball team on the North side, too?? 
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That's the problem with these publications. They often trivialize the information they impart. If they don't get it just plain wrong. (Is the New Yorker any better than blogs or wikis or the New York Times?)
I consider Labov more of a sociolinguist than a dialect specialist, but, yes there are others: Deborah Tannen (and, to a lesser extent, her advisor, Robin Lakoff) pops to mind.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Quote:
Yes, rather than usage. But, it is a gut feeling: I have no proof.
huh. I would have thought that changes in the way we use words would have had more effect on language than just the way we pronounce words. that and adaptation (stealing) from other languages...
formerly known as etaoin...
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I would have thought that changes in the way we use words would have had more effect on language than just the way we pronounce words. Ya kin pronounce words without (regard for) use but cha can't yewz without pronouncing. 
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Naw, it's the little things. Because of changed pronuciation, case endings were lost in Latin, resulting in a more fixed word order in Romance languages and a fundamentally different grammar. Listen to Chaucer being read aloud in Middle English; it's not some much that words like silly and nice are used differently, but that it is nearly unintelligible what with the vowels all skewed up.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Quote:
not happening at the level of grammar or language—which used to be the case
I guess I'm just an old-timer... 
formerly known as etaoin...
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enthusiast
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Quote:
Listen to Chaucer being read aloud in Middle English; it's not some much that words like silly and nice are used differently, but that it is nearly unintelligible what with the vowels all skewed up.
Aye, I once heard a exemplary segment of Middle-English, and if I remember correctly I thought it sounded like Chinese...
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Quote:
locals in such areas as northern Ohio and Michigan traditionally spoke precise English because they wanted to distinguish themselves from the speakers of Southern dialects in their states
My patrilinear side of the family came from England via Kentucky and Indiana and moved to Michigan to work in the auto industry. My matrilinear side of the family emigrated from the Connecticut River Valley after the Civil War. My Dad's side of the family does speak with more of a hillbilly accent and my Mom's side is a bit more refined but both Mom and Dad twang pure hillbilly when they come back from spending the winter with their bluegrass playing buddies. 
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