Canadian English survey

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#92968 - 02/10/03 07:50 PM Re: Canadian raised diphthong
Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel
AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York	Thanks, Bean! (and birdfeed) Guess I was sort of on the right track, but that and a dollar will get me a bad cup of coffee.

#92969 - 02/11/03 12:34 PM Re: hock, hawk and other US regionalisms
Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Jackie
Jackie Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Louisville, Kentucky	insinuated that those of us who don't differentiate between those vowels are pronouncing things improperly As to this, I'm just a stick(ler) in the mud. But as to lout/loud. Loud ends up so much longer than lout. , well, y'all people are just weird! Eep--I just tried it, and be danged if loud isn't just a little bit longer! Oops! Aside: isn't it neat, that your thread that seemed to start out as being relevant to just a few, has transmogrified and grown the way it has?

#92970 - 02/27/03 05:15 AM Non-Canadian English survey
Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 3,065 Bingley Carpal Tunnel
Bingley Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 3,065 Jakarta	From the most recent two issues of Michael Quinion's newsletter: 15 Feb: Subscribers who are native speakers of North American English are likely to find the Dialect Survey of interest. This was created by Professor Bert Vaux at Harvard University. You can take a test and view the collected results, which include maps. See where people say the vowel in "cot" and "caught" the same way, where they use double models as in "I might could do that", where they consider "anymore" to be a standard form meaning "nowadays", or any of 120 other variations. See: http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~golder/dialect/ 22 February: A number of Canadian subscribers attempted to register at the dialect site I listed last week, which describes itself on its home page as "designed for speakers of North American English", but found to their surprise and disgruntlement on trying to take the test that they were not considered to be North American. Not being in that category, I didn't try the test, so didn't discover the error. I did assume, though, that a linguistic site would know what it meant when it wrote "North American English"! Bingley Bingley

#92971 - 02/27/03 11:09 AM Re: Non-Canadian English survey
Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803	didn't discover the error. From the site: speakers of all varieties of English are welcome to take the test.

#92972 - 02/27/03 01:05 PM Harrumph�
Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel
AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York	That's really bush league (no pun intended). The one and only serious, scholarly and comprehensive dialect survey was started by the late Frederic Cassidy and is being continued by the qualified folks at the University of Wisconsin. Aside from the absurdities cited above, from what I've seen of this, the questions are leading and presuppose the respondents can actually hear themselves; also there don't seem to be any qualifications (long-term residency, at least) established for the informants. And what's a 'double model*?' Thanks for bringing it to our attention, Bingley!

#92973 - 02/27/03 02:34 PM Re: Canadian English survey
Joined: Nov 2000 Posts: 3,439 wow Carpal Tunnel
wow Carpal Tunnel Joined: Nov 2000 Posts: 3,439 New England, USA	There's a group at McGill University doing a survey on English word usage in Canada. All you have to do is email them at canadian_english@mcgill.ca At the bottom of the form I received it notes the survey may be returned to : Prof Charles Berg, Dept of Linguistics, McGill University, 1085 Dr. Penfield, Montreal, QC, H3A 1A7 Canada -- Tel (514) 398-4896 -- FAX : (514) 398-7088 -- E-Mail : charles.boberg@mcgill.ca I took it, so did a couple of my neighbors, my son and the young gal who comes in to help around the house. Some interesting differences and similarities! Age range from early 20s to me in 70s!

#92974 - 02/27/03 04:01 PM Re: Harrumph�
Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 7,501 wofahulicodoc Carpal Tunnel
wofahulicodoc Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 7,501 Worcester, MA	And what's a 'double model? Aha! Found it. It's not "model", it's "modal"! Like could, would, ought to, etc.

#92975 - 02/27/03 04:07 PM Re: Harrumph�
Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803	It's not "model", it's "modal"! Lost in the Chasm of Sar without a paddle.

#92976 - 02/27/03 08:38 PM Can you canoe?
Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 2,661 musick Carpal Tunnel
musick Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 2,661 Chicago	Sorry, I'm 17 days late, I didn't think there was so much fun going on up 'ere in I+A. I pronounce hock and hawk differently. I can't say I recall ever hearing them blur together, 'cept maybe in Boston... which would explain why the 'stereotypical' south side Chicago accent may also blur thier distinction. Hock - Exchange goods for money at a "pawn shop". Hocker - Is organic and it comes from your throat after you say the word "hocker" a few times... Hawk - Is the guy who does the White 'Sox' (pronounced like 'hocks') color commentary.

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