Well, it's not really new, just being used in a different way. A few weeks ago, I asked how you pronounce words that have a t in the middle. Words like mountain, center, cater, and rotten. I was hoping to get a wide variety of responses, but then I remembered that only my western friends look at my blog. I've kind of fallen out of contact with my east coast friends who might possibly have had something different to add.
But then again, maybe my east coast friends would have had similar results. You see, dear Utahns, a glottal stop (or the stopping of air in the back of your throat) replacing a t in the middle of a word might not be a true Utahism. Some linguists think that it's actually quite common throughout the country. A linguist from the U of U says that she has observed this pronunciation all around the country, but that it has received a negative reaction only in Utah and Vermont. (Utahns are always quick to be critical of the way other Utahns speak, especially when it's perceived to be "wrong" or "different." That definitely says something about Utah culture, doesn't it).
One of my former professors at BYU suggests that pronouncing mountain like "mow-un" is more common among females under 40 in the west (which happens to be the group of people most likely to initiate a language change...and also happens to be in harmony with your comments). He may be right (who am I do disagree with one of my thesis readers!), but I tend to agree with the U of U professor. I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear someone from Virginia or California or Iowa replacing their t with a glottal stop. I'm hoping the Uof U prof will do some research proving this is a nationwide phenomenon. Otherwise I might have to.
You can read/watch more about this here.
10 comments:
1. Can you get a wider geographical representation if you poll people on FB? (If you're not on FB, I'll be happy to do the poll.)
2. Utahns are always quick to be critical of the way other Utahns speak, especially when it's perceived to be "wrong" or "different." That definitely says something about Utah culture, doesn't it[?]
Eh, I'm not convinced of that. I mean, I've definitely perceived that trend, but I don't have an unbiased way of comparing it with other geographical regions, so I'm not convinced that it's genuinely a Utah thing.
1- I'm sure I could get a much better representation on facebook. The problem is that when you ask people directly about they way they say a certain sound, it's difficult to get an objective and true answer. Some people honestly don't realize how they speak and some people have a skewed perspective. Not that it stops me from asking about it on my blog...
2- Dr. Wendy Baker did a study a few years ago on dialect perception and Utah English. If I remember correctly, she had people listen to clips of speakers of different dialects and rate what they thought about each one. Utahns rated other Utah English speakers as the dumbest and least desirable (or something like that) as compared to other dialects. Other speakers rated their own dialects much higher (the participants weren't told which dialect they were hearing). At least I think that's how it went. I would attach a link, but UVU's library access (the only one I have) is dreadful and I can't seem to find it.
1. Maybe you could ask them how they say vs. how they think they should say it? (What you really need is the first piece of information, but they may be more honest if they get a chance to give a nod to prescriptivist tendencies.)
2. Interesting! (And it sounds like exactly the kind of thing Wendy Baker would work on . . .) I found something called "The sociophonetic effects of religious affiliation in Utah County, Utah, USA" on her CV. Does that sound right?
No, I think it's something like Utah English or dialect perception or something like that. I also think Lindsay Nay was a co-author?
The first time I met Lance's uncle (before we were married) he asked me what my last name was. I responded "Mar-tin" -- pronoucing the t very clearly. Confused, he asked me, "Martian?" "No", I said, and prounced it again, "Mar-tin". "Marchant?" he asked to which Lance said, "No, Mar-in". Finally understanding, his uncle responded, "Oh! Martin."
Hmm. Is this it? http://en.scientificcommons.org/50466346
I believe you found it! I haven't read the entire thing (as you can see, it was just barely published- Wendy did several presentations on it pre-publication), but I remember her research being quite fascinating.
My brother is doing his Master's thesis on something similar to this topic.
What's it called when the "t" sound sometimes gets replaced with, say, a "d" sound . . . like in cader.
Also, I've wondered if there is a special term for when words get changed from "sealed" to "silled." For some reason I'm really self conscious about that and being from Utah. I try to stay away from words that have the -ill combo (ie, fill, sill, dill) and seem to over pronunciate/compensate when using words like feel, seal, deal, real, etc.
Well, actually, my main problem these days is being more conscious about not letting my vocabulary be dwindled down to poor enunciation . . . ebonics all day long is doing weird things to me.
Oh! Oh! Can I answer?
The "d" sound is called an "alveolar flap" (it can also be called an "alveolar tap"). It's distinct from a regular "d," I think because it's shorter in duration. The phenomenon where some American English speakers pronounce "t" as an alveolar tap is called "intervocalic alveolar flapping" (or just "flapping," for short).
The "seal" -> "sill" is a type of vowel reduction or vowel centralization. ("Vowel reduction" = reducing the total number of vowels in a phonological system. "Vowel centralization" = moving vowel articulation to the center of the mouth.)
I don't know if there is a term for the specific types of reduction / centralization found in some varieties of Utah English. Do you want me to look into it?
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