by: Sarah Cummings
Responses are due by Friday, Nov. 12th, at class time.
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This article was a study of different dialects in the Middle East part of the United States. This particular study focuses more on the different dialects of Ohio. 12 locals that never lived outside of their hometown were taken from 4 different cities in Ohio and asked to circle and label areas where the people speak differently from them. They have to label from 1-4 their differences in dialect. 1 being where they speak like them and 4 being where they sound completely different.
The respondents were recorded and asked to follow up questions for clarification. The two respondents from Southern Ohio didn't agree on the dialect areas. One said there was no difference in dialect with people from Ohio, they all sound the same. The other divided Ohio in two parts. The upper and western area of Ohio was unlabelled while the southern region by Kentucky and West Virginia was labelled "hillbilly slang". He/ she said that the northern and western part of Ohio was similar to the lower Michigan, Indiana, and Pennsylvania.
Southern Ohio was similar to Kentucky and West Virginia, but West Virginia was more "twangy". I-70 (runes east and west) was used as the main divider between upper and lower Ohio. The 3 participants from southeast/central Ohio seemed to agree that the speech within Ohio is largely the same, with few pockets of difference attributed to cultural or ethnic background of residence.
The 3 respond ants from central Ohio (Columbus) tended to outline and comment more on dialect areas than that of the respiondants from the southern part of the state. Northern Ohio was circled with Southern Michigan and Indiana. northeast Ohio was given it's own dialect and said they have their own way of speaking, ("like the New Yorker's) with several dialects with varying degrees of differentiation. Northwestern respondents percieved at least 4 different dialect regions that extend beyond state boarders- central and nothwestern Ohio constitute one dialect region that extends towards the west into Indiana, northeast Ohio and southern and eastern Michigan is another area. A third area is found in southeastern to central Ohio and extends into Pennsylvania. Region 4 is found in southern Ohio and extends across the Ohio river into Kentucky and West Virginia.
This study was incredibly interesting to me, especially after having lived in multiple states with different dialects. What I find especially interesting is how diverse dialects can be over such a small geographical expanse.I was also very impressed by the extent and depth of this study. I wasn't entirely clear however on what purpose it served to map out dialects. Does it help education? Or is it useful to linguistic studies? I found the research interesting, but I'm not sure how its useful.
ReplyDeleteThis is extremely interesting, especially because of the region in which we live (Southern Illinois). Many residents of Southern Illinois feel that those who are from Northern Illinois or around the Chicago region at all have a much different dialect than in So. Ill. Those who are from the north often refer to us as having a "hillbilly" southern accent. Yet, those who are from states more southern than Illinois, feel that we are the "Yankees" in So. Ill.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the way in which we speak is an important factor in education, because different dialects have often times use different words for different items. This can create an almost language barrier in some regions of the U.S. However, this article doesn't necessarily point out the educational importance of the different dialects in Ohio, which John has pointed out.
This is very interesting to me. I've lived in Southern Illinois my whole life and I really notice different dialects. Realizing all of these different dialects can be important to education due to different grammar concepts. The author should have tied this in with education more.
ReplyDeleteHaving lived in Southern Illinois for my entire life, I have become acclimated to its dialect and verbal mannerisms. I, like the persons in this study, can and do make a distinction between the English I speak and the English those living in Kentucky or Tennessee utilize. I do not identify my language with their southern drawls, despite the several similarities.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Amanda and John that this study seems undefined and narrow. While some distinctions can be based on regional divides such as whether one says “pop” or “soda,” others can be created within regions. Within regions, these differences can be discovered in the social economic statuses, in educational levels, or in the origin of residents. These dialects are not all encompassing nor can human opinion of differing dialect be trusted. To suggest that one area speaks in a distinct manner is part of human nature, that part which separates the “us” from the “them.” However, when studied closely, we all speak English—just slightly different.
People in different places speak differently. People who are sheltered and never leave their area would not know this but people who have been around people from different areas do know this. For instance people from Chicago talk differently than people who live in Southern Illinois. Everyone has his or her on slang and accent. Even people who live in the same city or county. It is interesting how people speak the same language differently.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand how dialects can differ between different regions in a state. It's interesting to see how we speak when compared with, say, the Chicago area.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I don't believe the article is entirely accurate for every area of the country. I think dialect can also depend on what kind of speech environment you grew up in. For example, I have a friend who is from the same area as I am, yet she speaks with a little bit of a southern drawl. This is largely due to the fact that her parents are originally from deep southern Missouri. So it's entirely possible that people from the same region could have differing dialects.
This study seems to need some improvements. First off I dodnt see how the information can be used when the people surveying have not been cultured they have simply lived in the same place for their entire lives. Would it not make more sense to have someone who has been around the states and heard different cultures speak to make a more wide assumption or have a legitimate knowledge of the differences on dialects. This study didnt seem too completely accurate. As we have seen from the articles before many people speak in many different ways and there are a lot of different dialects around.
ReplyDeletePeople speak differently, whether they want to admit it or not. Living in a certain area, you're going to pick up slang's and different words which then makes up the dialect of the area they live in. Growing up in the Chicago land area, there are multiple dialects within Chicago itself. You go to one area of the city and people are going to talk differently from a different area. A couple of my friends have lived in the suburbs of Chicago their entire life but have more of a southern accent. It get's based off how our parents speak. I think this study needs to be expanded more, It was good with what it has already but I feel like they need to go more in depth with more people and different areas.
ReplyDeleteThis article is interesting. The way people speak is significant because it reflects the place where you come from. It is true, even if some people speak the same language they might have different accents. I believe it happens everywhere. For instance in Mexico even if the towns are very close to each other, you will find that people there have different accents and that’s how some people are able to tell which towns they are from. I went to Acapulco in Mexico, and I was surprised to find a complete stranger who could pin-point which city in the whole United States I was visiting from just because of my Spanish speaking accent.
ReplyDeleteThis article is interesting. I think that when people grow up in a certain area they become custom to that area. For example I am from TN Originally and used to have a very strong southern accent. Now that I have been living in central Illinois my accent has become very less apparent. I think that the location of an individual can strongly influence the way they behave.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this article since it is something that i have had conversations on about how accents can help you find out where a person is from and how it can change if you move to a different area and adapt to the new one.
ReplyDeleteI like this piece a lot. Since I have traveled around the country multiply times, I have came across different accents. When you go up north and ask for a soda, they say pop. When you go down south and ask for a soda, they say coke for anything. I have been called a Yankee when I go down south and when I go up north, they call me a hick. Shows how much difference the accents are from north to south
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that language can shift from place to place. I can believe that dialects differ in different parts of a state. I have heard that people living in the northern parts of Illinois sound different from the residents who live down here in Southern Illinois. I've always wondered how different dialects came about, especially how they change inside one state.
ReplyDeleteReading this article was no surprise to me, because I'm from Chicago and you can tell most of the time from the way people spoke what part of Chicago they were from. Most people from the south or west side of Chicago, had they're own type of lingo, versus people from the north side spoke grammatically correct. I think that the whole concept of dialect comes from the culture of the place the person was raised.
ReplyDelete