Regional Dialects

Regional dialects are associated with a particular place.

Regional Dialect Examples

Examples of Language Varieties

What is your generic term for a sweetened carbonated beverage?

What would you call this bug?

What do you call a traffic situation where several roads meet in a circle and you have to get off at a certain point?

Do you pronounce “pajamas” as [pədɛaməz] or [pədɛæməz]?

Do you pronounce “route” as[ɹut] or [ɹaʊt]?

American Dialects

American Dialects

The Northen Dialect

• Northern Cities Shift: /ɑ/ -> [æ], /æ/ -> [ɛ], /ɛ/ -> [ʌ] (e.g., bag[bɛg], lock[læk], bus[bɔs])

The New England Dialect

• A non-rhotic dialect (r-dropping): /ɹ/ -> [ɹ] / before a vowel, /ɹ/ -> ø / otherwise (e.g., Park your car on Havard yard.[pɑk jə kɑɹ ɑn hɑvəd jɑd])

Southern Dialects

• Pin-pen merger: pin[pɪn]and pen[pɛn] both pronounced as [pɪn]
• Monophthongization: /aɪ/ -> [a] / before certain consonants (e.g., wide/waɪde/ -> [wad])

Appalachian Dialect

• a-prefixin: He come a-running to tell me the news.
• Irregualr verbs: heat -> het instead of heated.
• Multiple negation: I didn't have no lunch.

Midland Dialect

• Phonological variants: /oʊ/ -> [øʊ] (e.g. boat[bøʊt])
• /l/-vocalization: /l/ -> [w] / after a vowel (e.g., hill[hɪw], belt[bɛwt]a)
• Positive anymore: The gas station sells gas anymore. instead of The gas station sells gas these days.

Western Dialect

• /u/ -> [ʉ] (e.g., dude[dʉd], new[nʉ])
• Cot-caught merger: cot[kɑt], caught[kɑt] -> [kɔt]