Irish accent and Irish language
Saoirse Ronan tries to teach Stephen Colbert to speak English with an Irish accent. Separately, Jim McCloskey discusses the Irish language on The World.
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Accent, Dialect, and Variation
Seth Meyers “Boston Accent Trailer”
This segment from Late Night with Seth Meyers, “Boston Accent Trailer”, parodies Hollywood films set in Boston and their treatment of language. It comments humorously… Read More »Seth Meyers “Boston Accent Trailer”
AN News: “Linguistic and Local Peripherality: The Case of Chalmatians in Greater New Orleans” by Katie Carmichael (Virginia Tech)
Anthropology News Article In Greater New Orleans, there is an enregistered (Agha 2003) dialect of English that sounds similar to New York City English, making… Read More »AN News: “Linguistic and Local Peripherality: The Case of Chalmatians in Greater New Orleans” by Katie Carmichael (Virginia Tech)
Where have all the numbers gone? (Or 1 + 99 = 53 + 47)
In 2011 the American Dialect Society listed ‘the 99%’ among its Words of the Year. In 2012 ‘47%’ became the new politically-charged number. These numbers are connected in a way that might not be obvious.
Mitt Romney was recorded declaring, “There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what.” Because they pay no income tax, Romney suggested, 47% of Americans are dependent on government. This resembles a charge made in 2011 by conservative activists at the53.tumblr, which in turn was a response to the Occupy Wall Street-affiliated wearethe99percent.tumblr.
Regional variation in pronunciation/ dialect map
This website demonstrates regional variation in pronunciation with examples of how people in different parts of the US pronounce the word “bought.” http://www.utexas.edu/courses/linguistics/resources/socioling/boughtmap/index.html Creole, Gullah* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPGx1icFdLQ… Read More »Regional variation in pronunciation/ dialect map
Accent, Race, and Social Preferences
A piece in Scientific American Mind called “Accents Trump Skin Color” reviews work by Katherine Kinzler and colleagues suggesting that, for young children, accent is as important as visual cues to race, gender, and age in selecting friends. The magazine article was interesting, and led me to look for the research paper it was based on.