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Re: [T] -> [f] (was: Chinese Dialect Question)

From:Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>
Date:Monday, October 6, 2003, 16:56
On Mon, Oct 06, 2003 at 11:01:47AM -0400, John Cowan wrote:
> Next time you travel to Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, > Detroit, Flint, Gary, or Chicago, try asking a kid why "Ian" is a sissy > name for a boy. (Answer: because in Northern Cities Chain Shift locales, > "Ann" is pronounced [i@n].)
I've heard of this "northern cities chain shift", but I don't know quite exactly what it is. Have a pointer to a good description? But for whatever reason, vowel changes seem less dramatic than consonant ones to me. I guess it's because with the vowels there was already so much more dialectical variety there to start with. -Mark

Replies

John Cowan <jcowan@...>
Benct Philip Jonsson <bpj@...>