Re: English diglossia (was Re: retroflex consonants)

Tiovaqnaki Tels Joe:

>Well, I'm not a teenager, and never grew up in a ghetto, nor even a
>pseudo-ghetto, but I've noticed this in my own speech occasionally.  And my
>father does it too sometimes.  It's never "ask" = /&ks/, but "asked" =
>/&akst/ does happen.  The /t/ has to be conditioning this one.  I've also
>noticed that I sometimes add a "t" to words ending in "f", like /klIft/ for
>"cliff".  It sounds normal, I only noticed it when one of these Californios
>pointed it out to me.
I was going to put in this long story about how when I'm overcaffeinated or
tired I leave the last consonant off everything (or, when I'm
overcaffeinate' or tire' I leave the las' consonan' off everythin'), but
it's a long, boring story that ends up digressing into something about
Doggett and Southern and New York accents... *shrugs*


>Anyone else here use "says" as the generic verb for reporting what someone
>said?  In anything informal, I'll often have "says", as in:
>
>   Then he says, "I think I'll just throw your ocelot right off the roof!".
>   So I says to him, "Then the bunny's gonna get it!".
>   Then he says to me, "What on earth is Joe smoking this time?".

What I use all depends on the situation. If I'm recounting word-for-word, I
use "go":

   She goes, "You and that X-Files thing! Are you ever going to give it up?"
   So then I go, "Of course not. I've been watching over 4 years and I'm
not stopping."
   And she goes, "They're not real people. And the show is over."

But if I'm just giving an approximation of the conversation, I do the Ditzy
Teen thing and use "like":
   She was like, "You spend too much time with The X-Files!"
   And I was like, "You're nuts for thinking I'm just going to stop."
   And then she was like, "And you're just nuts."


>But in my mind, I'm thinking past tense, so when I write it down, it comes
>out as "said".  I remember moving to California and realizing that no one
>could understand which socket I wanted when working with somebody.
>
>When I asked for a 3/8" socket, I'd say, "Give me the 3/8, will you?".
>/wEn ai j&st fr@ tSrie sAkIt daid sei gImid@ tSrijes wIj@/
And they had problems with that? *shakes head* Strange people out in CA.

>Maybe that will give you folks a clearer example of how I speak.  I'm from
>New York originally (NOT the city), for those who asked.
*grins* New York wins my vote for #2 Coolest Accent I've Ever Heard. (#1 is
Australian, BTW)
Okay... I'm weird.

>You do indeed.
Ha ha. That was a Think-Out-Loud. Or... uh... okay, English needs more
words pertaining to conversing by writing.

--Erin Notagain--
needs to stop responding at 3 AM because I sound nuts.
And I still don't speak mumblish!

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