Fascinating, Dr. Rubba.
   
  How do you explain this shift?  Why does this occur?  What causes this shift? How much influence does public media have on this shift?  How much time elapses before this "shift" becomes standard?
   
  I love hearing about language shifts and why they occur.

Johanna Rubba <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
  In Southern California (and I don't know how much of the rest of the 
West), there is a general lowering of certain vowels going on, among 
them the "short i" of "been." That "short i" is lowering to the sound 
of "Ben", so that "six" sounds like "sex", "milk" like "melk", and 
"been" like "Ben." This kind of shift is common in languages. Other 
vowels are affected, too, so "short e" is sounding more and more like 
"short a". It's a very interesting development.

Dr. Johanna Rubba, Ph. D.
Associate Professor, Linguistics
Linguistics Minor Advisor
English Dept.
Cal Poly State University San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
Ofc. tel. : 805-756-2184
Dept. tel.: 805-756-2596
Dept. fax: 805-756-6374
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
URL: cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba

To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/


       
---------------------------------
Looking for last minute shopping deals?  Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.

To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/