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/