Transcription of my speech

Travis   Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:49 pm GMT
I finally went and downloaded it an listened to it (as the Flash app was not working for me) myself, rather than going by Lazar's transcription, and one thing I did notice is that historical /oʊ̯/ was clearly monophthongal, rounded, and unfronted. The rounded and unfronted part really makes it unlikely that the speaker is from California unless they are a very conservative speaker from there, but from listening to it it seemed like the person was relatively young, and thus would be less likely to have purely conservative Californian features, especially with the more progressive realization of historical /ɑː/. And thus, ruling out California, the realization of historical /eɪ̯/ and /oʊ̯/ more than merely implies that the speaker is from the Upper Midwest.
Khu   Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:23 pm GMT
and how about the fronting of /u/?
Travis   Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:23 pm GMT
I actually did not hear enough instances of historical /uː/ to say much.
Khu   Tue Jan 06, 2009 2:46 am GMT
The speaker uses an unusual vowel for /aɪ/: [ae] [ɐɪ] and [ɑe]. I thought most people used [aɪ] and [ʌɪ].
Lazar   Tue Jan 06, 2009 3:36 am GMT
<<The speaker uses an unusual vowel for /aɪ/: [ae] [ɐɪ] and [ɑe]. I thought most people used [aɪ] and [ʌɪ].>>

No, those vowels aren't unusual, except perhaps for the third one (in that I would consider it more characteristic of, say, a New York accent). What I transcribe as [ae], [ɐɪ] and [ɑe], other observers (probably most of them) would transcribe as [aɪ], [ʌɪ] and [ɑɪ].
Khu   Wed Jan 07, 2009 3:10 am GMT
>> What I transcribe as [ae], [ɐɪ] and [ɑe], other observers (probably most of them) would transcribe as [aɪ], [ʌɪ] and [ɑɪ]. <<

are [ae], [ɐɪ] and [ɑe] more accurate?
Lazar   Wed Jan 07, 2009 3:23 am GMT
<<are [ae], [ɐɪ] and [ɑe] more accurate?>>

Arguably, I think. In the case of the Canadian Raised vowel [ɐɪ], for example, everyone agrees that the vowel is raised, but [ʌɪ] implies that it is also backed, which I'm not so sure that it is. I have Canadian Raising in my own speech, and it seems as if I merely raise the onset from a central [a] to a central [ɐ].

With [ae] and [ɑe], it's a question of whether the glide vowel is [ɪ] or [e]: I suspect that [e] is closer to the real value, and similar transcriptions have become common for some languages and dialects (e.g. Australian English, Scottish English, German). Travis might be able to contribute on this one as well.
Travis   Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:30 am GMT
As for Canadian Raising, the actual phones in question differ significantly. I myself, for instance, have significantly different raised phones from those found in many other dialects with Canadian Raising.

With [ɪ̯] versus [e̯], I likewise think that people overestimate the height of the glides in many [aɪ̯]-like diphthongs. In Standard German, for instance, I do know that "ei"/"ai" actually denotes the dipthong [ae̯], and likewise "au" actually denotes the diphthong [ao̯]. I cannot be as certain about the others, but from hearing English dialects in generally, I rarely hear anything that seems to really trully have the offglides [ɪ̯] or [ʊ̯], which just seem too high when actually pronounced as such.
Lazar   Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:35 am GMT
<<As for Canadian Raising, the actual phones in question differ significantly.>>

That's true. For example, I think Joe Biden is someone who uses a quite backed Canadian Raising vowel. Listen to how he says " last night" and "vice presidential" near the beginning of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=955Y3NJTRIE
Travis   Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:39 am GMT
Whereas I myself have the Canadian Raising vowel [əe̯], in constrast to my unraised [ae̯] and the raised vowels I have seen in many other dialects.
Johnny   Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:28 pm GMT
<<Listen to how he says " last night" and "vice presidential">>

I think I tend to have that rising too, and everywhere, not just before unvoiced consonants (so I have it in "right", and in "ride" too). Is this weird?
Me   Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:46 am GMT
Interesting analysis. And you almost guessed where I am from. Actually I am from the North West, not the North Central. So I have monophthongal /eI/ and /oU/, elision of /t/ and /d/, phonemic vowel length, Canadian raising of /ae/, a variable /{/, and a merged cot-caught vowel [Q:]. Are these not typical North Western features? And what's the difference between the North Central and the North Western accent?
Travis   Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:09 am GMT
Ooh, I should have thought about that one. Northwestern dialects in many ways are very much like North Central dialects, except in that they in ways more like conservative Californian dialects and lack the significant Germanic substratum and Midwesternisms of North Central dialects.
Khu   Sun Jan 11, 2009 3:12 pm GMT
So what is the best way to distinguish the two accents then? Listening to the cot-caught merged vowel? It sounds like everything else about the North Central and Northwestern accents are pretty much the same. Also, how do you tell them apart from Canadian dialects?
Travis   Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:29 pm GMT
The most significant differences between Canadian dialects and both North Central and Northwestern dialects are probably the presence of Canadian Vowel Shift in *some* Canadian dialects, the far more consistently diphthongal historical /eɪ̯/ and /oʊ̯/ than in the other two, and the far stronger and more consistent Canadian Raising of historical /aʊ̯/. Between North Central and Northwestern dialects, in general North Central dialects have non-negligible Germanic substratum influences such as with respect to historical back vowels, forms like "yah" and "come with", and to a lesser extent historical interdentals while Northwestern dialects have more Californian-type innovations, especially in more southerly dialects, and some more specific innovations such as /in/ for the present participle ending "-ing"/"-in". Another note is that while classical North Central dialects lacked the NCVS, present-day urban North Central dialects have been encroached upon by the more moderate versions of the NCVS, which has spread into the North Central area from southern Wisconsin.