When people are given a map and asked to map out different areas of dialect for a certain region, there is no doubt that there are many factors that can influence their responses. Erica Benson took twelve participants from different parts of Ohio (2 -Southern Ohio, 2 - North Eastern Ohio, 4 - South-Eastern Ohio, and 4 - Central Ohio) and used two survey instruments on each participant, exploring their beliefs about the dialect areas of Ohio. First, she gave each participant a map of Ohio and surrounding States (Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York, Kentucky, and West Virginia) and asked them to circle and label areas where people speak differently or similarly. The second task, called “the-degree-of-difference task,” gave each participant an alphabetic list of 23 cities in and around Ohio (as well as a map with the cities labeled on it). Benson then asked the participants to rank each city one through four indicating the degree of difference in speech, one representing “exactly like you” and four representing “different.”
The results of the study showed that the participants from the South and Southern-central Ohio had similar responses and that the participants from the Northwest and Central Ohio had similar answers as well. The two participants from the South said that Ohio is divided in half approximately in the middle running east to west. The four participants from Southern-central Ohio answered that dialect is relatively the same and extends into bordering states. The four participants from Central Ohio answered that there appears to be several regions with varying degrees of differentiation while the two participants from Northeastern Ohio mapped out at least four different regions in Ohio that extend beyond Ohio into bordering states.
In conclusion, Erica Benson found that perceptions can be collected in a relatively small geographical region using a hand-drawn-map and/or the degree-of-difference tasks. Secondly, she found that perceptual dialectology and traditional dialectology can yield similar results.
I've noticed a lot of dialect perceptions here in college. People try to figure out where you're from just by listening to how you pronounce your words. Most students start off figuring out whether or not you're from Chicago or St. Louis. Once they've figured that out, then they start to go deeper to figure what area of the city you are from. It can be very entertaining at times. But I have notice that not all perceptions of the lanugage is true.
ReplyDeleteDepending on what part of any city you're from your dialect is bound to be different. I am from the south side of Chicago and the way we speak, our use of slang, and sometimes even the way we look is completely opposite from someone who lives on the north, east, or west side of Chicago. There are a few similarities but its almost like being in a completely different state when you observe someone from a diffrent part of your city. I remember over the summer i spent alot of time on the west side of Chicago and i felt like an alien. Their way of doing things and the way they speak is so different. I literally felt as if i stepped out of Chicago, when in reality i didn't go anywhere.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in the south, I became accustom to what is known as a rural or hick accent. The first impression people have of me is that I'm from up north until I start talking because I do have a rural accent that I wasn't aware of. Because of how I dress and act, people assume that I'm from the city or at least not the country. I have learned that is it hard to get rid of an accent of where I've lived my whole life and no matter how hard I try to speak differently I always give off a rural or hick accent in the end.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in the south, but I was never considered to have a southern accent. In fact, I am the one normally hearing other people around me who have accents. I will admit that I may sound different than a person from Chicago or Boston, but I do not think the accent that I have is thick. Someone from Tennessee or Texas may have a southern or hick accent.
ReplyDeleteThis is very common. It is apparent that people speak differently based on the region in which they live and grow up. Its called an accent and no matter where people go within the United States, there is going to be some form of difference in the way the natives of the area, speak. I do not find this article strange, interesting, or mind blowing, because this is just a known fact.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how productive this 'research' actually was, because all that it seems to discuss is perception of dialect. It does not measure or evaluate an actual existence of dialect, so it was reduced to a mere opinion poll. However, it is interesting to see how different people can perceive dialects differently. This is seen when someone is told they have an accent, but they are unaware of it and do not believe they have one. Additionally, I lived in Lusaka, Zambia for three months last summer, and the concentrated variation of language dialects was dramatically seen there. In that one country, there are over seventy different vernaculars. This makes communication quite difficult, especially considering the fact that English is the official language.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in the north I really never heard the southern accent. A few friends here and there would have one but it wasn't until I came to SIU that I actually heard this accent on a daily basis. These accents may seem to weird to some people and seem completely normal for others. When I first came down here I thought that it was a funny accent but then realized that I probably sounded funny to them. After being down here for a few years and creating new friendships with kids who have this accent I now catch myself talking like this on a regular basis. I don't even notice it when I do it either.
ReplyDeleteGoing to a University that is much further south from where I am from, I hear a lot of dialect perceptions. It is very interesting to see how people perceive dialect differently. I think trying to figure out what region of the world a person is fun by the way they are speaking is interesting and can be fun. Conversations with other people from other regions can start out quite interesting if the two people conversing have different accents.
ReplyDeleteThis article was quite interesting.
Coming to Southern Illinois University from Wisconsin, I noticed I had an accent for the first time. I never thought people from the north had an accent. Many people knew I was not from around the area when I first came to SIU. It is interesting to hear all different types of accents there are in the United States. Working with people from the local area, I notice their Southern accent.
ReplyDeleteSince being in college, I have been exposed to many different things and people. And after doing that dialect exercising in class I have learned that I really cant tell that much about where a person comes from based on their dialect. So i wasn't surprised that the people in this study thought the same things, based on where they came from.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many different dialects from Chicago to Mississippi. While, I have been in college I have been exposed to a plethora of dialects. I generalized that all African-Americans had the same dialect concerning the way words are use to the actual word choice. This belief was quickly broken when my friend from St.Louis began to speak it sounded so different to me. So after reviewing the result from the study it did not suprise me because it correlated with my own personal experience.
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