Phonological Features of North Carolina English
- Teresa Kieseier, University of Konstanz
- Old College Lorimer Room, University of Edinburgh
Dialects of the American South have long been of interest to linguists due to great internal
diversity (e.g. Schneider, 1996; Nagles and Sanders, 2003; Tillery and Bailey, 2008). The
language of North Carolina is particularly intriguing since the state is part of two big dialectal areas.
The eastern half of the state is classified as South, while its western regions are part of the Midland
dialect (Eliason, 1981). Those differences as well as a discrepancy between urban and rural areas
have great impact on the language spoken in North Carolina. However, some controversy
regarding the future of Southern American dialects does exist. While some expect an eventual
homogenization of Southern American dialects due to changing demographics and urbanization
(Feagin, 2003), others state that Southern regional dialects are still very much intact (Bailey, 1996).
The present paper is based on my recent (2011) BA thesis. In order to examine the present
situation of North Carolina phonology the central question was whether characteristic phonological
features are still present in the speech of young adults from North Carolina. I recorded and
acoustically analyzed the spoken language of 23 young adults, age 18-23, studying at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I focused on two phonological features: dropping of
postvocalic /r/ (as in her, store, or brother) and monophthongization of [aı] (five: [faıf] > [fa:f]). The
recorded data included reading as well as free speech examples. Factors in the analysis included
the morpho-phonological environments of the target sounds, as well as speaker background.
The results of the analysis are as follows: The features I tested are both still present in the
speech of young adults from North Carolina although not produced in the majority of cases. I show
that the morpho-phonological environment is significant such that postvocalic /r/-deletion is much
more frequent in unstressed syllables and in functional-category items than in stressed syllables
and in lexical elements. People from eastern North Carolina were more likely to drop the
postvocalic /r/ than people from western North Carolina. Similarly, test subjects from rural regions
showed a higher percentage of monophthongization than those from urban areas. Hence,
parameters influencing distribution and frequency can vary across features. Both features were
more frequent in free speech, demonstrating that the use of those features is influenced by
conversational context.
Altogether, the results of this study suggest that it is hard to predict a general trend for the
future development of North Carolina phonology, since some dialectal features might be more
resistant than others. My data shows that, even though less frequent in total numbers, vocalic
dialectal features might be more likely to be preserved, as they are more consistent across
contexts, and within individual usage. Lastly, the fact that the features analyzed still appeared in
the speech of young people, and even within a formal context suggests that they will not disappear
completely any time soon.
diversity (e.g. Schneider, 1996; Nagles and Sanders, 2003; Tillery and Bailey, 2008). The
language of North Carolina is particularly intriguing since the state is part of two big dialectal areas.
The eastern half of the state is classified as South, while its western regions are part of the Midland
dialect (Eliason, 1981). Those differences as well as a discrepancy between urban and rural areas
have great impact on the language spoken in North Carolina. However, some controversy
regarding the future of Southern American dialects does exist. While some expect an eventual
homogenization of Southern American dialects due to changing demographics and urbanization
(Feagin, 2003), others state that Southern regional dialects are still very much intact (Bailey, 1996).
The present paper is based on my recent (2011) BA thesis. In order to examine the present
situation of North Carolina phonology the central question was whether characteristic phonological
features are still present in the speech of young adults from North Carolina. I recorded and
acoustically analyzed the spoken language of 23 young adults, age 18-23, studying at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I focused on two phonological features: dropping of
postvocalic /r/ (as in her, store, or brother) and monophthongization of [aı] (five: [faıf] > [fa:f]). The
recorded data included reading as well as free speech examples. Factors in the analysis included
the morpho-phonological environments of the target sounds, as well as speaker background.
The results of the analysis are as follows: The features I tested are both still present in the
speech of young adults from North Carolina although not produced in the majority of cases. I show
that the morpho-phonological environment is significant such that postvocalic /r/-deletion is much
more frequent in unstressed syllables and in functional-category items than in stressed syllables
and in lexical elements. People from eastern North Carolina were more likely to drop the
postvocalic /r/ than people from western North Carolina. Similarly, test subjects from rural regions
showed a higher percentage of monophthongization than those from urban areas. Hence,
parameters influencing distribution and frequency can vary across features. Both features were
more frequent in free speech, demonstrating that the use of those features is influenced by
conversational context.
Altogether, the results of this study suggest that it is hard to predict a general trend for the
future development of North Carolina phonology, since some dialectal features might be more
resistant than others. My data shows that, even though less frequent in total numbers, vocalic
dialectal features might be more likely to be preserved, as they are more consistent across
contexts, and within individual usage. Lastly, the fact that the features analyzed still appeared in
the speech of young people, and even within a formal context suggests that they will not disappear
completely any time soon.