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future of regional dialects and how will the changing demo- graphics in today’s multicultural society affect the pronun- ciation patterns across the country? Researchers can only speculate at present and predict new developments on the basis of knowledge of both principles of sound change and sociolinguistic perspectives on human behavior, but the cur- rent evidence gives us reasons to believe that regional varia- tion will not be erased in the next 20 years and that local pronunciation features will continue to diversify AE speech.
Earlier in this article, we emphasized the importance of the speech community in cross-generational transmission of regional features, suggesting that the survival of dialects is associated with the acquisition of cultural values. That is, dialect divergence is likely to persist if children are both able and willing to perceive, reproduce, and employ the pat- terns representing the target of language learning in their community. Some of those patterns can still be traced to the settlement history of the mid-19th century. Consider, for example, the strength of the cultural and linguistic bound- ary between the North and the Midland (Labov, 2010). The northern settlement stream came from New English Yankee communities, whereas the Midland was settled by the Quak- ers from Philadelphia and southern settlement spreading from Appalachia. Today, there is no shortage of communi- cation between the northern cities such as Chicago and the Midland cities such as Columbus, Ohio, yet the vowel sys- tems of children on either side of the boundary continue to diverge. Accounting for this divergence, Labov (2010) points out that it is the cultural clash between the Yankees and Mid- land settlers that established the differences in lifestyle and community norms. For example, Yankees built towns and cities and maintained a strong emphasis on literacy, whereas the Quakers formed farm communities rather than towns. The two regional dialects are thus associated with two differ- ent value systems and will be maintained as long as each suc- cessive generation acquires the knowledge of these cultural configurations and will be willing to follow the established sociocultural path.
An interesting current trend has been noted along the dia- lect boundary between East and West New England (Stan- ford et al., 2012). Namely, dialect features play a role in New Hampshire (East) and Vermont (West) state identities to the point that in a local shop near the state border one can buy
a “New Hampsha” sandwich (spelling reflecting the r-less pronunciation) or a “Vermonter” sandwich (pronounced with a final “r”). The sharp distinction between the eastern and western New England speech is well documented (Ku- rath, 1939) and can be traced back to the social patterns of the founding settlers. Eastern New England developed the r-less pronunciation following the patterns of early settlers from southeast England, whereas a mixture of Yankee and Scotch-Irish families settled the r-pronouncing western New England. Although the Vermont-New Hampshire boundary is rooted in historical contrasts, modern lifestyle and in- creased contacts between younger residents have reduced the sharp dialectal differences in these populations. Younger eastern New England speakers do not want to sound old- fashioned and try to avoid r-less pronunciation in favor of the r-ful variant. Yet, a closer acoustic analysis shows that their speech has still retained less noticeable eastern features that, together with the r-ful variant, have constructed a more modern model of regional eastern New England identity. This example shows that, even if the most salient dialect fea- tures can be receding in young people, the regional varieties may not be fully merging into the General American, which lacks regional features.
Conclusions
Sociocultural variation in AE pronunciation patterns has become a new fascinating area of acoustic research. As American society becomes increasingly multicultural, much work needs to be done to understand the current and fu- ture changes in speech across the country and, increasing- ly, in the context of immigration. New questions arise. For example, will non-native speakers of English be able to ac- quire community patterns, and can such regional patterns be transmitted through non-native-accented English? Can they perceive subtle regional variations? If so, are such varia- tions meaningful to them? Knowledge of regional variations can enhance work in related areas of acoustic research in speech communication, forensic science, signal processing and, perhaps, room acoustics and noise. But regardless of the background and area of scientific interest, we encour- age readers of this article to test their implicit knowledge of regional accents the next time they go shopping, walk a dog, or stop at a pub. It can be a rewarding experience.
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