Date:    Tue, 12 May 1998 12:47:46 -0400
<br>From:    Beverly Flanigan <flanigan[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]OAK.CATS.OHIOU.EDU>
<br>Subject: Re: been: Ben vs. bin
<br>
<br>'Ben' is not restricted to emphatic position in Minnesota, though it may
<br>indeed be used in free variation with 'bin.'  I'm skeptical of the latter
<br>claim though and will check it out when I make my annual visit to Minnesota
<br>in the summer (I range from Minneapolis almost all the way to the South
<br>Dakota border in my trek to all the relatives).  As I pointed out earlier,
<br>I think it's in part an age-based change, since my sister and I have only
<br>'bin,' and in part diffusion from Mpls as a focal area, since my brother
<br>(age 65) started, like us, with 'bin' but after 40 years of continuous
<br>residence in Mpls now has 'ben' (at least variably).  He also has the
<br>'cot/caught' merger (to [a]), while my sister and I do not.
<br>
<br>
<br>At 10:55 PM 5/11/98 -0400, you wrote:
<br>>This point was part of a survey I did (American Speech 69.3, 1994) of
<br>>Princeton freshmen.   Because of the merger before nasals Ron mentioned you
<br>>have to screen for that first (this gets rid of much of the South and
<br>Indiana,
<br>>and some Southern Californians).  I then found that BEN was the pronunciation
<br>>of choice in the Great Lakes region and the Northwest, with more additional
<br>>support found in New England and Northern California.   As was pointed out
<br>you
<br>>have to ask it in an emphatic position (How've you been?)--  I think your
<br>>student is right, BEN is under-reported in dictionaries, but some include it.
<br>>I think.  Believe it or not I also found some people using /i:/- a small
<br>>percentage scattered around.
<br>>
<br>>Dale Coye
<br>>The College of New Jersey
<br>>
<br>