Date:    Sat, 25 Apr 1998 15:12:19 +0200
<br>From:    David Sutcliffe <david.sutcliffe[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]TRAD.UPF.ES>
<br>Subject: Re: St Louis Blues
<br>
<br> On 25/4/98 Allan Metcalf wrote:
<br>>
<br>> Thinking of Walt Wolfram giving the Tamony lecture in Columbia,
<br>> Missouri, today; and feeling sorry that I couldn't make it to that
<br>annual celebration of
<br>American English, got me thinking about Missouri and its language.
<br>St Louis has the peculiarity of being a Northern speech island in a
<br>sea of Midland. But has this always been so? Was it the case when Lewis
<br>and Clark set off on their expedition? Has anybody studied St Louis
<br>speech of the 19th century?
<br>>
<br>Allan Metcalf>
<br>
<br>This reminded me of the research William Labov, Sherry Ash & associates
<br>are doing on vowel shift chains. They are convinced that a great
<br>Northern vowel shift is under way in the northern cities of Chicago,
<br>Detroit, etc. and are also convinced there's a great Southern vowel
<br>vowel shift in progress throughout the South. This leaves the cities in
<br>the middle, Cincinatti and westwards, and here they find that each major
<br>city is going its own sweet way (Labov, pers. communication 1995). I'm
<br>not sure what they say about St Louis, but it would be enlightening to
<br>talk to them about this. At all events the situation they describe seems
<br>to bear out the three-way division: Northern, Midland, Southern, which
<br>was recently questioned.
<br>
<br>David Sutcliffe
<br>
<br>>
<br>> David Sutcliffe
<br>>
<br>> Barcelona
<br>>
<br>> PS As this may be of general interest I'll also send edited version to
<br>> the list>
<br>> >
<br>> >
<br>>
<br>