Date:  Wed, 16 Apr 1997 18:18:06 -0400
From:  Peggy Smith <dj611[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]CLEVELAND.FREENET.EDU>
Subject: Re: hypercorrect intervocalic /t/

I heard the pin/pen merger for the first time when I moved to
Henry County, Georgia from New Jersey. It was my first real encounter
with Southern speech. I am a teacher, and students said
safety pin, bobby pin, stick pin (thumb tack), and ink pin. I now teach
in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. Whenever I hear a student ask another for
an ink pin, I ask where he spends his summers. Invariably, there is a
grandmother in Mississippi or cousins in Georgia.

Peggy Smith