Date:  Wed, 21 Feb 1996 10:36:35 -0500

From:  "M. Lynne Murphy" <104LYN[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MUSE.ARTS.WITS.AC.ZA>

Subject: Re: Gay "accent"?



a few sources on gay language:



there's a study on "gay accent" in the spring 1994 issue of

_american speech_. its bibliography contains a few more things.

it's by rudolf gaudio.



greg ward of northwestern univ. compiles a bibliography on queer

language. it's available at:



  http://www.ling.nwu.edu/Individuals/Ward/gaybib.html



  or by e-mailing him at gw[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]nwu.edu



also, if you're working on the reclamation of "queer" etc., might i

shamelessly plug my own work? i've a paper called "the elusive

bisexual: psycho-social constraints on lexical semantic change."

(actually, i may have the subtitle wrong.) to appear in kira hall

and anna livia (eds.) _queerly phrased_, oxford u.p., sept. 96, but

i'd happily send off a pre-publication copy to you. it looks at

(among other things) how the meaning of queer has developed in the

time since it has been reclaimed, and how perceptions of what it

means differ from its use.



i've never heard that "gay accent" was related to san francisco

accent. (i've never even heard of a san francisco accent.) usually,

gay speech styles are attributed to effeminacy, affectedness, drama.



good luck,

lynne



---------------------------------------------------------------------

M. Lynne Murphy              104lyn[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]muse.arts.wits.ac.za

Department of Linguistics            phone: 27(11)716-2340

University of the Witwatersrand          fax: 27(11)716-8030

Johannesburg 2050

SOUTH AFRICA