Date:  Sat, 21 Jan 1995 18:26:58 -0500

From:  Claudio Salvucci <CSALVUCCI[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]DELPHI.COM>

Subject: Re: TV and dialect



    What is TV (and I'll broaden the question to include other forms

of mass media: radio, recorded media, etc.) doing to dialects?



    I would have thought that American dialects didn't have a

prayer, but Labov points out that the studies done since the advent

of mass media show that sound change is continuing vigorously in many

areas. Kinda reassuring, isn't it?



    (see Labov, _The Social Origins of Sound Change_, in _Locating

Language in Time and Space_)



    This is, I think, a fascinating question, mostly because this

phenomenon of mass media is so new to the world. Any of yas have some

thoughts on this?



Claudio R. Salvucci

csalvucci[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]delphi.com