The Development of Dialect
In the interview of Julio Navarro he also had some of his accent reflect upon other dialect, such as Inland Northern American Dialect and Chicago Dialect. In part of the interview he referred to his shoes as “Gym Shoes” which is more typical of the Chicago region where he spent some of his childhood. This was different from the response that most of my group members received for shoe. It is usually more common to refer to shoes as tennis shoes in the Midland region. Also he shortened the word “Refrigerator” to “Fridge” in the interview, which is more common in Inland Northern Dialect.
When pronouncing words with a long “A” sound he tended to make it sound longer. For example when saying Chicago he pronounced “Chi-Caw-go” It is typically pronounced, “Chi-Ca-go” by other regions. Another thing that I found very unusual about Julio was that he had no trace of his Hispanic heritage in his dialect. He did not speak Spanglish or Chicano English, which is commonly spoken by Chicanos. His dialect for where he lives (Elkhart, Indiana) is for the most part ideal for that region.
This mixture of dialects is evidence that language is still evolving and ever changing. This is very common throughout the Midwest because it seems that it is a melting pot of people and dialects. I think the fact that dialects of the Midwest are mixed up with dialect from across the nation, makes it very easy for other regions of the United States to understand it. As stated in the readings of American Regional Dialects-The Midland “non-accent”, “It's difficult to talk about the features of Midland English because it is the standard to which other American accents are held. American dictionaries were written by Midlanders with an eye to the plain dialect” (Jordan). Through this interview I learned that Midland Dialect has regional mannerisms and how Dialect is still changing.
When pronouncing words with a long “A” sound he tended to make it sound longer. For example when saying Chicago he pronounced “Chi-Caw-go” It is typically pronounced, “Chi-Ca-go” by other regions. Another thing that I found very unusual about Julio was that he had no trace of his Hispanic heritage in his dialect. He did not speak Spanglish or Chicano English, which is commonly spoken by Chicanos. His dialect for where he lives (Elkhart, Indiana) is for the most part ideal for that region.
This mixture of dialects is evidence that language is still evolving and ever changing. This is very common throughout the Midwest because it seems that it is a melting pot of people and dialects. I think the fact that dialects of the Midwest are mixed up with dialect from across the nation, makes it very easy for other regions of the United States to understand it. As stated in the readings of American Regional Dialects-The Midland “non-accent”, “It's difficult to talk about the features of Midland English because it is the standard to which other American accents are held. American dictionaries were written by Midlanders with an eye to the plain dialect” (Jordan). Through this interview I learned that Midland Dialect has regional mannerisms and how Dialect is still changing.