Kelsey Ashby: Primary Research
In my primary research I performed an interview. My interview was with a man named Greg Miller, 22, who has grown up speaking the Midland dialect. he was born and raised in Anderson, Indiana, which is located in Central Indiana. He has recently moved to Smyrna, Tennessee, so his accent has changed a little bit but not enough to no longer be considered Midland. He does not have a southern accent or drawl and he still sounds “normal” to me so I figure he is still very Midland.
The Beginning
When the interview initially took off I only asked him very general questions to get a feel for how he speaks. Questions like what were your favorite games as a kid, what were the rules and the like. As the interview went on I started asking him more dialect specific questions like do you know anything about your dialect or what do you call Coke or Sprite. He was not informed from the beginning what the point of interview was but I think he figured it out before it ended, especially considering the questions towards the end.
About His Dialect
Some phonological things I found were that he pronounces the words cot and caught the same. He also says the words Mary, marry, and merry the exact same. He also is very rhotic, which means that his language has very distinct r’s. he even commented on how much he dislikes the Boston accent because they negate almost all their r’s. Some lexicon, or vocabulary, he uses are things like pop for soda, he calls sneakers tennis shoes, kicks, or by their name like Jordans or Forces. He also has cultural vocabulary like plugs for the earrings that go in gauged ears or a tattoo machine which most people mistakenly call a tattoo gun. As far as grammar goes he uses double negatives and I have heard him use the need(s)/want(s) + past participle.
Conclusion
Miller is a very Midland speaking man. I performed an interview on him for my primary research over the Midland dialect. he did very well and gave me the information I needed.
The Beginning
When the interview initially took off I only asked him very general questions to get a feel for how he speaks. Questions like what were your favorite games as a kid, what were the rules and the like. As the interview went on I started asking him more dialect specific questions like do you know anything about your dialect or what do you call Coke or Sprite. He was not informed from the beginning what the point of interview was but I think he figured it out before it ended, especially considering the questions towards the end.
About His Dialect
Some phonological things I found were that he pronounces the words cot and caught the same. He also says the words Mary, marry, and merry the exact same. He also is very rhotic, which means that his language has very distinct r’s. he even commented on how much he dislikes the Boston accent because they negate almost all their r’s. Some lexicon, or vocabulary, he uses are things like pop for soda, he calls sneakers tennis shoes, kicks, or by their name like Jordans or Forces. He also has cultural vocabulary like plugs for the earrings that go in gauged ears or a tattoo machine which most people mistakenly call a tattoo gun. As far as grammar goes he uses double negatives and I have heard him use the need(s)/want(s) + past participle.
Conclusion
Miller is a very Midland speaking man. I performed an interview on him for my primary research over the Midland dialect. he did very well and gave me the information I needed.