Why do so many people talk like that?

Little House on Unaka | December 31, 2009 | don-o

[don-o]

For some examples, tune in to Hannity's show in the afternoon and hear young (I assume) females who speak in some sort of Valley Girl / Munchkin combination of vocabulary and inflection.

In the interest of equal treatment, many young males also exhibit poor communication skills; but poor in a different way. Many sound like remarkable apes who have learned rudimentary human speech.

What is the cause of this loss of standard speech?

This has been troubling me for quite some time. The last day of the year is a good time to get it out of my head and out there for discussion.

Thank you for letting me share!

[gardengirl]

My youngest son suffers from what we call “Mill Creek Marblemouth”. I’ve had people look at me and shake their head and say “You actually understood that?” LOL

[aruanan]

Never heard anyone called “Dod,” though. “Aks” is apparently a very old variant of “ask,” and can be found in British publications and letters from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Now that I think of it, I think Ajax called his dad that on Duckman, but my sister would never have seen that program.

[Tax-chick]

It’s been many years since I visited Eastern North Carolina. We live in the Charlotte suburbs, but I lived in Virginia Beach in the 80s and we sometimes drove down the coast to NC.

[OafOfOffice]

My son said it was Bill Engvall. You will like these others on this website.

http://www.dragonsquest.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-312.html

“Mominems gone down to the store.” means “My mother and a few others have gone down to the store.”

That phrase might be followed with, “Yongo too?” which means “Do you want to go too?”

“Smatter chew?” means “What’s the matter with you?”

“Usedtacould” which means “Used to be able to.”

[gardengirl]

It’s because we talk slow and often drop consonants while adding extra syllables! :)

[Tax-chick]

Greek to me, too.

[RegulatorCountry]

You should have heard the sentient McDonald’s Fish Fillet Sandwich radio spots for Lent that aired here.

Voiceover was done by the guy who does Gay Mayor Bee on Family Guy. “Here Ah see-ut awl teennder ‘n deliiishuss .... Haa-ay!”

I nearly ran off the road, lol.

[Hawthorn]

>> The Southern dialect as a whole is disappearing, but the older folks still have it in spades. <<

Yes, and it’s really a shame.

I just drove thru western NC and southwestern VA. Just about everybody over 30 has an unadulterated Appalachian twang — which is pure music to my Southern ears.

But the perky teenaged waitresses at Cracker Barrel and IHOP, even in God-forsaken little country towns, all seem to talk like Britney Spears. Ugh!

[OafOfOffice]

My youngest son suffers from what we call “Mill Creek Marblemouth”.

Smatterchew? Ain'tchew proud of yer heritage? I gotta look up millcreek marblemouth now.

[Erasmus]

Continuing this excursion away from the original topic....

I have this little pet (lapdog) theory that certain regional accents choose pronunciations based on the amount of energy needed in the vocal tract to pronounce certain words.

Some phoneme transitions take more energy to produce than others; that is, they require more energetic reconfigurations of the vocal tract to produce, and the energy and power cost of this dynamic reconfiguration rises with the speed of the speech.

This may account for two factors in some regional dialects:

1. Slower speech (to reduce the power input to the vocal tract);

2. Elisions of certain awkward phoneme transitions, leaving pronunciations such as "axe," "asterick," "Alanna," and "nucular."

Could this stinginess with vocal energy be a product of regional lifestles, past or present?

I leave it for the reader to finger out for hisself.

[Let's Roll]

A friend and I used to say something similar for fun this way:

“Jeat?”
“No, Jew?”
“Squeat.”

We thought it was probably related to other phrases like”
“How’s yermomannem?”

It’s not really that what they’re saying is inaccurate, but they talk way too fast and if you aren’t used to it, it definitely lacks clarity.

[OafOfOffice]

Sort of like some of them Nascar guys. Some use marbles, some use rocks I hear’d.

I never heard of this marblemouth. Interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ybcu1Su4eeE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eQrnERMiiE&NR=1

[Mrs. Don-o]

My husband and I were just talking about this. A few generations ago, black (and white) people treasured any of the tokens of education they could acquire, especially if they came from poor, rural, "backward," or (in the case of my forebears) immigrant backgrounds.

They carefully mastered and preserved correct pronunciation, diction and tone because it was their currency in the world of thought. Think of Congresswoman Barbara Jordan.

My neighbor from back home, a black teacher now in her 80's who was educated in the 1930's, spoke clearly and correctly down to the last detail --- and her vocal skill impressed: it commanded respect. Her four children and her grandchildren speak just as beautifully as she did.

All this makes me appreciate that correct speech is transferred intergenerationally. If the youngsters don't interact daily, intensively, with conversationally competent parents --- or are not rescued by their teachers -- it's lost in one generation.

[Tax-chick]

What you’re describing is some of the basic theory of language change. I recommend, to all, this course, by one of the best known (and conservative!) linguists in the US:

http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/coursedesclong2.aspx?cid=1600

[RegulatorCountry]

I’ve always loved that accent, have old family friends from down that way.

I’ve always known it as a “Hoide Coonty” accent, though (Hyde County).

[eXe]

“females who speak in some sort of Valley Girl / Munchkin combination of vocabulary and inflection. “

YES.. finally someone else has seen it. My wife told me I was crazy for noticing it.. lol Its SO annoying. Its as if they are trying to add an “ewww” to everything.. food becomes “fewwd” and many many other type valley girl/munchkin speak like words.. drives me nuts.

I have seen it more and more on the news

[eXe]

Yup that’s exactly it. It does grate on the nerves after a while

[gardengirl]

Right near Morehead City. You wouldn’t believe the changes. :(

[RegulatorCountry]

That dipthong is a survival of the Scottish brogue, from the widespread Scots-Irish settlers. You can always tell when you’re in an old Scots-Irish settlement area, as opposed to an English one or a German one, by the way they say certain words. “Home” sounds like “haume.” “Show” sounds like “shaue,” etcetera. The funniest one is “hauez pahp.” Can you guess the meaning, lol?

[Erasmus]

Actually, now that I recall, the pronunciation of “didn’t” was more like “di-n” (the - being a glottal stop).