Pronunciation of 'Can't' in the Eastern States

different parts of the country is well known; and most people know that it has, in some areas, the vowel of father, in others the vowel of paint,1 and in the country at large some variation of what is called 'short a.' The first pronunciation is associated with New England and is sometimes considered to be more elegant than the others. The second pronunciation is usually associated with the South. Opinions regarding its distribution and status vary in accordance with opinions concerning the extent of that speech region and with attitudes toward its individual characteristics. The approximately fourteen hundred field records of the Linguistic Atlas of the United States and Canada which have been gathered in the Atlantic states allow more precise statements concerning the pronunciation of the stressed vowel in can't. This is a report, on the phonetic level, of the vowel types and their distribution as revealed by these records.2 In interpreting the information which will be given, certain facts about the Atlas survey should be kept in mind. First, although the number of informants is considerable, there are not enough in proportion to the total population for conclusive decisions as to the exact frequencies of speech traits in the general population, considered locally or regionally. Secondly, the informants generally were older than the population average, and they represented the most stable elements among the local residents. It is possible, therefore, that the Atlas information is not definitive for younger individuals and more transient elements in some communities, for the speech of one generation is never in all particulars that of another. Thirdly, the field work was done by different people. Hence, such matters as differences in transcription practice and in the selection of informants must be considered in the evaluation of the data. The field work for the area between South Carolina and upper New York State, I. This pronunciation is not listed in the standard desk dictionaries, nor in the KenyonKnott Pronouncing Dictionary of American English (Springfield, Mass., 1944). It is, however, found in Harold Wentworth, American Dialect Dictionary (New York, 1944), in H. L. Mencken, The American Language; Supplement II (New York, 1948), p. I22, and in several studies on the speech of the Southern states. 2. These records were examined during the summer of 1951 through the courtesy of Hans Kurath. For details of the Atlas procedure and the phonetic symbols used see his Handbook of the Linguistic Geography of New England (Providence, R. I., 1939). On the use of Atlas material see E. Bagby Atwood, 'Grease and Greasy-a Study of Geographical Variation,' Texas Studies in English, XXIX (1950), 249-60

Linguistics · Pronunciation · Lexicography and Language Studies · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · History · Philosophy

• A Word Geography of the Eastern United States

  Hans Kurath•A Word Geography of the Eastern…•1950

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