Wednesday, January 25, 2012

"I'm Hiting In The Bating Cage"

I'm not entirely sure what my dialect would be called. I lived in Indiana up until high school and then moved to Charlotte. I guess the best way is to describe it as Mid-American with a touch of Southerner. In Indiana you don't say soda, you say pop. My aunt told me that they say pop because there was a soft drink called Pop Cola that originated in Indiana. I'm not sure how much of that is true though. Also, I feel like in Indiana it's more proper but maybe that is just how I was raised. My family never used the words ain't and especially y'all until we moved down here. I now use them regularly even though my mom hates it. There is also the difference with sweet tea and an iced tea. I remembered going to a fast food place as a kid and asking for an iced tea and the cashier just looked at me funny. In general the words that are used up there and down here are different but they mean the same thing. 

As for accent, I think it stops at my pronunciation of the letter "T." I'm not entirely sure if it is even an accent, it might just be the way I say the words.  It really isn't noticeable unless there is to hard sounding Ts in one word where the second T is being of a word ending in "-tion." Like if I were to say "I was hitting in the batting cage" it would be more like "I was hiting in the bating cage." I've noticed quit a few people do that with their Ts and always kind of wondered what region that was associated with. 

Lastly I'm not sure how this relates to my dialect or accent, but when I first thought of the way I talked the words shoulder and soldier came to mind. I've always had trouble pronouncing these words and I'm not sure why. I guess I can't make the two different sounds or something. 

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