University
Shawnee State University
Major
English Generalist
Student Type
Undergraduate Student
Presentation Types
Poster Presentation (Live)
Keywords:
Rural Speech Patterns, Local Dialects, Vowel Shifts, Regularization
Abstract
The paper “Exploring the Rural Variety Midland Dialect of American English: A Case Study” focuses on the rural speech patterns of Southern Ohioans that has not been studied systematically since the advent of sociolinguistics in 1960s. Notably, the vast majority of American English (AE) data is collected and analyzed in large urban areas, this poster offers a rare glimpse into the window of linguistic creativity of rural speakers who can potentially store a large amount of knowledge about local speech patterns. The data was recorded from an old speaker who has lived in Portsmouth and its vicinity for many decades. The transcript shows a wide variety of vowel shifts, which fits the Midland dialect, and interestingly it counteracts with the un-gliding of vowels among Kentuckians living across the Ohio River. Although the phonological changes in this study are especially notable, syntactic and morphological regularization patterns are also present and analyzed.
Human and Animal Subjects
yes
IRB or IACUC Approval
yes
Faculty Mentor Name
Leila Lomashvili
Faculty Mentor Department
English and Humanities
Recommended Citation
Ucci, Annie, "Exploring the Rural Midland Dialect of American English: A Case Study" (2025). Celebration of Scholarship. 8.
https://digitalcommons.shawnee.edu/cos/2025/posters/8
Location
Morris UC Lobby
Exploring the Rural Midland Dialect of American English: A Case Study
Morris UC Lobby
The paper “Exploring the Rural Variety Midland Dialect of American English: A Case Study” focuses on the rural speech patterns of Southern Ohioans that has not been studied systematically since the advent of sociolinguistics in 1960s. Notably, the vast majority of American English (AE) data is collected and analyzed in large urban areas, this poster offers a rare glimpse into the window of linguistic creativity of rural speakers who can potentially store a large amount of knowledge about local speech patterns. The data was recorded from an old speaker who has lived in Portsmouth and its vicinity for many decades. The transcript shows a wide variety of vowel shifts, which fits the Midland dialect, and interestingly it counteracts with the un-gliding of vowels among Kentuckians living across the Ohio River. Although the phonological changes in this study are especially notable, syntactic and morphological regularization patterns are also present and analyzed.
