Linguistics investigates regional dialects

When she's thirsty, freshman Kari Robinson asks for a "Coke," but she's used to carbonated beverages being called a variety of things.\n"I've heard it called seltzer, pop and cola. In Louisiana they call it soda water," Robinson said. "My family's from all over, and we've had this discussion more than once."\nDepartment of Linguistics Chair Stuart Davis said such language variation is called dialectal geography and occurs when certain terms or expressions are only used within a restricted geographical zone.\nDavis said language changes for many reasons, partly because children learn the language that surrounds them, which differs from what their parents use.\n"We no longer speak in the language of Beowulf or Shakespeare," Assistant Professor of Linguistics Julie Auger said.\nWith the invention of television, Auger said it was assumed the geographical differences in language would become obsolete, and they have to some degree. The pronunciation of certain words, however, still creates a barrier between people from different areas trying to carry on a conversation.\n"Bloomington is interesting because it's actually on the line that divides the North from the South," linguistics graduate student Kathryn Tippetts said. "If you go a little north, you'll find people don't really have an accent, but if you go south around Bedford, people begin speaking with an accent."\nDavis, of northern California, remembers being in Boston on an extremely cold day and ordering a cup of coffee. He asked the woman behind the counter if she could make sure it was extra hot. She looked at him confused.\n"She said, 'Did you say extra hard?'" Davis said.\nThe woman misunderstood Davis because in Boston, words are often spoken without pronouncing the letter "r." Thus, "hot" sounds like how some Bostonians would pronounce "hard."\nRobinson said even with her wide range of synonyms for carbonated beverages, she was confused when she heard someone asking for a "pop" when she came to IU.\n"I didn't understand what they meant," she said. "Well, I understood. It was just different."\nAuger said that while it's common to misunderstand specific words from region to region, people are still able to understand each other because of context, no matter where they're from.\n"In most cases, it's not too difficult to understand what's going on," Auger said, "because you have a whole sentence or more to help you figure it out. Thank God we have context."\n-- Contact staff writer Kathleen Quilligan at kquillig@indiana.edu .