Arkansas 16

Listen to Arkansas 16, a 29-year-old woman from Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 29

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 23/04/1991

PLACE OF BIRTH: Fayetteville, Arkansas

GENDER: female

ETHNICITY: Caucasian

OCCUPATION: student

EDUCATION:

The subject has a master of science degree in plant pathology and is currently working toward a Ph.D in the subject.

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

She has always lived in Fayetteville.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

Her father is from Fort Smith, Arkansas, and her mother is from Wisconsin.

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Ben Corbett

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 27/09/2019

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

When I was studying for my master’s degree, I got to travel to my first international, er, my first national conference in Portland, Oregon. This was the furthest I’d ever been away from home, um, and it was my first time in the Pacific Northwest. I was really excited to go, um, but also nervous to be traveling so far to present my research. When I arrived, uh, I had a poster to present, and it was my first poster presentation. There were probably three hundred other students also presenting their work, and we had to stand by our posters, uh, and wait for judges to come by to speak to us and other students as well. Um, obviously I was a little nervous. So, I had several people come by to speak to me, um, and ask me questions about my research. I had my spiel all set up and ready to go, but I was not prepared for a couple of questions that were asked of me. I had some other students approach me, and they were discussing my research, and they asked where I was from.

I said, “I’m from Fayetteville, Arkansas, the University of Arkansas.”

And they said, “Wow, how did you get here?”

I said, “Well, I flew!”

And they were like, “Wow, that’s so amazing! I didn’t know there were airports in Arkansas!”

And I said, “Well, of course there are airports in Arkansas, and, in fact, I even wore shoes to attend this conference.” [Subject laughs.]

Um so, that was just a light-hearted, um, joke that I thought was funny, um, and definitely the first time that question had been posed to me.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Ben Corbett

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 21/10/2019

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY:

The subject has a very light Arkansas accent, though it does get stronger while remembering the surprising question she was asked at her conference. The subject speaks in vocal creak throughout the interview, most noticeably during diphthongs and vowels, and at the ends of sentences. This vocal creak disappears during the humorous elements of her story. The vocal creak returns as she finishes her story. The vowel /u/ (goose) is stressed only slightly more than other vowels, though the stress is consistent. The /u/ vowel is also slight nasal (duke, goose). The /r/ consonant is not hit as hard as stronger Arkansas accents, yet it still overpowers the previous vowel, as is common in this area of Arkansas (bird, nearer, mirror). The shift from /eɪ/ (face) to /aɪ/ (price) occurs during the word “plain.” Ending /t/ consonant is glottalized fairly regularly (goat, foot, but, get). However, the ending /t/ in “first” simply drops. The /ɪ/ vowel in /aɪ/ (price) drops occasionally (implied, I, by).

COMMENTARY BY: Ben Corbett

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 21/10/2019

The archive provides:

• Recordings of accent/dialect speakers from the region you select.

• Text of the speakers’ biographical details.

• Scholarly commentary and analysis in some cases.

• In most cases, an orthographic transcription of the speakers’ unscripted speech.  In a small number of cases, you will also find a narrow phonetic transcription of the sample (see Phonetic Transcriptions for a complete list).  The recordings average four minutes in length and feature both the reading of one of two standard passages, and some unscripted speech. The two passages are Comma Gets a Cure (currently our standard passage) and The Rainbow Passage (used in our earliest recordings).

For instructional materials or coaching in the accents and dialects represented here, please go to Other Dialect Services.