Arkansas 18

Listen to Arkansas 18, a 66-year-old woman from Little Rock and Fayetteville, Arkansas, and also Oklahoma, United States. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 66

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 01/09/1953

PLACE OF BIRTH: Little Rock, Arkansas

GENDER: female

ETHNICITY: Caucasian

OCCUPATION: retired

EDUCATION: master’s degree in library science from LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

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

The subject has moved around a lot, making it difficult to label her from just one place. In total, she has spent 13 of her 66 years outside the state of Arkansas. Most of that time was spent in Norman, Oklahoma. Here is a detailed list of where she has lived and when:

Little Rock, Arkansas, from birth to 8 years old
Norman, Oklahoma, from 9 to 16 years old
Little Rock, Arkansas, from 17 to 23 years old
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, from 24 to 25 years old
Natchez, Mississippi, when 26 years old
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, from 26 to 29 years old
Fayetteville, Arkansas, from 29 years old to the time of recording (1982-present)

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

Her father’s family is from Atlanta, Texas. Her mother’s mother is also from Texas.

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): 18/10/2019

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 interviewed for a position for a librarian in the Fayetteville School District, um, it was an interview with an assistant superintendent and a principal. And I was very anxious to come to work for the Fayetteville School District. And, so, one of the questions that the administrator asked me was, “Why did you decide to become a librarian?” And I thought about it for a minute, and I said, “Well, I really wanted to be a opera singer, but that didn’t work out. And, so, librarian was the next best choice.” And they both laughed a lot, um, and the administrator retells that story all the time now, um, and so I got the job.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Ben Corbett

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 23/10/2019

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

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

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY:

The /r/ consonant is hard and lengthened (nurse, superb, bird). The vowel /u/ (goose) has a schwa /ə/ (comma) inserted before it (who’d, duke, so, goose). The word “old” loses its final /d/. /aɪ/ diphthong (price) greatly reduces its second vowel, becoming /a/ (private, liking, implied, surprising, tried, time). This reduction of the second vowel in a diphthong also happens in /eɪ/ (face), becoming /e/ (face, bathe). The /aʊ/ (mouth) diphthongs makes this reduction as well (mouth).

The back of the tongue moves down slightly during the phonation of /ɪ/ (kit) and /e/ (dress) (kit, lunatic, vet). The long vowel /i/(fleece) has a schwa /ə/ (comma) inserted before it (fleece). First syllables of many words received additional stress. The word “her” often drops the initial /h/. The /ʊ/ (foot) vowel in “woman” changes to /ʌ/ (strut). The /w/ sound that begins the word “why” becomes /hw/ (which). The /ʃ/ (shoes) in the medial position in “question” lengthens. The ending /oʊ/ (goat) diphthong in “yellow” changes to a schwa /ə/ (comma).

COMMENTARY BY: Ben Corbett

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 23/10/2019

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.