Arkansas 33

Listen to Arkansas 33, a 59-year-old woman from Clarendon, Arkansas, United States. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 59

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 14/05/1960

PLACE OF BIRTH: Clarendon, Arkansas

GENDER: female

ETHNICITY:

The subject is white with predominantly Northern European ancestry. She breaks down her ethnicity as 70 percent British and Irish, 11 percent French and German, 4 percent Scandinavian, and 12 percent broadly Northwestern European. She has just over 1 percent Southern European ancestry and about 1 percent African ancestry.

OCCUPATION: administrative assistant and word processor

EDUCATION: bachelor of science degree in agribusiness from the University of Arkansas

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

The subject spent about two and a half years in Oxford, Mississippi, while attending the University of Mississippi.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

Her mother and father encouraged a level of educated English in the house.

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): 06/03/2020

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

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

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

Um, I am from eastern Arkansas, Monroe County to be specific. And, uh, when I was 15 and then later turned 16, I was Miss Fluffy Rice for Monroe County. What that means is for a period of probably nine months or so, you do everything you can to promote rice. My father was a farmer. Um, that might’ve been one reason I was chosen. Farm Bureau was the one that put it on and sponsored it. You had to come up and have your own recipe. You had to promote rice to the best of your ability at different places in the county, which means that I spoke at every Lions Club, Rotaries Club, women’s group. You name it, I spoke at it. I did little things on the radio, little tidbits about rice. I had my recipe on a little flyer that went out in everyone’s bank statement. Anytime I spoke at the Rotary Club or the Lions Club or anything, there was my picture with someone and it was in the paper. So my picture was in the paper pretty much two to three times every week in this small, little town. I had a sash that said “Miss Fluffy Rice, Monroe County.” I had a crown. I wish I could find that damn crown. I don’t know where it is, but I wish I could find it.

But anyway, I did everything I could so that everyone in the county actually knew me. I could go place — they’d go, “You’re, you’re, uh, I know …” “Yeah, you know …” and everything.

Well, I like rice. I grew up eating rice. I have no aversion to rice. But I don’t like rice pudding. And I — when I was, during the school year, the counselor would take me, and I would go to lunch meetings and speak at the Lions Club, Rotary, or something like that. So, at Holly Grove one day, we went to the Rotary Club, I believe it was — for lunch — and the counselor was with me. So we sit down to — you always, they would feed us; and I look over and notice that the desert is rice pudding. And I think, “How am I going to get out of this?” So, when people aren’t paying that much attention, I kinda edge it over away where it’s not real close to me. So, then, later on, when they’re clearing the table and everything, whoever the president of the Rotary Club is up talking and the, uh, “Oh, we even had rice pudding today just for you. Oh, I see you don’t have anyone. Um, give her a really big helping of it!” So I knew at this point I was doomed.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Ben Corbett

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 18/05/2020

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

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

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY:

/r/ is strong and lengthened (square, Sarah, mirror, rare, required). The /aɪ/ diphthong (PRICE) monophtongizes, reducing the diphthong to /a/ (private, liking, idea, my, rice, diagnosis, might, I). The /eɪ/ (FACE) diphthong often becomes /aɪ/ (PRICE) (plain, take, bank, paper).

A schwa /ə/ (COMMA) precedes vowel /u/ (GOOSE) (who, goose, group).  The vowel /ɛ/ (DRESS) becomes /ɪ/ (KIT) (expensive, when, gently,  then, attention). Ending /-t/ (GET) is either formed yet not released or dropped all together (vet, get, goat, that). The /ɒ/ (LOT) vowel often becomes /ɔ/ (THOUGHT) (strong, on, cloth).

The word “on” can also possess the diphthong /oʊ/ (GOAT). /æ/ (TRAP) can possess a strong nasal quality and can become /ɛ/ (DRESS) (and, can, that). /ŋ/ (TALKING) becomes /n/ by dropping the ending /g/ of some -ing words (singing, paying).

Words possessing the /st/ consonant cluster develop a /ʃ/ (SHOES) sound, replacing the intial /s/ (stroking, Eastern). /æ/ (TRAP) becomes /a/ (BATH) in the word “relaxing.” The word “picture” is pronounced “pitcher.”  The schwa /ə/ (COMMA) ends the word “yellow.”

COMMENTARY BY: Ben Corbett

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 18/05/2020

The archive provides:

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