Georgia 6

Listen to Georgia 6, a 73-year-old woman from Sparta, Georgia, United States. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

Both as a courtesy and to comply with copyright law, please remember to credit IDEA for direct or indirect use of samples. IDEA is a free resource; please consider supporting us.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 73

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 15/01/1948

PLACE OF BIRTH: Milledgeville, Georgia

GENDER: female

ETHNICITY: White

OCCUPATION: retired teacher

EDUCATION: bachelor of science degree in elementary education

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

After being born in Milledgeville, the subject lived there until the age of 6. She then moved to Sparta, where she lived until age 18. After that point, the subject lived in these areas as follows:

Orange, Texas, for three years: age 19-22
Gainesville, Florida, for one and a half years: age 23-25
New Castle, Delaware, for one and a half years: age 26-27
Wilmington, North Carolina, for two years: age 27-29

From age 29 on, the subject has lived in Atlanta, Georgia.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH: N/A

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

RECORDED BY: Sarah Maria Nichols

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 10/05/2021

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

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

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

[Subject clicks tongue.] Well, I just grew up in a very poor situation with no parents. They both had died, and so I was like an orphan. But my stepsister took me in for a couple years, and I helped her sort of raise her kids. But, luckily, I became a cheerleader for three years in high school, so that gave me somethin’ to feel good about. And, um, then I went to [the University of] West Georgia and had a good time there, and then the money had run out, so I had to go find a job. And that’s what I did. …

Well, I met [my husband] pretty soon after I had started working. And he had ju- — he was getting ready to graduate from Georgia Tech. And, so, he took off for Texas to go to work and dumped me. So, I started going through all the files and personnel to find guys to take me out to eat, which I did. And, um, every time he would call my apartment, they would tell him I wasn’t there. And he got a little anxious to know where I had been, and I just told him: I was out getting supper, or getting lunch, or whatever, that somebody was buying for me. And, um, so he decided I’d better come to Texas and visit him, which I did, and we got engaged. That’s the end of that story. …

Well, I guess the last one [trip] we went on to Norway was — to see the Northern Lights — would probably be the highlight because it was so unusually beautiful. To see that green in the sky. But you really didn’t see it. Um, to see the optical illusion, I guess, is what it really portrayed. [Subject clears throat.] But it was fun, and, um, we went with [my husband’s] sister and her husband, and we had a great time. And we spend our summers in Nova Scotia, which is just icing on the cake: peaceful, and our cottage is right on the edge of the ocean. And it’s two rooms; it takes me five minutes to clean up. And then I can do whatever I want to with the rest of the day. So, just easy — it’s an easy way of life up there. People don’t get as stressed out as they do down here in the South. So, it’s good.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Sarah Maria Nichols

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 10/05/2021

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

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

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY: 

The subject misreads at least two words (“unnecessary” for “unsanitary” and “fertile” for “futile”) or leaves words out entirely in the scripted speech. This is likely a case of simply rushing the reading or not paying close enough attention, rather than a characteristic of her dialect, culture, or educational background.

COMMENTARY BY: Cameron Meier

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 10/05/2021

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.