Illinois 28

Listen to Illinois 28, a 26-year-old man from the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 26

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 21/10/1998

PLACE OF BIRTH: Chicago, Illinois

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Hispanic/Mexican-Italian-American

OCCUPATION: actor and minister

EDUCATION: bachelor’s degree

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS: none

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

The subject lived with Spanish-speaking fraternal grandparents who immigrated from Chihuahua, Mexico.

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

RECORDED BY: Tanera Marshall

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 24/10/2024

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

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

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

Lavender: I love the smell of lavender. Ah, lavender is, um — I — if I can spray it in my room, if I can light a candle, it’s lavender. Um, the color’s very pretty, um — I just, I’m, I’m drawn to lavender colors, and smells.

Ooh, I have a story, uh, a quick one: I went to go stay at a hotel, and the hotel was called an AC Hotel. (It’s like a Spanish offshoot of the Marriott.) And we checked in, and the lady said to us, she goes, “Hey, by the way, we have some free lavender that you can grab on the way up to your room.” And I was, like, no way! And so I looked and there was these little baggies, these little cloth samples of, of like lavender herbs in the, in the bag, and it was so nice. And then we put it in the room and stuff, and it smelled like lavender. I was like [in-breath]! …

I was born in Mercy Hospital. I was raised in Little Village, ah, which is 26th Street, here in Chicago on the south side, southwest side. My family is predominantly Hispanic; uh, my mother is Italian. My parents, in the home, didn’t speak to me in Spanish, only my grandmother. My grandparents: They’re from Chihuahua, Norte México, and moved here in the, the ’60s or so. My mom understood Spanish because she was raised in Little Village, uh, by my Italian grandmother.

It’s funny I don’t remember a lot of, like, signature dishes as a kid. That’s because my mom worked a lot. But a lot of the dishes that she makes now that I’m really grateful for is like Carne en su Jugo; I don’t know if you know what that is. But Carne en su Jugo is, um, basically translates to, to “meat in its juices.” It’s like a stew; it’s like a soup. It has like carne de asada, it has, um, bacon, and can put, like, beans, and stuff. I like flautas; she knew how to make, um, enchiladas; she make tostadas; she know how to make a lotta different stuff. And then she’ll make, like, Italian sausage with like penne noodles and stuff.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Tanera Marshall

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 01/11/2024

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

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

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY:

The speaker’s accent while reading has markers reflecting relaxed “General American” pronunciations and oral posture. Note apical L in “fleece” and the SH of “strike” in the scripted reading. Also note shift in oral posture when speaking extemporaneously: Lip corners widen slightly, while jaw and tongue sit a little higher.

COMMENTARY BY: Tanera Marshall

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 01/11/2024

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.