Illinois 29

Listen to Illinois 29, a 22-year-old woman from the northwest side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 22

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 27/11/2001

PLACE OF BIRTH: Chicago, Illinois

GENDER: female

ETHNICITY: Hispanic/Mexican-Puerto Rican-American

OCCUPATION: theatre artist

EDUCATION: bachelor’s degree

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

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

The subject grew up on the northwest side of Chicago with a Spanish-speaking grandmother from 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): 23/10/2024

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

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

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

I know my first memory, and I’m like I swear this is true. So I remember being maybe, like, in crawling stage. I don’t think I was able to walk yet. But I remember how the layout of our little, um — I think we lived in like a two-flat or an apartment or something. And I remember we had a rug carpet. And I would crawl to the same area every day, because there was this little toy. It was, um, it’s actually a candy. It’s called, um — it’s like a pink candy. It looks like it’s in a little cylinder, and then there’s a paintbrush sticking out of it. So it almost looks like a lint roller, but it’s candy.

So I remember seeing that and then leaving, coming back, and always coming back, ’cause it was always on the same spot on the floor for some reason — probably because, like, maybe the house was a mess and it’s like organized chaos. Like you know where everything is, you know? And then I remember one day I went back and it was gone.

Yeah, so I’m just gifted. ‘Cause some people say that their first memory’s when they’re five. And I’m, like, “Nope, mine’s when I was, like, two.” Well, the reason I know that I’m not insane is because I had been thinking, like — as I was getting older and older, older — I was like,  this memory would always come back to me. And I’m, like, what was that thing that, like, I was, grav– … ‘cause it’s such a distinct image in my mind, but I’ve never it again. And so, one day I was at this, um, do you know what Big Lots is? Or wait, was it Big Lots? It was like a random, weird store like that where they have old, recalled things, random things. And I was walking through the aisles and I saw it — like, the candy. And I was, like, [ingress breath]! I’m like, “That’s the thing that I saw when I was little!” Yeah, so I thought that was really cool.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Tanera Marshall

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 23/10/2024

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 has markers of a relaxed “General American.” Note fronted U sound of “goose” and the way the L of “old” and “almost” shapes the vowel preceding it. Oral posture features lips that are quite spread (showing teeth), with a jaw and tongue that are relaxed but sitting somewhat high (making a “smile shape”).

COMMENTARY BY: Tanera Marshall

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

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.