User:Theantiryan/sandbox

A drawl is a perceived feature of some varieties of spoken English, and generally indicates slower, longer vowel sounds and diphthongs. It is often perceived as a method of speaking more slowly, and may be erroneously attributed to laziness or fatigue.This particular speech pattern exists primarily in varieties of the English language, most noticeable of which are Southern American English, Broad Australian English, and Broad New Zealand English. It is believed to have its origin in the 1590-1600's Dutch or low German word "dralen /ˈdraːlə(n)/"  meaning to linger.

European English
The "cavalry drawl" was a phenomenon of English-speaking officers of England, noted around 1840. Officers in smart cavalry regiments would talk affecting a drawling delivery, and lisping.

Southern U.S. English
'The prolongation of the most heavily stressed syllables, with the corresponding weakening of the less stressed'

Characteristics
One characteristic of southern drawl is vowel breaking. That is, when a monophthong changes into a diphthong or triphthong (Monophthongization). In the case of southern drawl, the short front vowels [æ], [ɛ], and [ɪ] become accompanied by an off-glide [ə] (also known as a schwa) such as in the words pat [pæ(ə)t], pet [pɛ(ə)t], and pit [pɪ(ə)t]. This is accompanied by a second, very noticeable characteristic known as the postvocalic /r/, or r-less speech for short. Along with the elongation of the vowels, in words with /r/ immediately following a laxed vowel or appearing at the end of the utterance the /r/ is dropped altogether, usually replaced by a schwa, or velar glide. This speaking style is the most easily recognizable form of drawl among English speakers.


 * "Pain" : [Payn] --> [Pay en/un]
 * "Seat" : [Seet] --> [Sey et]
 * "High" : [Hai] --> [Ha ai uh]|
 * "High" : [Hai] --> [Ha ai uh]|


 * Glide (schwa) - Pitch lowers, stretches in central vowels, and becomes lax
 * Monophthongs, Diphthongs, Diphthongs - singular, doublet, and triplet vowel 'sounds' in an utterance. Ex.: "Ha", "Hey" "Heya"

History
Before settling in the America’s, early pilgrims came mainly from southern England and Scotland, where ‘r’less dialects, had become popularized by prestige and adopted by the majority of speakers. As agriculture became more relevant, these settlers slowly migrated south towards the prime farmlands of tidewater zones along the southern coast.

The already popular ‘r’-less speaking patterns became more pronounced over time by the drawing out of vowels which we are familiar with today. Meanwhile, as slavery took hold in the economy of southern plantations, more and more Africans and soon-to-be African Americans were introduced to the r-less drawl pattern of English through their captors. Then in the 1900’s, well after these speech patterns became established in both the white and black populations of the South, the Great Migration drew large swathes of black people, culture, and their drawling speech to the areas along the Sun Belt and west coast. This speech pattern had already become somewhat established as today’s African American Vernacular English, and is by far the most common form of R-less southern speech.

Social Perception of Southern Drawl
A drawl in Southern English is often associated with social stereotypes, both positive and negative. Studies have shown that American adults tend to attribute Southern English with friendliness, and Northern English with intelligence. The Southern drawl also has negative stereotypes with regard to intelligence and work ethic, with a drawl coming across as lazy or unintelligent. A study in 2011 by Rakic and others showed evidence that when people categorize others, a person's accent mattered more than apparent ethnicity.

In 2014, a government institution in Tennessee offered "Southern Accent Reduction" classes so that employees could be "remembered for what they said rather than their accents". The class was cancelled due to the resulting controversy and complaints from Southern employees who were offended by the class which stigmatized Southern accents.

In a study of children's attitudes about accents, Tennessee children aged 5-6 were indifferent about the qualities of persons with different accents-- while children from Chicago were not. Chicago children aged 5-6 (who spoke Northern English) were much more likely to attach positive traits to Northern speakers. The results of this study suggest that social perceptions of Southern English are taught by parents to children, and don't exist for any biological reason.

Broad Australian
Broad Australian likely emerged from New South Wales in southeastern Australia in the early 1800s during a time when the population was significantly increasing due to the import of convicts. Many of these convicts came from Britain and Ireland showing what dialect Broad Australian was born from. However, the area was relatively cut off from outside influences which fostered growth of this new dialect. Then in the late 1800s people from New South Wales began to immigrate to other areas of the continent due to events such as increased overseas immigration and gold rushes.

Vowel Changes
/oʊ/ has a lowered first target and a lowered and fronted second target

/u/ is lowered

/i/ significant onglide - The degree of this onglide is affected by age and is less marked by younger age than older age

/ɜ/ is fronted

/aʊ/ has a fronted and raised first target

/eɪ/ has a retracted first target

/aɪ/ has a retracted and raised first target

/ɪə/ has a diminished offglide

/ɛə/ has a diminished offglide

Broad New Zealand
Broad New Zealand, much like Broad Australian, began taking hold in the late 1800s when people from the British Isles brought their varieties of English to New Zealand. The drawl in this regional accent is due to vowel shifts and diphthongization.