If you haven’t noticed, I generally stay away from the political arena on this blog. I have my opinions and I do enjoy politics to an extent, but I know they are devisive, and there are far more important things that I’d like to use my confrontative/persuasve blog post quota for (i.e. the Gospel).
But a new development in the political world has caught my eye . . . or ear. As a wannabe linguist and someone who does speech/language stuff (I’m having word-finding issues) for a living, I have a certain fascination with accents. I can’t “do” accents like some, but I enjoy a little analysis and/or playful mockery (at least when it comes to my mid-Western friends).
That’s why, when I first heard Governor Sarah Palin speak, I could hardly listen to what she was saying – I was focused on how she was saying it. Her accent isn’t typical in that it’s not exactly Standard American English or Southern English or anything that’s easy to place (there apparently is not a true, identifiable Alaskan dialect).
On the Mr. Verb blog, there’s been a discussion going on about the Mrs. Palin’s accent – it appears to be a benign non-poiltical conversation, which I appreciate. I particularly liked the following analysis by poster “Wishydig” (warning: you are entering the land of linguist-speak – reader beware):
. . . some of the features I’ve noticed are the chicago onglide of æ: a slight tensing and perhaps raising of the ‘bit’ vowel. I thought I heard some pen/pin merging too so maybe just a general raising of front vowels. slightly simplified /o/ but not quite as simplified as the Minne-Kota /o/. Also what sounds like (occasional) Canadian raising on the /aI/ diphthong even before a 0-coda or before voiced consonants in a word like “supplies”. And the easiest feature for SNL to mock: dark rhoticity and shorter pre-R vowels in words like “here”. . . not that SNL should mock it of course . . .
Next on Political Accents with Katie: The Influence of the Mid-Atlantic dialect on Senator Biden’s Production of Plosives (um, kidding)
See how fun politics can be?
Made for Eternity 
Dear KVO — I always enjoy your forays into intellectialism even though I was thoroughly lost. Maybe you can analyze my “accent” some day since I have transitioned from a mid-Westerner to a Pennsylvanian in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country. love from Grandfather (formal, eh what!)
that is very fun- even if i didn’t understand most of the jargon- my guess is that snl is not sunday night live. i have yet to hear the woman, but i assure you i’ll be attentive to her pronunciation! I’m sure I’ll hear her on BBC’s reports on USA poltics – Noah tunes in most days.
linguistics is a blast. i’m glad you appreciated the list of features. that’s one of my favorite exercises. but yeah… the jargon can get a little crazy.
o yes: ‘snl’ does actually refer to saturday night live. cheers.