On The DL

Language Change in America

by Andrew Thompson

Wed., Oct. 15, 5-6:30 p.m., free, registration required, Penn Museum, 3260 South St., 215-573-8280, humanities.sas.upenn.edu

When the residents of Minnesota voted for John Kerry in 2004 and solidified their status as a "blue state," they weren't just reflecting their political leanings of the election season — they were acting on centuries of heritage and culture. And that, says William Labov, has profoundly influenced how they say "rock."

Labov, a professor of linguistics at Penn who is recognized as the founder of sociolinguistics, will lead the latest Penn Humanities Forum lecture, "Language Change in America: A Modern Reflex of Yankee Cultural Imperialism." At hand is why dialects have betrayed the logic of linguists — who previously assumed that language converges rather than diverges — and why dialects have tended to be influenced by a states' political climate. "These language changes reflect political changes, and these political changes are rooted in political movements," says Labov.

Parts of blue states, and only blue states, have undergone nuanced changes in language — specifically, in six different vowels. For example, "rock" is pronounced "rack," "caught" becomes "cat," and "got" becomes "gat." It's a phenomenon known in the field as the "Northern Cities Shift," and is believed to have its roots in 19th-century Yankee ideals.

"Why is there such a close connection between the way dialect changes take place and the areas now known as the blue states?" Labov asks rhetorically. "Well, that's what the lecture is about."