OMG!

[conuly]

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9292420-understanding-english-language-variation-in-u-s-schools

If I win this, I'm handing it in turn to every teacher in the nieces' school.

Asking to find "the short vowel" in dog. Running right up into that pin/pen merger, three years running. Something's gotta give, sooner or later.

Comments

[marveen.livejournal.com]

I was surprised that some areas don't have an audible difference between "pin" and "pen". (It's the same vowel difference between "in" and "end", but I suppose there's areas where there isn't much difference there either.)

I'll also note that much as I hate trying to spell dialect, I do talk different than I type.

The above sentence, more-or-less phonetic as I'd speak it: Ah'll als' note that much 's Ah hate tryin' ta spell dialec', Ah do talk diff'runt than Ah type.

And when I'm makin' a point, I draw out the vowels an' use "ain't" a lot. ;)

[azarias.livejournal.com]

I didn't learn there was a difference in pen/pin until I took a linguistics course in high school.