Prosody
Accent Expert Gives a Tour of U.S. Accents - (Part One)
Play video"Dialect coach Erik Singer takes us on a tour of different accents across English-speaking North America. Erik and a host of other linguists and language experts (Dr. Nicole Holliday, Dr. Megan Figuero, Sunn m’Cheaux, & Kalina Newmark), take a look at some of the most interesting and distinct accents around the country." This video is the first of two (as of 2/18/2021) that discuss accents in various areas of the United States. It explores some specific features of the accents, such as phonetic production and prosody, as well as they came to differ from other accents in the region.
Ad Meter 2016: Jeep Super Bowl Portraits
The commercial exemplifies prosody, indexicality and performativity. The speaker's poetic fluctuations are amplified by literary devices such as alliteration making prosody evident. By pointing to the individual (and eventually concluding "we don't make jeep. You do"), indexicality is evident. Performativity is also relevant because Jeep constructs identity in its audience by giving the audience something to identify with (via speech and photographs).
Indie Pop Voice
This is a somewhat-researched article on an apparently new phenomenon in pop music called "Indie Pop Voice." The voice involves the dipthongization and fronting of suppressed vowels in order to make them more remarkable. The result is an eerie augmentation that does not change meaning but nevertheless alters style. I believe that this phenomenon would be interesting to study: What are the linguistic conditions in which this most occurs? Can we find an origin in a certain speech community? Does this feature index particular demographics/identities? [Published on 10-06-2015]
Transgender voice lesson
Play videoAn example of the many voice tutorials on YouTube made by transgendered individuals for other transgendered individuals interested in sounding more like their gender role - more like men or women.
Second City: Sassy Gay Friend
Play videoa humor sketch from the Second City Network's series "Sassy Gay Friend." In this video, Sassy Gay Friend intervenes in Romeo and Juliet.
