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[1] If you want to anger a linguist, try bringing up a speech pattern called General American. “General American is a concept for which I’ve struggled to find a satisfying definition,” writes Ben Trawick-Smith of Dialect Blog. Dennis Preston, a dialectologist and sociolinguist at Oklahoma State University, goes even further. “General American doesn’t exist,” Preston says, “He was demoted to private or sergeant a long, long time ago.”
词汇（组）：
1） anger /ˈæŋɡər/：愤怒；激怒。可作名词可作动词。
例：Children express their anger in various ways.
2） linguist /ˈlɪŋɡwɪst/：语言学家
3） concept /ˈkɑːnsept/：概念，观念，想法。New Concept English新概念英语
4） dialectologist /ˌdaɪəlekˈtɑːlədʒɪst/：方言学家
5） sociolinguist /ˌsoʊsioʊ ˈlɪŋɡwɪst/：社会语言学家
6） Oklahoma /ˌoʊk.ləˈhoʊ.mə/：俄克拉荷马州，美国中南部的一个州
7） demote/ˌdiːˈmoʊt/：（通常用被动）使（某人）降级/降职
例：The sergeant was demoted to private.
8） private/ˈpraɪvət/：列兵
9） sergeant/ˈsɑːrdʒənt/：中士重难点句：
“General American doesn’t exist,” Preston says, “He was demoted to private or sergeant a long, long time ago.”
美国普通话（General American，general也可译为将军）这个概念根本就不存在，Preston说，只是在很早以前的一种可以被降级为列兵和中士的职位罢了。
分析：这里作者通过双关语general来用幽默的方式讽刺“美国普通话”的概念是不存在。Sb be demoted to，某人被降级/被降职。
[2] But the concept persists: we believe that, for example, newscasters, maybe some actors, and certainly some people, somewhere, speak an unaccented variety of American English. For instance, when Stephen Colbert explained his vocal patterns to 60 Minutes, he said:
[3] “At a very young age, I decided I was not gonna have a Southern accent. Because people, when I was a kid watching TV, if you wanted to use a shorthand that someone was stupid, you gave the character a Southern accent. And that’s not true. Southern people are not stupid. But I didn’t wanna seem stupid. I wanted to seem smart. And so I thought, ‘Well, you can’t tell where newsmen are from.’”
词汇（组）：
10） persist/pərˈsɪst/：坚持，执意；继续发生
例：Why do you persist in blaming yourself for what happened?
11） Stephen Colbert /ˈstɛfən -iːvən/ /koʊlˈbɛər/：扣扣熊，一档美国深夜脱口秀的主持人，非常棒的节目，推荐
12） Shorthand /ˈʃɔːrthænd/：速记；简单含糊的说法。
例：The term ‘machine’ is used as a convenient shorthand for the total hardware and software system.
[4] The name of this accentless accent varies; sometimes it’s called Standard American, or Broadcast English, or Network English, or, as it was created by two independent linguists in the 1920s and 1930s, General American. It is a neutral accent, one without distinguishing features.
词汇（组）：
13） Vary /ˈværi/：变化，第三人称单数形式为varies
例：Prices can vary enormously /ɪˈnɔːrməsli/.价格的变化可以非常大。
14） Neutral /ˈnuːtrəl/：中立的，不偏不倚的
例：Journalists are supposed to be politically neutral.
15） Distinguishing feature /dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃɪŋ/ /ˈfiːtʃər/：特点特征重难点句：
The name of this accentless accent varies; sometimes it’s called Standard American, or Broadcast English, or Network English, or, as it was created by two independent linguists in the 1920s and 1930s, General American.
对于这个没有口音的口音的命名也有很多，有时它叫做标准美语或者广播英语或者网络英语，亦或者，正如两个独立的语言学家在上世纪20年代和30年代时创造出来的这个名字——“美国普通话”（GA）。
分析：as it was created by….这里as是一个连词，“正如”。
[5] But where does General American come from? Is there a place where people, young and old, speak like newscasters?
[6] George Philip Krapp was the first major scholar to use the term “General American.” In his 1925 book, The English Language in America, he roughly described the concept as the variant of English spoken by the majority of the country. Essentially, he said that New England has a regional dialect, the South has a regional dialect, and then everybody else, and sometimes people in New England and the South, spoke General American.
词汇（组）：
16） Major /ˈmeɪdʒər/：主要的；重要的
例：We have encountered major problems.
17） Scholar /ˈskɑːlər/：学者
18） Roughly /ˈrʌfli/：大致的，粗略的
例：Roughly speaking, we receive about fifty letters a week on the subject.
19） Variant /ˈværiənt/：变化，a variant of sth一种……变体
20） Majority /məˈdʒɔːrəti/：名词，多数（者）
例：This treatment is not available in the vast majority of hospitals.
21） Regional /ˈriːdʒənl/：地区的重难点句：
In his 1925 book, The English Language in America, he roughly described the concept as the variant of English spoken by the majority of the country.
在他1925年的书——美国英语语言中，他粗略的描述了这个概念：也就是发部分人所说的各种英语的一个统称。
分析：describe sth as把什么描述成什么，spoken by到句子最后是过去分词做后置定语来修饰English，variant在这儿，我们理解为各种各样的。
[7] John Kenyon quickly followed up on this theory, writing in 1930 that 90 million Americans spoke General American in another book, American Pronunciation. Kenyon actually laid out some linguistic and geographical guidelines for General American. The concept caught on outside the linguistic community. Accent coaches and acting coaches still to this day train in General American, which is sometimes phrased as “losing an accent,” as Colbert says he did, rather than adopting General American. “Some irresponsible speech pathologists actually engage in this, for money,” Preston said (practically yelled). “Us linguists, of course, hold them in nothing but contempt.”
词汇（组）：
22） Lay /leɪ/ out：清晰地表达，lay的过去式是laid
例：John listened closely as Ethan laid out his plan.
23） Geographical /ˌdʒiːəˈɡræfɪkl/：地理位置的
24） Catch /kætʃ/ on：流行开来
25） Adopt /əˈdɑːpt/：采取，采用
例：All three teams adopted different approaches to the problem.
26） Irresponsible /ˌɪrɪˈspɑːnsəbl/：不负责任的
例：It would be irresponsible to ignore the situation.
27） Pathologist/pəˈθɑːlədʒɪst/：病理学家
28） Engage /ɪnˈɡeɪdʒ/ in：从事
例：Even in prison, he continued to engage in criminal activities.
29） Practically /ˈpræktɪkli/：几乎，差不多；从实际出发
例：I meet famous people practically every day.重难点句：
Accent coaches and acting coaches still to this day train in General American, which is sometimes phrased as “losing an accent,” as Colbert says he did, rather than adopting General American. “Some irresponsible speech pathologists actually engage in this, for money,” Preston said (practically yelled). “Us linguists, of course, hold them in nothing but contempt.”
直到今天，语音指导和表演指导还是在用“美国普通话”训练，或者有时也被称之为“消除口音”的训练，正如扣扣熊说，他就是这么做的（去除口音），而不是去想要学会“美国普通话”。Preston说（他几乎是咆哮着说），“一些不负责任的语言（口音）矫正师就从事这个行当去赚钱。在我们语言学家看来，他们太不要脸了。”
分析：be phrased as又可以被称之为，as Colbert says he….同样，as还是一个连词，“正如”。文中体现的观点losing an accent应该是目前包括好莱坞等地的专业语言（口音）矫正师所采取的一种方法，而不是尝试着非要学会所谓的“美国普通话”。
[8] Kenyon grew up in Northeastern Ohio and stayed in the region to teach; his specific linguistic maps of sounds for General American was heavily influenced by the way he spoke, which is to say, how upper-middle-class non-recent-immigrant white people from Northeastern Ohio spoke. I’m using the past tense here for a reason, which is that by the early 1960s, linguists began noticing something very different in that region. The entire vowel system of the parts of the country along the Great Lakes, stretching from New York cities like Rochester and Buffalo straight through to Chicago and Detroit, began to dramatically change.
词汇（组）：
30） Northeastern /ˌnɔːrˈθiː.stɚn/：东北部（的），注意读音
31） Ohio /oʊˈhaɪ.oʊ/：俄亥俄州，美国中东部的一个州
32） Influence/ˈɪnfluəns/：影响，可作名词可作动词。have/exert/ɪɡˈzɜːrt/ a strong influence on sth/sb 对某人或某物有很大影响
33） which is to say：插入语，也就是说
34） Vowel /ˈvaʊəl/ system：元音系统
35） Chicago /ʃᵻˈkɑːɡoʊ/：芝加哥，美国中西部城市
36） Detroit /dᵻˈtrɔɪt/：底特律，密歇根州最大的城市，美国汽车工业的核心重镇重难点句：
Kenyon grew up in Northeastern Ohio and stayed in the region to teach; his specific linguistic maps of sounds for General American was heavily influenced by the way he spoke, which is to say, how upper-middle-class non-recent-immigrant white people from Northeastern Ohio spoke. I’m using the past tense here for a reason, which is that by the early 1960s, linguists began noticing something very different in that region.
Kenyon是在俄亥俄州的东北部长大的，而且在那个地区教书，他的对于“美国普通话”的细节的声音版图，在很大程度上收到了他的说话的方式影响，也就是说，是俄亥俄州东北部中产以上阶级且不是近期移民到美国的白人过去的说话方式。我之所以在这儿用过去时，是因为到上世纪60年代早期，语言学家们就注意到那个地区的一些明显的变化了。
分析：be heavily influenced by受什么很大影响。这一段就开始举例引出两个观点“以自我为中心的美国普通话”和“北部城市的元音变化现象”。
[9] This change was dubbed by Bill Labov, the godfather of American linguistics, as the Northern Cities Vowel Shift. The classic Midwestern accent is exclusively a result of that shift. Some examples: the vowel sound in the word “bag,” before the Shift, was pronounced with the tongue fairly low in the mouth. After the Shift, that vowel sound was, as linguists say, raised: the tongue begins much higher in the mouth. And that’s not all the tongue is doing for Midwesterners: it’s also forming what’s called a “centering diphthong.”
词汇（组）：
37） Dub /dʌb/：配音，给….起绰号/命名，be dubbed as sth by sb被某人命名为什么
38） Midwestern /ˌmɪdˈwestərn/：中西部的
39） Exclusively /ɪkˈskluːsɪvli/：仅仅，唯独
例：Some products are labeled exclusively for indoor or outdoor use.
40） Centering /ˈsentərɪŋ/ diphthong/ˈdɪfθɑːŋ/：集中双元音重难点句：
After the Shift, that vowel sound was, as linguists say, raised: the tongue begins much higher in the mouth. And that’s not all the tongue is doing for Midwesterners: it’s also forming what’s called a “centering diphthong.”
在变化之后，用语言学家的话说就是，元音抬高了：舌头在口腔里开始的位置变高了。而且这种变化也不仅仅是对于中西部的人来说的，这种变化也产生了所谓的“集中双元音”。
分析：as linguists say，在这儿，这个as同样还是连词，“正如”。这种元音舌位的变化一直都存在，美国一些地方的元音确实变化很大，后文中会提到南部部典型的例子，当然，第10段就给大家举了一个典型的中西部地区人讲话的例子。
[10] A diphthong is a compound vowel, made up of two simpler vowels, which are called monophthongs. The vowel in the word “coin” is a diphthong: it starts as “oh” and moves to “ee.” For Midwesterners before the Shift, and basically everyone else (besides Canadians) both before and after, the vowel in the word “bag” is a monophthong. But Midwesterners, in addition to raising that initial sound, also move their tongues toward the center of their mouths. So “bag” becomes something closer to “byeg.”
词汇（组）：
41） Compound /ˈkɑːmpaʊnd/：复合的；合成物
42） Monophthong/ˈmɑːnəfθɔːŋ/：单元音
43） Besides /bɪˈsaɪdz/：除此之外，而且。它后面紧跟的单词是包含在其中的
44） In addition /əˈdɪʃn/ to：除了，和besides用法相当
45） Initial/ɪˈnɪʃl/：首个的，第一个的
例：My initial reaction was to decline the offer.重难点句：
For Midwesterners before the Shift, and basically everyone else (besides Canadians) both before and after, the vowel in the word “bag” is a monophthong. But Midwesterners, in addition to raising that initial sound, also move their tongues toward the center of their mouths. So “bag” becomes something closer to “byeg.”
在这个变化之前中西部的人，以及变化之前和变化之后，包括加拿大人，基本上每一个其他人，都会把bag发成一个单元音。但是，对于中西部的人来说，除了最开始的舌位抬高，他们也会把舌头缩到口腔的中部，所以，bag听起来就像是/ beəg/。
分析：第一个and是并列前后两个大成分。一般来讲（你查所有的字典）我们都会把bag中的元音读作梅花音的单元音，但中西部地区的人（也只能说是一部分，不可一棍子全闷死）后来，现在会发成像是一个集中双元音/eə/一样的声音。
[11] “Byeg” is not part of General American by any definition, not Kenyon’s (because it happened after his time) and not in any modern accent coach’s (because it’s so instantly identifiable with the Great Lakes area). So right away, if we wanted to simply peg General American to the place where the guy who basically created it was born and raised, we’re already out of luck: people in Northeastern Ohio do not speak that way anymore, if they ever did.
词汇（组）：
46） Instantly/ˈɪnstəntli/：立即，马上
例：Her voice is instantly recognizable.
47） Identifiable /aɪˌdentɪˈfaɪəbl/：可识别的，可辨认的
例：The house is easily identifiable by the large tree outside.
48） Peg /peɡ/：短钉；把什么固定在哪儿重难点句：
So right away, if we wanted to simply peg General American to the place where the guy who basically created it was born and raised, we’re already out of luck: people in Northeastern Ohio do not speak that way anymore, if they ever did.
所以就现在，如果我们想简单的就把“美国普通话”固定到哪个从那儿出生和长大的人创造了“美国普通话”的这么一个地方，那已经没希望了，俄亥俄州东北部地区的人已经不再那么讲英语了，如果说他们曾经却是那么讲过。
分析：peg sth to someplace，把什么固定到哪个地方，什么样的地方呢？有一个后置定语去修饰它，the guy was born and raised, 其中，the guy 又有一个定语修饰，who basically created it, 创造了“美国普通话”概念的这么一个人，在那儿出生长大的地方。其实就是在说Kenyon的这个理论是不对的（见第12段），the guy就是Kenyon。
[12] Within the linguistic community, the idea that General American had any relation to any actual geographical place was quickly destroyed. The field of American linguistics advanced very quickly in the mid-20th century, and by 1950 numerous studies were released that found that even within Northeastern Ohio, there were multiple distinctive accents and dialects, and that certainly Kenyon’s rules for General American did not apply to the vast part of the country he claimed. The Northern Cities Vowel Shift work further combusted any idea that General American described the way people talk in the Midwest.
词汇（组）：
49） Advance /ədˈvæns/：前进，进展
例：Our knowledge of the disease has advanced considerably over recent years.
50） Numerous /ˈnuːmərəs/：不计其数的
例：He has been late on numerous occasions.
51） Multiple /ˈmʌltɪpl/：多个的，多种的。a multiple entry visa，一个多次入境签证
52） Distinctive /dɪˈstɪŋktɪv/：独特的，与众不同的
例：Each district of the city has its own distinctive character.
53） Apply /əˈplaɪ/ to：适用于
例：The new technology was applied to farming.
54） Combust /kəmˈbʌst/：燃烧，消耗。在文中我们理解为摧毁了或是否定了什么样的想法重难点句：
The field of American linguistics advanced very quickly in the mid-20th century, and by 1950 numerous studies were released that found that even within Northeastern Ohio, there were multiple distinctive accents and dialects, and that certainly Kenyon’s rules for General American did not apply to the vast part of the country he claimed.
美国语言学的领域在20世纪中叶发展很快，到1950年，已经有无数的研究发表，并发现，即使是在俄亥俄州东北部，也有很多独特的口音和方言，而且，Kenyon的这个“美国普通话”理论并不适用于他所声称的美国大部分的地方。
分析：studies were released that found that中，that found是定语从句来修饰studies，found that 后面是宾语从句。这一段进一步说明，想找一个具体的地方来去定义“美国普通话”……至少Kenyon是失败了。
[13] But the vaguely Midwestern basis for General American has stuck around in surprising ways. Most Americans do not really believe they have an accent; this is a reasonable, if inaccurate, thought, as most people are surrounded by others who speak the same way they do. But the Midwest is a particularly bizarre place, and Preston knows that better than anyone.
词汇（组）：
55） Vaguely /ˈveɪɡli/：含糊的，不明确的
例：I can vaguely remember my first day at school.
56） Basis /ˈbeɪsɪs/：基础，根据
例：She was chosen for the job on the basis of her qualifications.
57） Stick around：停留着，保持着
58） Inaccurate /ɪnˈækjərət/：不完全准确的。inaccurate information不准确/不可靠的消息
59） Be surrounded /səˈraʊndɪd/ by：被….包围着
60） Bizarre/bɪˈzɑːr/：古怪的，奇异的
例：He made some totally bizarre comments.重难点句：
Most Americans do not really believe they have an accent; this is a reasonable, if inaccurate, thought, as most people are surrounded by others who speak the same way they do.
大部分的美国人都坚信自己说英语是没有口音的，即使不完全正确，这也是一个蛮有道理的想法，因为大部分人都和他们周围的同志们讲话是一样的。
分析：这是点睛之笔，道出了大美利坚合众国人民的心声：我没有口音啊，我说的就是标准美国英语啊。If inaccurate是一个条件状语，if this is an inaccurate thought，this is a reasonable thought，后面的as引导了一个原因状语从句，因为大部分人都和周围的人讲话口音一模一样。
[14] Preston is a pioneer in the study of perceptual dialectology, the study of how normal people think about dialects: where they come from, where they are, what they consist of. A 1996 study of Michiganders’ beliefs about their own accents asked them to rank states based on how “correct” their accents are, and found that by far, Michiganders ranked the English of Michigan as the “most correct.” The “least correct,” according to Michiganders, was Alabama, and the only states that sounded near to as correct as Michigan? The states immediately nearby—except for Illinois. The study is a good indication that, generally, Americans tend to believe that the accent they’re most familiar with is the most correct.
词汇（组）：
61） Pioneer /ˌpaɪəˈnɪr/：先锋者
62） Perceptual /pərˈseptʃuəl/：感知的 perceptual skills感知技能
63） Michigander /ˌmɪʃɪˈɡandə/：密歇根人
64） Rank /ræŋk/：排名
例：He ranks among the greatest boxers of all time.
65） According to /əˈkɔːrdɪŋ tə/：根据….，依据….
例：You've been absent six times according to our records.
66） Alabama /ˌæləˈbæmə/：阿拉巴马州，美国东南部的一个州
67） Illinois /ˌɪlᵻˈnɔɪ/：伊利诺伊州，美国中部的一个州
68） Indication /ˌɪndɪˈkeɪʃn/：迹象，标示
例：All the indications are that she will make a full recovery.
69） Tend /tend/ to：很有可能做某事，趋向去做某事
例：People tend to think that the problem will never affect them.重难点句：
A 1996 study of Michiganders’ beliefs about their own accents asked them to rank states based on how “correct” their accents are, and found that by far, Michiganders ranked the English of Michigan as the “most correct.” The “least correct,” according to Michiganders, was Alabama, and the only states that sounded near to as correct as Michigan? The states immediately nearby—except for Illinois.
1996年有一个关于密歇根人对自己的口音认识的一个研究，这个研究让密歇根人去根据各个州的口音的正确性来排名，结果发现，截至目前，他们把密歇根州英语排在最正确的位置，而最不正确的，根据密歇根人的认识来说，是阿拉巴马州的英语，而且最接近如密歇根州英语一般正确的州正是除了伊利诺伊州之外的几个密歇根州旁边的州。
分析：第一句的核心谓语是asked，a study asked them to rank，Michiganders’ beliefs about their own accents是study的修饰语，asked和found是并列谓语，least作为形容词，表示最不好的，最差的。这一段再次举例说明，大部分的美国人都觉得自己的口音是最正的啊。
[15] But Preston also gave this test to Southerners, specifically to respondents at Auburn University in Alabama. Here’s where things get weird: the Alabamans did not rank their own speech as particularly correct. In fact, the only states the Alabamans considered worse than Alabama were nearby states like Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The Alabamans ranked highest the Mid-Atlantic area: Maryland, Delaware, Virginia. The pride that Midwesterners have in their own accent, and their contention that Midwestern English is very correct, is nationally unusual.
词汇（组）：
70） Southerner/ˈsʌðərnər/：来自南部的人，注意读音
71） Respondent/rɪˈspɑːndənt/：受访者
例：60% of the respondents agreed with the suggestion.
72） Alabaman/ˌæləˈbæmən/：阿拉巴马州人
73） Mississippi /ˌmɪsᵻˈsɪpi/：密西西比州，美国南部的一个州
74） Louisiana /luˌiːziˈænə/：路易斯安那州，美国南部的一个州
75） Texas /ˈtɛksəs/：德克萨斯州，美国南部的一个州
76） Mid-Atlantic /ˌmɪd ətˈlæn.t̬ɪk/：中大西洋诸州。Mid Atlantic accent中大西洋口音，在发音和用词上混合使用美国英语和英国英语。
77） Maryland /ˈmɛrᵻlənd/：马里兰州，美国东部的一个州
78） Delaware /ˈdɛləwɛər/：特拉华州，美国东部的一个州
79） Virginia /vərˈdʒɪnjə/：弗吉尼亚州，美国东部的一个州
80） Contention /kənˈtenʃn/：主张
例：It is our client's contention that the fire was an accident.重难点句：
The Alabamans ranked highest the Mid-Atlantic area: Maryland, Delaware, Virginia. The pride that Midwesterners have in their own accent, and their contention that Midwestern English is very correct, is nationally unusual.
阿拉巴马州排的最高的是中大西洋地区包括马里兰州，特拉华州和弗吉尼亚州。中西部人对自己的口音的自信以及他们觉得他们的口音是最正确的，这在全国人民看来都是比较搞笑的。
分析：is nationally unusual中的的is应该改为are更合适一点，因为前面是两个并列the pride and their contention。Pride那句话里，正常的语序是Midwesterners have pride in their own accent，而contention那句话后面的that引导的是同位语从句。
[16] Even crazier: Midwesterners tend to not actually hear the very things that distinguish them to the rest of the country. Another study told Michigan speakers to listen to a Detroit speaker say the word “last,” which a Midwesterner will often pronounce with a notable Shift-influenced diphthong as “lee-est.” Then the respondents were given three synthesized other recordings: these had been altered so that that accent was dialed up or down. The respondents were told to match up the original pronunciation with the most similar synthesized one. Not a single one could do so; instead, every correspondent picked an accent that was lessened, closer to the way the word is pronounced outside the Midwest. Michiganders, apparently, have trouble hearing their own accents—which begs the question, how can you know your accent is correct, when you can’t even really identify it?
词汇（组）：
81） Distinguish /dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃ/：区分
例：It was hard to distinguish one twin from the other.
82） Notable /ˈnoʊtəbl/：明显的，注意的到的
例：His eyes are his most notable feature.
83） Alter /ˈɔːltər/：（使）变化，（使）改变
例：Prices did not alter significantly during 2014.
84） Match /mætʃ/ up：匹配
例：She spent the morning matching up orders with invoices.
85） Lessen /ˈlesn/：（使）减少，（使）减弱
例：They gave her an injection to lessen the pain.
86） Have trouble doing：做某事有困难
87） Beg the question：….便引出了这样的问题
例：Spending the summer travelling around India is a great idea, but it does beg the question of how we can afford it.重难点句：
Then the respondents were given three synthesized other recordings: these had been altered so that that accent was dialed up or down. The respondents were told to match up the original pronunciation with the most similar synthesized one. Not a single one could do so; instead, every correspondent picked an accent that was lessened, closer to the way the word is pronounced outside the Midwest.
接着，给受访者三个合成的其他录音，这三个录音都是调整过了，要么口音偏南要么口音偏北。然后要求受访者把这三个录音中最接近他们最开始听到的口音（也就是那个底特律人讲的录音）的录音找出来。没有一个人能够找得出来的，相反，每一位受访者都选了那个口音不太重而且很接近于中西部以外的人读这个单词的方式的录音。
分析：dialed up and down我们在此理解为“上北下南”，被调的靠南方一点或靠北方一点。Every correspondent，个人觉得有可能是个拼写错误，或者就是接受访问的人都是新闻从业者。最后的落脚点是：你都听不出来自己的口音是个什么鬼，你怎么知道自己的口音最正？（图样图森破啊）
来源:
[1] If you want to anger a linguist, try bringing up a speech pattern called General American. “General American is a concept for which I’ve struggled to find a satisfying definition,” writes Ben Trawick-Smith of Dialect Blog. Dennis Preston, a dialectologist and sociolinguist at Oklahoma State University, goes even further. “General American doesn’t exist,” Preston says, “He was demoted to private or sergeant a long, long time ago.”
[2] But the concept persists: we believe that, for example, newscasters, maybe some actors, and certainly some people, somewhere, speak an unaccented variety of American English. For instance, when Stephen Colbert explained his vocal patterns to 60 Minutes, he said:
[3] “At a very young age, I decided I was not gonna have a Southern accent. Because people, when I was a kid watching TV, if you wanted to use a shorthand that someone was stupid, you gave the character a Southern accent. And that’s not true. Southern people are not stupid. But I didn’t wanna seem stupid. I wanted to seem smart. And so I thought, ‘Well, you can’t tell where newsmen are from.’”
[4] The name of this accentless accent varies; sometimes it’s called Standard American, or Broadcast English, or Network English, or, as it was created by two independent linguists in the 1920s and 1930s, General American. It is a neutral accent, one without distinguishing features.
[5] But where does General American come from? Is there a place where people, young and old, speak like newscasters?
[6] George Philip Krapp was the first major scholar to use the term “General American.” In his 1925 book, The English Language in America, he roughly described the concept as the variant of English spoken by the majority of the country. Essentially, he said that New England has a regional dialect, the South has a regional dialect, and then everybody else, and sometimes people in New England and the South, spoke General American.
[7] John Kenyon quickly followed up on this theory, writing in 1930 that 90 million Americans spoke General American in another book, American Pronunciation. Kenyon actually laid out some linguistic and geographical guidelines for General American. The concept caught on outside the linguistic community. Accent coaches and acting coaches still to this day train in General American, which is sometimes phrased as “losing an accent,” as Colbert says he did, rather than adopting General American. “Some irresponsible speech pathologists actually engage in this, for money,” Preston said (practically yelled). “Us linguists, of course, hold them in nothing but contempt.”
[8] Kenyon grew up in Northeastern Ohio and stayed in the region to teach; his specific linguistic maps of sounds for General American was heavily influenced by the way he spoke, which is to say, how upper-middle-class non-recent-immigrant white people from Northeastern Ohio spoke. I’m using the past tense here for a reason, which is that by the early 1960s, linguists began noticing something very different in that region. The entire vowel system of the parts of the country along the Great Lakes, stretching from New York cities like Rochester and Buffalo straight through to Chicago and Detroit, began to dramatically change.
[9] This change was dubbed by Bill Labov, the godfather of American linguistics, as the Northern Cities Vowel Shift. The classic Midwestern accent is exclusively a result of that shift. Some examples: the vowel sound in the word “bag,” before the Shift, was pronounced with the tongue fairly low in the mouth. After the Shift, that vowel sound was, as linguists say, raised: the tongue begins much higher in the mouth. And that’s not all the tongue is doing for Midwesterners: it’s also forming what’s called a “centering diphthong.”
[10] A diphthong is a compound vowel, made up of two simpler vowels, which are called monophthongs. The vowel in the word “coin” is a diphthong: it starts as “oh” and moves to “ee.” For Midwesterners before the Shift, and basically everyone else (besides Canadians) both before and after, the vowel in the word “bag” is a monophthong. But Midwesterners, in addition to raising that initial sound, also move their tongues toward the center of their mouths. So “bag” becomes something closer to “byeg.”
[11] “Byeg” is not part of General American by any definition, not Kenyon’s (because it happened after his time) and not in any modern accent coach’s (because it’s so instantly identifiable with the Great Lakes area). So right away, if we wanted to simply peg General American to the place where the guy who basically created it was born and raised, we’re already out of luck: people in Northeastern Ohio do not speak that way anymore, if they ever did.
[12] Within the linguistic community, the idea that General American had any relation to any actual geographical place was quickly destroyed. The field of American linguistics advanced very quickly in the mid-20th century, and by 1950 numerous studies were released that found that even within Northeastern Ohio, there were multiple distinctive accents and dialects, and that certainly Kenyon’s rules for General American did not apply to the vast part of the country he claimed. The Northern Cities Vowel Shift work further combusted any idea that General American described the way people talk in the Midwest.
[13] But the vaguely Midwestern basis for General American has stuck around in surprising ways. Most Americans do not really believe they have an accent; this is a reasonable, if inaccurate, thought, as most people are surrounded by others who speak the same way they do. But the Midwest is a particularly bizarre place, and Preston knows that better than anyone.
[14] Preston is a pioneer in the study of perceptual dialectology, the study of how normal people think about dialects: where they come from, where they are, what they consist of. A 1996 study of Michiganders’ beliefs about their own accents asked them to rank states based on how “correct” their accents are, and found that by far, Michiganders ranked the English of Michigan as the “most correct.” The “least correct,” according to Michiganders, was Alabama, and the only states that sounded near to as correct as Michigan? The states immediately nearby—except for Illinois. The study is a good indication that, generally, Americans tend to believe that the accent they’re most familiar with is the most correct.
[15] But Preston also gave this test to Southerners, specifically to respondents at Auburn University in Alabama. Here’s where things get weird: the Alabamans did not rank their own speech as particularly correct. In fact, the only states the Alabamans considered worse than Alabama were nearby states like Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The Alabamans ranked highest the Mid-Atlantic area: Maryland, Delaware, Virginia. The pride that Midwesterners have in their own accent, and their contention that Midwestern English is very correct, is nationally unusual.
[16] Even crazier: Midwesterners tend to not actually hear the very things that distinguish them to the rest of the country. Another study told Michigan speakers to listen to a Detroit speaker say the word “last,” which a Midwesterner will often pronounce with a notable Shift-influenced diphthong as “lee-est.” Then the respondents were given three synthesized other recordings: these had been altered so that that accent was dialed up or down. The respondents were told to match up the original pronunciation with the most similar synthesized one. Not a single one could do so; instead, every correspondent picked an accent that was lessened, closer to the way the word is pronounced outside the Midwest. Michiganders, apparently, have trouble hearing their own accents—which begs the question, how can you know your accent is correct, when you can’t even really identify it?