California vowel shift occurring?

[renard_ruse]

Apparently there is a subtle "vowel shift" going on in California, similar to, though different from, other North American vowel shifts such as the "Northern Cities vowel shift" going on around the great lakes. The female reporter in this newscast apparently is a good example of this shift:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/video...aign=SmithMag&onsite_content=Fishermen’s Fate

Has anyone else from California (or elsewhere) noticed this?

 

[renard_ruse]

The chick sounds a little like my cousin, though far more pronounced. She almost sounds sort of Canadian at times. Its rather annoying.

 

[renard_ruse]

Here's from Wikipedia:

...One topic that has begun to receive much attention among scholars in recent years has been the emergence of a vowel shift unique to California. Much like other vowel shifts occurring in North America, such as the Southern Shift, Northern Cities Shift, and the Canadian Shift, the California Vowel Shift is noted for a systematic chain shift of several vowels. As one vowel encroaches upon the space of another, the adjacent vowel in turn experiences a movement in order to maximize phonemic differentiation.
...

Unlike some of the other vowel shifts, however, the California Shift is generally considered to be in earlier stages of development as compared to the more widespread Northern Cities and Southern Shifts, although the new vowel characteristics of the California Shift are increasingly found among younger speakers. As with many vowel shifts, these significant changes occurring in the spoken language are rarely noticed by average speakers; imitation of peers and other sociolinguistic phenomena play a large part in determining the extent of the vowel shift in a particular speaker. For example, while some characteristics such as the close central rounded vowel [ʉ] or close back unrounded vowel [ɯ] for /u/ are widespread in Californian speech, the same high degree of fronting for /oʊ/ is common only within certain social groups...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_English

I hadn't noticed this before. I wonder how real it is?

 

[renard_ruse]

That Northern Cities vowel shift is friggin' annoying. One of the most annoying accents in the English language today, in an area that used to have fairly neutral accent. My mom is from Cleveland, and talks normal, but she's in her 70s.

At least the California shift is going a different direction from the upper midwest shift.

 

[renard_ruse]

I hope we never talk like Canadians or, heaven forbid, people from Michigan.

 

[unregistered]

 

[bra_man69]

It's a lisp in San Francisco.

Lol wonder why

 

[semen4her]

Here's from Wikipedia:



I hadn't noticed this before. I wonder how real it is?

Yeah sure you 'hadn't noticed this before'.

 

[renard_ruse]

Yeah sure you 'hadn't noticed this before'.

...As with many vowel shifts, these significant changes occurring in the spoken language are rarely noticed by average speakers...