Personal informationI have a mixed East Coast-Southern accent resulting from living in different parts of the country. My parents spoke strong New Orleans (mother) and Floridian (father) dialects. While born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, I spent most elementary school years in Maryland and most of my adolescence in Tennessee. I graduated from high school in western New York, attended 8 years of college in Louisiana, and since then lived primarily in North Carolina, Texas and Maryland. My wife, who is from western New York, states that my language has a distinct twang, Southern slurring of some sounds and Deep South abuse of the s ending (i.e., dropping the final "s" in words like lists). Naturally, I am not a professional linguist but represent “typical” amalgamated American speech of the eastern Mid-Atlantic coast with a southern flavor. Please bear this in mind when listening to any of my words which may find acceptance. Yes, in Louisiana many speak French.
B.S., M.Ed., J.D.
* Any female voice recording is my wife Kathy, a native American speaker with a clean Buffalo (New York) accent reflecting a western Pennsylvanian childhood.
Important Audio NoteWe prefer to pronounce words with Traditional Standard American English and deliberately utilize pre-Internet dictionaries existing before 2000 because of recent laxity in pronunciation standards for American English, as well as British influences through media channels that diminish authentic American English in favor of UK-approved speech. Specifically, we rely on the 1975 edition Merriam Webster Dictionary and the 1977 edition American Heritage Dictionary. We also consult the 10-volume 1906 Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (a classic reference) for archaic words. For specialized terms, we refer to technical and medical dictionaries (Stedman's et al) which encompass both old and new technological terms. Traditional Standard American English is also readily available online at the following site: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/depleted |
