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The Great American Vowel Shift
To follow up from Elham's post yesterday, I can attest first hand to Ohio's affection for naming cities after international places then proceeding to mispronounce them. Honestly, though, I think it's out of politeness.
You see, we Ohioans are very friendly, and don't like to cause a kerfuffle. This includes taking steps to avoid causing those not from around our parts to confuse Lima, Ohio for Lima, Peru. Meet a midwesterner, and she might tell you she's from LIE-ma. Like the bean. You might also meet a gentleman from Lyons (like lions) or a couple from Versailles (ver-SAILS). No chance of confusing them with Louis XV. At least we got Athens right...
On a related regional vowel note, this may be old news to some, but did you know that American English is undergoing a great vowel shift? You can bet Ohio had a hand in that (I'm looking at you, Cleveland). You can read more on our shifting American English at this PBS site. (SUZANNE)
August 31, 2007
