A Real-Time Trend Study of the Southern Vowel Shift in Kentuckiana

Abstract

This article examines both the front and back shifts of the Southern Vowel Shift in a rural Kentuckiana (south-central Indiana) community through 50 years of real time, from the middle of the 20th century to the early 21st century. Euclidean distance measurements between the pair of high front vowels FLEECE & KIT and between the pair of mid front vowels FACE & DRESS are subjected to ANOVAs. The mid front vowels are found to be involved in the SVS and increasingly so through real time; the high front vowels, in contrast, not only aren’t participating in the SVS but have exhibited movements in non-SVS directions. Fronting of the back vowels is analyzed through linear mixed-effects regression analyses. Except for the FOOT vowel, which remains stable over time in this community, the other back vowels, GOOSE, GOAT, and the nucleus of the MOUTH diphthong, all show real-time changes that are consistent with the SVS. Some of the real-time developments are at odds with profiles of change through apparent time, which underscores the value of real-time data when and where it is available.