--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Rick McCallister <gabaroo6958@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> Whereas to me, she sounds like a Canadian, as do a lot of people
from the Great Lakes region
>
Oddly enough, certain regions that are near to Canada in the Great
Lakes Region, i.e. Michigan and Upstate New York, have accents that
are miles apart from most Canadian accents, including those in nearby
Ontario. Although you will also find many people in these regions who
speak with a "standard" educated American accent.
I checked Wiki and found that Sarah Palin lived most of her childhood
and adolescence in Alaska, so her accent doesn't come from the Great
Lakes (she was born in Idaho but moved to Alaska as an infant). I
should have said that after the southern U.S., _New York City_, and
_Upstate New York_, she has the most un-Canadian American accent I've
heard up to now.
I think in the future all the accents of North America (including
Canada) will assimilate to one more or less continuous and uniform
accent, basically standard educated middle-class American. It seems
it's already happening, as you have pointed out about New York accents
and African-American accents.
Andrew