Diphthong changes in style shifting from Southern English to Standard American English

This study was undertaken to identify the acoustic correlates of the diphth ongs /aI/ and /superset of I/ in individuals who were trained to "style shi ft" between Standard American English (SAE) and Southern English (SE). The diphthongs were produced by four individuals from the coastal southern dial ect region who were selected from among those who had successfully complete d an accent-reduction program. Results showed that diphthongs used in SE we re shorter and had less noticeable transitional elements than those in SAE. The difference was more apparent for /aI/ than /superset of I/. There were no instances in which a diphthong was completely replaced by a vowel in SE . Findings indicate that acoustic analysis may be a useful tool in identify ing dialectal elements, particularly for those individuals who are learning to style shift. (C) 2000 by Elsevier Science Inc.