Anthropology

  

As we all now realize, everyone has an accent. This is due to our dialect variations, even if we speak the same language. For this assignment we are going to explore some small differences in how we pronounce our words. 
1. Select 5 terms that people often pronounce differently. You may use any of the terms found in the text or powerpoint presentation, or select your own. Just be sure that they are terms which people often in fact pronounce differently. Some examples include: Aunt, caramel, route, vase, Caribbean…You may use these if you cannot think of any. 
2. Survey 3 people and ask them how they pronounce your 5 words. (Try not to choose all family members since, families often use very similar pronunciations.) Phonetically jot down how they pronounce the words. Refer to your IPA charts–provided in Modules, Week 2 Linguists’ Toolkit. Pay attention to how it may be different. 
3. Write up your experience. List the 5 words you chose. Describe if there were any differences in how the 3 individuals pronounced them. (Do your best on your IPA transcriptions). For example, was it the vowel sounds that were different? Speculate why there were similarities and differences. For example, was one of the individuals surveyed originally from New York? This assignment should be approximately 500 words. Include your word count in bold at the end.