Stephanie Lane

Idiolect Project
10/1/15

Part 1: ME
Roots of my speech
Individuals who have influenced my idiolect:
Mom from her I get a Midwestern, Chicago twang on very specific words.
For example, I say tired as two very distinct syllables tie and yerd.
Dad he hails from Dublin, so I do too, especially when talking to him or to
our relatives over there. Very easy for me to slip into their cadences and
pitch varieties and softening of certain consonants when talking to them. For
example: roight? with a soft t. In words like very, the vowel flattens and
hastens toward the r.
I notice these days that my closest friends from middle school in CT have a
particular bored-sounding slight vocal fry and use mostly their upper register
when talking. I think I, too, must have been influenced by whatever sounds
got them to sound this way. For the most part, I think I have fought against
it.
NPR it was always on in the kitchen when I was growing up. These were
the days before the This American Life-sound takeover, back when radio
newscasters must have had SOME kind of vocal training. Id like to think that
partly influenced how I speak.
Watching a lot of MGM movie musicals while growing up. Thanks 1940s-50s
rhythms and pitch varieties.

Voice and Speech usage:

What are my vocal habits?
What words or phrases do I use on a regular basis?
What are my vocal garbage / fillers / hesitation noises?
What do I notice about how I speak in different situations? More than one
vocal mode?