Oh yah, she sounds like us: Palin's speech dissected
Dissected MADISON, Wis. (AP) — When Sarah Palin burst onto the national political stage there was a lot of talk about her distinctive way of talkin’, you betcha.
Heck, she moved to Alaska when she was too young to speak and grew up in the small town of Wasilla, but doggone it, why did she talk like someone from the movie “Fargo”?
Three UW-Madison linguists tackled the conundrum in a research article to be published in the Journal of English Linguistics next month. The answer lies in something that happened in the 1930s.
During the presidential campaign, almost every aspect of Palin’s life, including how she talked, was dissected by everyone from curious voters to political pundits. Many noted that for someone who grew up in Alaska, she talked a lot like she had been raised in Michigan, Wisconsin or Minnesota.
The UW researchers said people living in Alaska’s Matanuska and Susitna valleys, where Wasilla is located, are largely descendants of farmers who moved there in the 1930s from the Upper Midwest.
More than 200 farm families moved to the Wasilla area in 1935 as part of a government program to start a new farming community.
“Everybody’s ear was basically right, but there’s a little complexity there that you don’t get until you go through and hack through it systematically,” said Joe Salmons, director of UW’s Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures.
He wrote the paper along with UW linguistics professors Thomas Purnell and Eric Raimy after they parsed the 7,640 words Palin spoke during the 2008 vice presidential debate.
While Palin has the expected Upper Midwestern speech patterns, she also has what Salmons called “screaming hallmarks of western speech.”
For example, Palin pronounces the word “feel” like “fill” and “peel” like “pill.” Those inflections were not picked up on by the media or those who lampooned Palin, including Tina Fey on “Saturday Night Live,” Salmons said.
“It wasn’t part of the stereotype,” he said.
They found that she dropped the -ing at the end of words nearly 12 percent of the time, said the words “darn” and heck” two times each, referred to her grandmother as “gramma” and offered a “shout out” to a third-grade class in Alaska.
That type of informal speech is jarring to listeners attuned to hearing formal political talk and led many to question whether Palin was doing it for effect, Purnell said.
“This is a situation where you really expect someone to be using the most formal grammar,” Salmons said.
No matter how natural it may sound, some of what Palin says is probably cultivated to appeal to a certain demographic, said Carl Shepro, a political science professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
David Bowie, an English professor specializing in linguistics at the same university, said Palin didn’t use so many informalities before she ran for national office.
“She doesn’t sound like that when she’s speaking to Alaskans,” Bowie said.
Nov 16, 2009 at 1:02 p.m.
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melstew47,
A lot of repubs thought that Obama was going to botch this presidency real bad. I do remember though, when he had those Navy Seals snipe the pirates, those very same repubs were quite pleasantly surprised. They never thought Obama would make that choice.
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Obama has the uncanny ability to surprise his opponents, probably because most of them (like you) underestimate his potential. He's doing a fine job as President, and will continue to do so when he is re-elected.
Nov 16, 2009 at 7:23 a.m.
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I'd rather remove my spleen with a lobster fork than listen to her incoherent ramblings.
Nov 16, 2009 at 6:47 a.m.
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obama doesnt have enough experience to president,he stepped into a huge mess and he will never get us out of it,so sarah palin couldnt have done any worse.what was mccain thinking?but i will say it is quite interesting and entertaining to listen to her.maybe next election the new president can get us out the mess we are in.(lol)
Nov 16, 2009 at 6:04 a.m.
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Glory be ! Sakes Alive! How very interesting! I suppose next will be an AP story about The dissection of obama's speech patterns?
Yeah right !
Nov 15, 2009 at 10:15 p.m.
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She does make for good reading too.
http://www.realchange.org/palin.htm
Nov 15, 2009 at 10:11 p.m.
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She was a real hoot to watch though...or was that Tina Fey? Don't matter...both were funny.
Nov 15, 2009 at 10:09 p.m.
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You have a good ear for music GP and 46 is way too young to leave us.
Nov 15, 2009 at 9:54 p.m.
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Well, one Spider in particular sounded like someone playing a natural finish Les Paul through a stack of Marshalls with a Vox Cry Baby pedal pushed all the way down. Rest in Peace, Mick Ronson. :-(
Nov 15, 2009 at 9:28 p.m.
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well she's pretty..only nice thing I have to say about her..she should go away..
Nov 15, 2009 at 8:43 p.m.
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garyprimer: I agree with your comment about her sounding like a spider from Mars. Personally, I am very impressed with David Bowie becoming an English Professor.
Nov 15, 2009 at 8:09 p.m.
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I'd really like to know garyprimer, exactly what does "a spider from mars" sound like?
Nov 15, 2009 at 7:27 p.m.
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She nothing more than a want to be cheer leader back in her high school years
Nov 15, 2009 at 7:24 p.m.
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winterstinks....Let me get this straight. Republicans are for the common people? LOL
Nov 15, 2009 at 5:45 p.m.
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Ziggy played guitar...
Nov 15, 2009 at 5:41 p.m.
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Once she is elected president she will make major changes in America by immediatly resigning and working from outside the system.
Nov 15, 2009 at 5:24 p.m.
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I wasn't aware that linguistics had a political slant.
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As for the "common people" that the GOP believes love her, 71% of them don't think she's qualified for the White House.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2009/10/2...
Nov 15, 2009 at 4:28 p.m.
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Why would Sara want to run for president? She's having fun now! Harry Truman said it best.
"The white house is the finest prison in the world".
Nov 15, 2009 at 3:48 p.m.
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Palin attended 5 different colleges to get a 4 year degree. Her intellect is astounding.
Nov 15, 2009 at 3:41 p.m.
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sprout,
If Obama is a socialist, why did he run under the democratic party? What makes you think Obama is a socialist?
Should we really point out the differences between Hitler and Obama? Do you really want to go there? They are almost nothing alike. Both could speak well. You know who else could speak very well, and presented himself as an intellectual? Abraham Lincoln.
Nov 15, 2009 at 3:38 p.m.
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I think she is one awesome lady and I give her a lot of credit for what she did! Too bad I didn't get a chance to vote for her! Maybe next time.
Nov 15, 2009 at 3:11 p.m.
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She has more going for her then the rest of them Dem. Or Rep.
Nov 15, 2009 at 3:04 p.m.
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She will never again get the nominated for Republican president candidate or v.p. She has done to much damage, they know it and she knows it.
Nov 15, 2009 at 3:03 p.m.
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Nemesis...
Hearing Palin speak was enough for me. I don't need someone to tell me how funny and uneducated she sounds. I can hear it with my own ears. Compared to Bush, Obama is music to my ears. No more, "is our children learning," and we're finally done with the, "if I had a magic wand."
I don't understand why Republicans would want a moron running the country... yes, I like Obama because he presents himself as a very highly intellectual person. He seems like the kind of guy I really want as my president. He is wise far beyond his years. I feel I can trust him to always make the right decision. He doesn't have bad knee-jerk reactions. Many people who Bush had appointed to certain positions, Obama kept. He did that because of his ability to set aside his differences and really examine the situation with a fine toothed comb.
I don't know why someone wouldn't want a president like that...
Nov 15, 2009 at 3:03 p.m.
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She is a spider from mars. A very naughty, clueless, spider. Who stole from those she represented, by charging travel costs, just for starters. She has no place in politics. She does not finish anything she starts. Don't waste money on her book. It is packed with her distorted facts. Donate to a charity instead.
Nov 15, 2009 at 2:45 p.m.
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Right again Nemesis - they hate her because they fear her. She has the potential to be the best hope the Republicans have to offer, smart, articulate, ect. The fact that she hadn't really met any other leaders of other nations, or been outside of the country, or read any magazines, or was able to list a supreme court case other than Roe V Wade, or that she didn't know what the Bush Doctrine was, and that her way of becoming a political force of positive change was to quit, well now that just means she will be starting with a rogue perspective, a fresh set of eyes.
Nov 15, 2009 at 2:43 p.m.
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Sarah is for the common people. something the democrats don't understand. They actually like "snobs", Hillary, Pelosi.......
Nov 15, 2009 at 2:22 p.m.
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Too bad these left wing media dissectors can't bring themselves to do the same with Obama's speeches - for instance: the teleprompter he needs makes him look like he is at a tennis match and can't bring himself to look into the camera - or the way he cuts off the last word of a sentence and can't finish pronouncing a sentence - or the way he over-exaggerates the "s" sound in a word.
There is so much that is there to dissect but we know the media left wing LOVES Obama and HATES Palin.
Nov 15, 2009 at 1:45 p.m.
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No, she sounds like a spider from Mars.
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