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Iowa One - Text

White. Female. 21 years old. Born in Spencer, Iowa but raised in Linn Grove, Iowa. Now currently living in Boca Raton, Florida. 3rd year university student. Adam Rælson recorded the interview on 15 February 2008.

I’m from a small town in northwest Iowa, there’s not really a lot to do there. We just hung out with our friends, and, there wasn’t really a lot to do, but we had the..fun. Um, everyone pretty much knows everyone – it’s a pretty small, tight-knit community. There’s lots of cornfields, and animals, and farms. So, a lot of my friends lived on farms, but I lived in town. Um, I don’t know…what else to say, but uh, that’s it!

She does not seem to have a very strong deviation from a standard American accent. In the word “veterinary” she pronounces it “vech-ruh-nary” with a more nasalized /æ/ before the “r”. She pronounces “territory” with that same nasalized /æ/ before the “r”. This sound occurs regularly in her recording whenever there is a near-front open-mid un-rounded vowel or /a/ before an “r”. She pronounces the first syllable of “either” with an /i/ sound (opposed to an /ai/ sound). Though it’s not in the recording, this subject says “pop” when referring to a sweet, carbonated beverage.

Running time:  03:01

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