While certain aspects of the Vermont accent fade away, one element is not only enduring, but evolving.
According to new research by a linguist at Georgetown University, what’s known as glottalization is still common in Vermont speakers — and a specific variation indicates that the trait may be getting more pronounced.
Using an archive of audio samples recorded by a University of Vermont linguist in 2006, Sarah Rose Bellavance studied “aspiration following glottal stop replacement” — in other words, a short, barely audible breath that follows the sound of a speaker dropping a “t” sound.
Bellavance described glottal stop replacement as “like a catch in your throat.” It occurs when a speaker pronounces a “t” without touching their tongue to the roof of their mouth: for example, saying “mountain” as “moun’in.”
The sound is often associated with British accents. But Bellavance said Vermonters are unique in using the glottal stop even at the end of a sentence, then following it with an aspiration. For example, a Vermonter might say “I’m eight,” dropping the “t” sound and following it with a short breath.
“It makes the sound of the glottal stop replacement really prominent, because you can hear the open mouth as the air comes out,” Bellavance said.
Previous analyses of audio samples from different age groups show that young Vermonters are using the glottal stop replacement even more than older Vermonters, leading linguists to believe that the trait will persist.
In studying this variation — the short breath after a dropped “t” — Bellavance compared sound samples from kindergartners, fourth-graders and high schoolers. The sound was most pronounced in fourth-graders.
That’s surprising, Bellavance said, because a trait is typically most evident in either adolescents, who are more consciously seeking out a personal identity, or in young children, who are just learning to talk.
One factor is that kids naturally over-articulate as they’re learning how to speak, Bellavance said. But seeing the higher rate of aspiration in fourth-graders indicates that the trait develops following a certain level of exposure in the broader community.
According to Julie Roberts, the UVM linguist who originally recorded the audio samples, Bellavance’s research shows that the evolution of Vermont glottalization cuts against the typical trend for dialects.
Distinctive sounds tend to weaken over generations, Roberts said. But because the aspiration takes more work on the part of the speaker, it represents a strengthening of the glottal stop replacement.
Roberts’ past research has shown that t-dropping persists while other aspects of the Vermont accent have faded. Altered vowel sounds — for example, saying “KEE-ow” for “cow” or “FOO-ight” for “fight” — appear in fewer young Vermonters over time, she said. The diverging usage of those sounds may indicate a cultural shift.
“Dialects get popular or persist in spite of the fact that they’re kind of made fun of,” she said. “And they do that because it’s one way that people show their identity or affiliate.”
The exaggerated vowels are often associated with older, more rural Vermonters, “sort of like old farmers,” Roberts said. The glottal stop still reads as local, but not necessarily as rural.
Roberts’ past research has also shown that the vowel sounds likely originated with English settlers, while the glottal stop wasn’t present in Vermont speakers until at least the 1930s. “So it’s a completely different origin, and a completely different meaning, and it’s the only one that’s lasting,” she said.
“People who want to identify as a Vermonter and want to sound like a Vermonter will be more adamant, whether it’s conscious or subconscious,” Bellavance said of the enduring trait. “The Vermont dialect is not disappearing.”
