I have counted five (5) posters so far who have mentioned a possible Midwestern flavor to Sarah Palin's voice; I quite agree.
I hear dipthongization of the short-a sound in words like "back" and "had"; specifically, I heard her pronounce "had" as "hee-ad" the other day. This feature is not at all consistent with Pacific Northwest speech, but very consistent indeed for the Inland North, an area which stretches from the Dakotas to past the Great Lakes...
I hear dipthongization of the short-a sound in words like "back" and "had"; specifically, I heard her pronounce "had" as "hee-ad" the other day. This feature is not at all consistent with Pacific Northwest speech, but very consistent indeed for the Inland North, an area which stretches from the Dakotas to past the Great Lakes...