Rather and Rahter

An article in the USA Today newspaper mentions Madonna in theory explaining “linguistic accommodations”. Here’s an excerpt:

Communication experts say some accent changes are normal “linguistic accommodation.” Madonna, for instance, started talking like a Brit when she was hanging out with English actor Rupert Everett, and it intensified after she moved to London and married Scottish director Guy Ritchie. Many foreigners who live in the USA for years often lose their accents, at least partly; Bono, for instance, doesn’t sound quite as Irish as he did when U2 first appeared in the USA.

“There is nothing unnatural about people making some adjustments in the direction of the locals when they move to a very different accent region,” says Jack Chambers, a University of Toronto linguistics professor. “So Madonna, living in England, alters her low vowel in “rather” so that it comes out as “rahther“. Most of her accent is middle-class Michigander except for these few accommodations.”

Source: USA TODAY
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