Where Does Obama Get His Pronunciation of “-y”? (UPDATED)
Jun 27th, 2008 by Micah Tillman | 2 Comments |
Given that I’m obsessed with pronunciations and accents (e.g., here and here), I’ve been trying to figure out Obama’s accent.
I’ve noticed, you see, that Obama pronounces the long-E sounds (”-y”) at the end of words as short-E’s.
So “social security” becomes “social securiteh” (where “eh” rhymes with “Bleh!” not “Hey!”). “Nationality” becomes “nationaliteh.” “Policy” becomes “policeh.”
(It’s almost like when pop singers hold out “Baby.” They end up singing: “Beh-ee-behhhh-eeee.” But they do eventually end up saying the long-E sound.)
The only other person I’ve heard make this switch is Martin Luther King, Jr.
So is Obama trying to imitate MLK? Or is this a product of his having grown up in so many different places?
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UPDATE: I heard him doing it again today on the radio (a clip from some Democrat unity rally thing) except he slipped and pronounced “-y” as “ee” once.
Consistency is key!
[...] Obama isn’t trying to imitate MLK’s accent. [...]
He’s obviously trying to imitate MLK’s accent. This is the guy who’s such a phony that he won’t publish his real birth certificate and covers up the fact that he has held dual or triple citizenship. And, he just stated that the hardest decision he’s ever made was not supporting the war in Iraq (or, as I like to call it, the Counterjihad). The only problem is that he wasn’t even in the US Senate at the time of the vote. Yes, he’s trying to put on a little MLK and a little JFK in order to make up for his lack of experience (the only thing he’s ever done is community organizing, a.k.a., rabble rousing).