Or just a clue that he doesn't have a southern accent. That eliminates a lot of rural southern men. Can anyone place the accent?
Boxer and others have brought this up.
I'll call this
Falling Down's Part I about the subject of linguistics, within this thread.
MOO I have been thinking that now they have 5 words out there for linguists to work with. They must gave a good idea where his accent is from.
It is very like Delphi accent, just a little less lilting.
Bolded and underlined by me.
I've heard three distinct accents since living here in IN, next month will be four years. I've lived in NC, SC, Upstate NY, Okinawa, and here. Spent 4 years in the military. So I've heard a lot of accents and dialects, it's a fascinating subject to me. My own dialect and accent is like you might find in northern IN, especially around Gary/Hammond and maybe South Bend, etc. I'm from western NY originally, people here assume I'm from southern Wisconsin. A lot of GM employees were transferred here 30+ years ago from WI when the truck plant opened in Fort Wayne, so I get the association. People here who are from Janesville, WI, sound like me.
My accent and dialect is more urban Great Lakes in nature, although there are rural variations of the NCVS that are distinct and very local in nature, relatives of mine in the area of Clifton Springs, NY, have a very distinct dialect. Folks here on WS who have heard that NCVS type of speech know what I'm talking about. Sometimes it's not easy to separate where someone is from across the Great Lakes if they have that accent. Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, Sandusky, Toledo, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Benton Harbor, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Chicagoland, Kenosha, Rockford, Joliet, all the way down the Mississippi to St. Louis, etc., etc. etc., we all sound similar. Southern IL and IN not so much. I hear it here in Fort Wayne, especially on the north side of town. The vowel shifts, "possessives", dipthongs, etc., may vary from city to city, one side of a city to another, across ethnicities. and on and on. However the NCVS/Inland North American English type of speech is unmistakable.
"down the hill" or "get/git down the hill" is garbled. Sounds like Libby's phone was in a pocket or there was something else that blocked some of the sounds her phone picked up. There's an upward lilt on "hill", otherwise not much else I've noticed, and I've listened to that audio hundreds of times since it was released.
"Guys" or "Guys?'", sounds short and lilting, to me. One syllable, mid-tone but rises. More Great Lakes/Northern Cities Vowel Shift (NCVS), aka Inland North American English. Just one word can indicate where someone is from, generally. People around here (Fort Wayne) talk about the "Indiana lilt". I know what they're talking about. Just that one word, "guys", tells me BG is from a place closer to the lakes, if not a place in the middle parts of Michigan or WI where the accent/dialect is common, too.
BG didn't say "Hey, y'all...", the "Guys" or "Guys?", sounds very natural to me. This is how BG talks. BG is from a place more northern in nature than Delphi, however not much more northern in nature, so to speak. Within a short or even very short distance of Delphi.
The "Guys" to me sounds like how I've heard it in life, generally. Like BG is asking a question or maybe being persuasive, "guys" in his case might be a catch-all word in the context he was using it. "Guys" he was using to get their attention, either it's natural for him or he's been in an authoritarian type of position in life at some point or another. Or he's a wannabe type.
The FBI has linguists experts, and the FBI also gets the advice of pro linguists in academia and what have you. A linguist at University at Buffalo has nailed the NCVS/Inland North American dialects and accents, and there are other experts who have done the same.
The last PC revealed that LE believe BG is "local". What does "local" mean in that context? Local, as in within a 15 minute drive of the bridge area? Local, as in within 100 miles of the bridge? My hunch is the linguistic experts have been leaned upon by investigators in this case to try and figure out where that voice is from. My educated guess is NW Indiana, but could very well be BG "has ties" to Delphi. Although he could be from IL or MI.
My hunch is he was home for dinner/supper.
BG could very well have family and perhaps even professional ties to Delphi, but MOO is he doesn't live there. Why else would LE say what they have said about BG and where he is or may be from? Linguistics is part of it, I am convinced linguistics plays a part of the investigation in Delphi.
I go back to my experience in Columbia, SC, in 2007, which I've shared here, before. I moved to the city in September of '07, and ended up in an auto parts store looking for some random whatever. Ambled up to the counter, where a nice African American guy greeted me and started the transaction. Without hesitation, he looked at me and said "You're from Rochester.". Turns out he's a retired U.S. Army guy. So he's heard his share of accents and dialects throughout his career.
I've tried my best to 'hide' my accent/dialect, at times. People in Rochester sometimes don't think I'm from there, as my dialect is not as severe as it used to be. This guy 5 states from my home state and locale
nailed down the very city where I'm from, without hesitation. There are at least two distinct dialects around Rochester, a small metro, yet this random guy I met nailed down the very city where I'm from. Without hesitation.
So thinking aloud as I write random stuff about linguistics and accents, is it possible some one person, or some people, have nailed down exactly where BG is from, and it's now playing a big part in the case? How BG talks?
Stay tuned...
JMO
-FD
