Consonants

Few distinctive consonantal features have been reported for the Inland North. The speech of the region has been and remains rhotic. The distinction between /hw/ and /w/ may be heard from some speakers but is clearly recessive. Alternations between the interdental fricatives, /θ/ and /ð/ , and stops, /t/ and /d/, characterize the speech of some urban speakers, and the choice of  and  in –ing forms operates as a stylistic variable throughout the area. In addition to these features, which are common to many dialects, we note a pattern with a more restricted distribution: the devoicing of final obstruents in Chicago. This feature is a stereotype of working-class Chicago speech and is commonly illustrated by referring to the local football team as [də bεrs] “the Bears”, a stock pronunciation popularized by a television skit. The extent to which this devoicing occurs in less self-conscious usage has not been thoroughly studied.