13.7: Cosmos And Culture You Say 'Tomato' My dad speaks with a
German accent. Or so I am told. I can't hear it. Nothing unusual
about that. But this is an instance of a very important, yet
poorly understand, human phenomenon: the Variation Effect (as
I'll call it). To bring the Variation Effect into focus,
consider some examples: How does one pronounce the word
"thursday?" Well, they do it one way in London's cockney East
End, and a different way in afro-caribbean Brixton. Different
pronunciations abound in Brisbane, Brooklyn, Ashville, and
British Columbia. There is no one way to say "thursday," or any
other word for that matter. Variety occurs not only at the level
of regions and populations. The next time you are at a table
with friends, or sitting at a bar, or in a shop, pay attention
to the way people talk. You'll notice surprising variation in
inflection, emphasis, contraction, rhythm, melody, volume,
timbre, etc. In fact, it's variation all the way down, even at
the level of the individual. You choose