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About me, you and this lecture – What do you hope to gain from this lecture?

About me, you and this lecture – What do you hope to gain from this lecture? Jeff Conn’s Webpage: web.pdx.edu/~connjc. Sociolinguistics. The study of language in its social contexts

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About me, you and this lecture – What do you hope to gain from this lecture?

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  1. About me, you and this lecture – What do you hope to gain from this lecture? Jeff Conn’s Webpage: web.pdx.edu/~connjc

  2. Sociolinguistics • The study of language in its social contexts • Speech community - group of people who share some set of social conventions (socioling norms) regarding language use - EXAMPLES? • Accent - pronunciation • Dialect - includes pronunciation (phonological/phonetic), but also includes grammatical, lexical and usage - MFL example • Some examples of homophones for some -- hock/hawk, caller/collar, cot/caught, calm/com, Don/Dawn • Variety - used as a more neutral term for dialect or language • Mary = merry = marry • Mary = merry  marry • Mary  merry = marry • Mary = marry  merry???

  3. Sociolinguistics • Linguistic variation and change – dialect (and language) differences due to linguistic change over time • Some social factors interacting with linguistic variation: (how people identify themselves and others) • REGION* - what are the major dialects/accents spoken in America? • Sex/Gender • Social class* • Age • Ethnicity* • Style

  4. Linguistic variation and change – Social Class • Regional difference is post-vocalic r(car, card, guard, etc) • William Labov - NYC - listen to a New Yorker • Style – attitudes about varieties Coffee shop with a sign:“We’re sorry - no blended drinks today. The blender is broke.” This sign was in Portland area – where would you expect to see it (based on stereotypes – not your opinion if they’re real) [stereotypes based on class/education/income]

  5. Linguistic variation and change • Some dialects in North America have no r at the ends of words (car, card, guard, etc). For them, r can only be the beginning of a syllable. • Includes New York City, Boston, New England and some older southern styles (like Savannah, GA, Charleston, SC, Richmond, VA) • American Tongues Chapter 17, 44:24 • post-vocalic r(car, card, guard, etc) • William Labov - NYC - listen to a New Yorker

  6. Linguistic variation and change • Style and ling change interacts with social class •  William Labov’s department store study

  7. Sociolinguistics • Linguistic variation and change – dialect (and language) differences due to linguistic change over time • Some social factors interacting with linguistic variation: (how people identify themselves and others) • REGION* - what are the major dialects/accents spoken in America? • Sex/Gender • Social class* • Age • Ethnicity* • Style

  8. Dialect Study Background • Linguistic variation and change • Regional varieties described in terms of lexical choices done through Linguistic Atlas creation • Dialectologists looked at NORMs = old men in the sticks! (non-mobile old rural men) • Asked what is the word you use for... • Plotted variation on a map and drew lines – isoglosses (see image ) • Now sociolinguists look at urban populations and exam different regions in terms of what is happening (lang change) in the cities

  9. Linguistic variation and change - Region • Craig Carver, 1987 – Used Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) which looked at lexical variation to identify dialects of N. American English • Now sociolinguists look at urban populations and exam different regions in terms of what is happening in the cities with respect to language change • Labov, Ash and Boberg, 2005: Lingusitic Atlas of North American English = large scale phonological survey of North American English American Tongues – Chapter 10

  10. What are the different regional accents in your opinion? http://www.pbs.org/speak/speech/mapping/map.html

  11. O’Grady, et al., 2010

  12. Based on lexical variation: O’Grady, et al., 2010

  13. Dialect regions according to some dialectologists/sociolinguists American Tongues – Chapter 5

  14. O’Grady, et al., 2010

  15. Dialect regions according to some dialectologists/sociolinguists O’Grady, et al., 2010

  16. Non circled vowels = lax vowels

  17. Linguistic variation and change • Regional difference by vowel production shifts (language change) over time • Northern Cities Shift (play Chicago sample - 3mins) O'Grady, W., Archibald, J., Aronoff, M., Rees-Miller, J. (2010). Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (6th edition)

  18. Based on lexical variation: O’Grady, et al., 2010

  19. Linguistic variation and change • Regional difference by vowel production shifts (language change) over time • Northern Cities Shift (play Chicago sample - 3mins) O'Grady, W., Archibald, J., Aronoff, M., Rees-Miller, J. (2010). Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (6th edition)

  20. Linguistic variation and change • The Southern Shift (Play Arkansas 2mins; play Eng 3mins; O'Grady, W., Archibald, J., Aronoff, M., Rees-Miller, J. (2010). Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (6th edition)

  21. Based on lexical variation: O’Grady, et al., 2010

  22. Linguistic variation and change • The Southern Shift (Play Arkansas 2mins; play Eng 3mins; O'Grady, W., Archibald, J., Aronoff, M., Rees-Miller, J. (2010). Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (6th edition)

  23. Linguistic variation and change • The California/Canada Shift (Play Cali - 1:45; Ontario 2:15) O'Grady, W., Archibald, J., Aronoff, M., Rees-Miller, J. (2010). Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (6th edition)

  24. ? Based on lexical variation: O’Grady, et al., 2010

  25. Linguistic variation and change • The California/Canada Shift (Play Cali - 1:45; Ontario 2:15) O'Grady, W., Archibald, J., Aronoff, M., Rees-Miller, J. (2010). Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (6th edition)

  26. California different from Canada – Is Seattle/Portland different from Vancouver BC?

  27. Portland C = syllable closed by Cons; F = free – vowel final; V = closed by voiced Cons or final; 0 = closed by voiceless Cons

  28. Linguistic variation and change – cot vs. caught • From Linguistic Atlas of N American English

  29. Cot/Caught Merger ‘cot’ ‘caught’ Melissa, 28

  30. Cot/Caught Merger ‘off’ Dorothy, 89

  31. The Fronting of /ow/

  32. The Fronting of /ow/ in Pdx Sabrina, 28 Daisy, 56 Jan, 53 Jan, 53 Stacy, 14 ??? Kenneth, 53 Kenneth, 53

  33. The Canadian Shift

  34. The Canadian Shift Robbie, 14 short-o F2 < 1275 Hz. short-e F1 > 650 Hz. short-a F2 < 1750 Hz. Melissa, 28

  35. “Do You Speak American” –video of examples of regional linguistic variation The website here: http://www.pbs.org/speak/ Conn article on Portland speech is here: http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/pacificnorthwest/

  36. Linguistic variation and change - Attitudes • There are many different varieties - what is correct?Standard English is just one of many different varieties • Linguistics try to describe these varieties and all the varieties are equal in linguistics terms • Are other dialects mutually intelligible – here some sounds here from the Northern Cities area: Northern Cities Shift (not #5)

  37. Linguistic variation and change - Attitudes What are the consequences of speaking a non-standard dialect? What is standard American English? Is there a standard pronunciation? Listen to clips from American Tongues – Funny Accents track, Chapter 12 (negative feelings toward southern American), American Tongues Chapter 17, 44:24

  38. Linguistic variation and change • Ethnicity - Chicano English, African American Vernacular English, Native American English; etc. • AAVE - shares features with other English dialects • Phonological features part of other varieties • Habitual be, copula deletion - more elaborate than standard English • The coffee cold today. (One time event) • The coffee be cold here. (Habitual)

  39. Linguistic variation and change • Ethnicity - African American Vernacular English, From O’Grady, et. al. 2010.

  40. Linguistic variation and change – Listen to clips from DYSA • Ethnicity - African American Vernacular English, From O’Grady, et. al. 2010.

  41. What does this information mean in terms of Cascadia? • How would language form a part of this emerging identity?

  42. Resources Video and Internet Sources: American Tongues video - http://www.cnam.com/non_flash/language/american.html Nice examples of different American dialects, mostly regional dialects, some profanity, a little outdated, good examples of how every day people feel about dialects Do You Speak American – website and video http://www.pbs.org/speak/ Nice examples of a lot of different American Englishes, regional differences as well as ethnic differences, linguist viewpoint (very descriptive with little information on attitudes toward language), a little long and not all is relevant, good web resources that can be used with video including teacher’s guide Conn article on Portland accent: http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/pacificnorthwest/ International Dialects of English Archive - http://web.ku.edu/~idea/ Great examples of many types of English, a little hard to find some good accent productions (not all speakers have strong regional accents) Project on English in the Pacific NW – http://www.artsci.washington.edu/NWenglish/ Site with a lot of information (not created by linguist) - http://aschmann.net/AmEng/

  43. Resources Some Useful Books: Labov, W. (1994) Principles of Lingusitic Change, Volume 1: Internal Factors. Oxford: Blackwell. (Very technical information about language change) Labov, W. (2001) Principles of Lingusitic Change, Volume 2: Social Factors. Oxford: Blackwell. (Very technical but detailed including Labov’s Philadelphia Study.) Milroy, L. and Gordon, M. (2003) Sociolinguistics: Method and Interpretation. Oxford: Blackwell. (Good information about field and methodology of sociolinguistics – some technical linguistic knowledge required, not a lot of actual examples) O'Grady, W., Archibald, J., Aronoff, M., Rees-Miller, J. (2009). Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (6th edition). Bedford/St. Martin’s. Wells, John C. (1982) Accents of English 1: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ Press. Wells, John C. (1982) Accents of English 2: The British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ Press. Wells, John C. (1982) Accents of English 3: Beyond the British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ Press. (Good descriptions of different accents, focuses on pronunciation, mainly descriptive and not as theoretical as others) *Wolfram, W. and Schilling-Estes, N. (2006) American English. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. 2nd Edition. (Best choice for beginners – assumes some linguistic technical knowledge, many specific examples)

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