American Dialect Society: Language Variation and Change in the United States

Session Coordinator: Kathryn Remlinger

Department of English, Grand Valley State University

243 Lake Huron Hall, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI 49401

remlingk@gvsu.edu

 

 

Session A

 

Paper 1

Local variability in the Northern Cities Shift

 

This study investigated the effect of locality, age, and socioeconomic status on the vowel space of English speakers native to Chicago. The study’s findings indicate that speakers from different regions and generations differ in the degree to which relevant vowels are shifted; but ultimately, socioeconomic status is a better predictor for the differences between groups. The speakers (N=18) comprised three generations of adult, white males raised and currently living in two geographic regions of the Chicago area. Speakers were categorized by region and generation, providing six categories (three speakers each). Speakers were recorded reading from |h|-V-|d| word lists, and vowel spaces were plotted using spectrographic measures of the first and second formants. A two-way analysis of variance between groups revealed a significant effect of region and generation for particular vowels. For example, first generation (oldest) speakers showed similar raising of |æ| irrespective of region, while the second generation showed raising with a significant difference between regions. Contrary to what would be predicted by a simple diachronic movement, the third generation showed less |æ| raising than the earlier generations, and no significant effect of region. Using housing values from tract-level data in the U. S. Census as a metric for socio-economic status, regions were again compared. The analysis revealed that the variation found across region and generation is better explained using this gross measure of socioeconomic status. The results have implications for characterization of the NCS, and support the importance of social factors in the analysis of historical language change.

 

Kenneth Konopka

Northwestern University

k_konopka@northwestern.edu

 

 

Paper 2

Subjunctive in Spanish concessive clauses and heritage speakers: What explains the similarities/differences between them and other groups of Spanish speakers?

 

Studies show a decrease in the use of subjunctive favoring the indicative by younger generations of US-Spanish heritage speakers (e.g. Lantolf 1978; Floyd 1983; Ocampo 1990; Gutiérrez 1994; Silva Corvalán 1991, 1994, 2000). However, Silva Corvalán (1994) shows how, regardless of generation, the subjunctive is common in specific structures (e.g. concessive clauses). To test the status of the presence of the subjunctive in the latter, a study was conducted with monolingual Mexican Spanish speakers, New Mexico heritage speakers, and advanced Spanish L2 learners. The experiment tried to determine whether (1) generation was the only criterion establishing differences between heritage speakers, (2) there were differences between all groups tested when using/recognizing the subjunctive, and (3) the role of incomplete acquisition, usage/exposure to Spanish and instruction could be determined to establish types of heritage speakers/differences with the other Spanish-speaking groups. Results show how heritage speakers display similar tendencies to the monolinguals, although with differences in the percentages for familiarity/use. Similarities are also found between Spanish L2 learners and heritage speakers; however, L2 learners used the subjunctive less, and their familiarity with some ungrammatical sentences was higher than the heritage speakers’. Our conclusions seem to indicate that despite incomplete acquisition, some exposure to Spanish since childhood explains a higher use/recognition of the subjunctive than the L2 learners.

 

References

Floyd, Mary Beth (1978): Verb usage in Southwest Spanish: A review. The Bilingual Review/ La Revista Bilingüe 5: 76-90.

Gutiérrez, Manuel (1994): Simplification, Transfer, and Convergence in Chicano Spanish. The Bilingual Review/ La Revista Bilingüe. 19: 111-121.

Lantolf, James (1978): The variable constraints on mood in Puerto Rican-American Spanish. In  M. Suñer (ed.) Contemporary Studies in Romance Linguistics (pp. 193-217). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

Ocampo, Francisco (1990): El subjuntivo en tres generaciones de hablantes bilingües. In J. Bergen (ed.) Spanish in the United States: Sociolinguistic Issues (39-48). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

Silva Corvalán, Carmen (1991): Spanish Language Attrition in a Contact Situation with English. In H. Seliger and R. Vago (eds.) First Language Attrition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

-- (1994): The Gradual Loss of Mood Distinctions in Los Angeles Spanish. Language Variation & Change. 6(3): 255-72.

-- (2000): Sociolingüística y Pragmática del Español. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press

 

Maria-Isabel Martinez-Mira

University of Mary Washington

mmira@umu.edu

 

 

Paper 3

Khatmu-Al-Khwajagan: A Sufi Speech Event

This paper presents an ethnographic description and analysis of Khatmu-Al-Khwajagan, a fundamental speech event for the Naqshbandi Sufis in the United States, to reach a better understanding of why other cultures and speech communities have the right to be understood on their own terms (Sapir-Whorf). The Naqshbandi Sufi Way comprises Sufi Muslims who represent the mystical dimension of Islam. The ultimate goal of this speech community is to offer its aspirants a gradual unveiling of the heart’s eye, accomplished through the practice of dhikr (the remembrance of God).  This important practice is conducted daily by every individual member and weekly by all members of the community in a special congregational meeting known as Khatmu-Al-Khwajagan. Generally speaking, the members of this speech community are culturally and linguistically heterogeneous.  Nevertheless, during the congregational meeting, the members of this speech community use a variety of languages including Arabic, English, and some Turkish. This paper, which adopts Hymes’ (1974) SPEAKING Model, argues each of these three languages contributes to a certain component of the spiritual meeting; Arabic is used as a code for the chanting component, English, as a code for the conversational component, and Turkish as code for a small portion of the group chanting.

Omaima Ayoub

Northeastern Illinois University

omaimayaser@hotmail.com

 

 

Session B

 

Paper 1

Increasing Gender Divergences in Two Chicagoland Elementary Schools

 

A characteristic of children’s social orders is gender segregation. In keeping with Bloomfield’s assertion (1933:46) that “density of communication” results in the “most important differences of speech,” one may predict statistical differences to emerge progressively among girls and boys. Using the sociolinguistic variables word initial and internal (dh) and word final (ing), we investigate this prediction in the English of children from two Chicagoland public schools: a Chicago public school where the majority are Chinese- and European-American from families employed in sales, clerical, production, and service work; and Oak Park where the kids are mostly African- and European-American from families primarily of professionals and administrators. Consider these data for the European-American 5th and 2nd graders from Oak Park for the variable of (dh).

 

Fifth Grade              ð        d                           Second Grade         ð        d

            Girls                N    256     44     300               Girls                N    153     47     200

                                    %     85     15                                                  %     76     24

 

            Boys               N    137     113   250               Boys               N    139     61     200

                                    %     55     45                                                  %     70     30

 

As predicted, the point spread separating the Fifth Grade girls and boys is larger (85% - 55% = 30 points) than the one in Second Grade (76% - 70% = 6 points). These results contribute to research into the actions by which children linguistically socialize themselves. Moreover, it extends the research of Cameron (2005) in which dialect principles are combined with findings from social psychology to make coherent predictions about how age and gender and interact in the expression of sociolinguistic variation at different stages of life.

 

Name: Richard Cameron

Affiliation: University of Illinois at Chicago

Email: rcameron@uic.edu

 

 

Paper 2

 

“This may be a little bit naughty, but we are working our asses off”:

Talk Among Contemporary Roller Derby Teammates

 

There is a new conception of roller derby being formed across the United States. The women behind this movement are increasingly being regarded as possible role models for younger women. Because of this possibility, it is important to understand the identity being performed by these women and the extent and the ways in which it differs from other models of femininity available for young women to adopt. In this study, we analyze same-sex talk among female teammates in a nontraditional community of practice: a West Michigan roller derby league. We are interested in determining how teammates negotiate their gender identities through language and how these identities affect language use. We wonder, given that these women do not embody a hegemonic version of femininity, whether their language will exhibit features normally attributed to “women’s talk.” Our data includes recorded conversations from two separate occasions, one being a meeting of the league’s steering committee, which was more structured and directed, and the second being an informal get-together.  We analyze the data for elements exemplifying competitive and/or cooperative strategies, rapport and/or report talk, and gossip. Included in this analysis is a discussion of such elements of conversation as the holding of the conversational floor through interruptions and silencing, challenges issued to speakers as a form of derision, the appearance of simultaneous talk, and the use of inclusive pronouns such as “we” and “our”. Our findings are then analyzed for performance of gender identity, both within the group and as a group within society.

 

Tina Newhouse

Grand Valley State University

small_trouble1@yahoo.com

 

Tracy Stephens

Grand Valley State University

stephensslice@hotmail.com

 

 

Paper 3

Gender and Generational Differences in

Hmong-Americans’ Responses to Kind Deeds

 

In the responses to a discourse completion questionnaire, embedded in ethnographic interviews with 20 Hmong-Americans (10 elders, 10 young adults) in Wisconsin, six major strategies for responding to kind deeds were identified. A comparison of the two generational groups shows that older, monolingual speakers use each of these strategies in a higher percentage of their responses than younger, bilingual speakers do. Dividing each generational group by gender yields further results: among elders, women use explicit thanking more than men, while men use the deflecting strategy more than women.  When it comes to minor strategies, older women use one of the Hmong politeness particles (os) more than older men, while older men use an ‘emphatic’ particle ( nawb) which older women do not use at all.  Older men also make greater use of address terms than older women do. Younger men use all available Hmong devices more than young women: more explicit thanks, more deflecting, more indirect expressions of appreciation, more os, nawb, and address terms.  The only strategy which younger women use more than younger men is that of saying nothing. The data suggest that young Hmong-American men find it more worthwhile to invest language learning efforts in the heritage language than young Hmong-American women do; whether women are leading the shift to English remains to be seen, but the evidence that they are leading the shift from Hmong is certainly intriguing.

 

Susan Meredith Burt

Illinois State University

smburt@ilstu.edu