Pub Date : 2024-08-12DOI: 10.1177/00754242241254436
Nicole Holliday
Descriptions of ethnolects in the U.S. have frequently focused on canonical, well-described features of these varieties, but less work has focused on how such features may overlap and spread into other ethnolects and local varieties in contact. Outside the U.S., the concept of the multiethnolect has been used to describe such situations of dialect contact, but little work has been done to document highly multiethnic dialect contact situations in the U.S. This study is among the first to provide a sociophonetic description of the distribution of features linked to different ethnolects, and to describe a situation of sustained U.S. contact dialect among youth from different racialized groups. Analysis of the speech of a group of Black and Latinx adolescents in Southern California reveals that these teens use a variety of sociophonetic features that have been previously linked to Chicano English (ChE) and African American English (AAE), as well as California Anglo English (CAE). I examine eight phonological variables previously described in these other varieties and reveal a complex sociolinguistic situation in which teens of both ethnicities appear to employ repertoires that draw on features of ChE, AAE, and CAE. I argue that the patterns of use I observe in this data provide evidence of a unique type of dialect contact situation that reflects ongoing trends in urban centers across the U.S.
{"title":"Sociophonetic Properties of Southern California English Among Black and Latinx Teens","authors":"Nicole Holliday","doi":"10.1177/00754242241254436","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00754242241254436","url":null,"abstract":"Descriptions of ethnolects in the U.S. have frequently focused on canonical, well-described features of these varieties, but less work has focused on how such features may overlap and spread into other ethnolects and local varieties in contact. Outside the U.S., the concept of the multiethnolect has been used to describe such situations of dialect contact, but little work has been done to document highly multiethnic dialect contact situations in the U.S. This study is among the first to provide a sociophonetic description of the distribution of features linked to different ethnolects, and to describe a situation of sustained U.S. contact dialect among youth from different racialized groups. Analysis of the speech of a group of Black and Latinx adolescents in Southern California reveals that these teens use a variety of sociophonetic features that have been previously linked to Chicano English (ChE) and African American English (AAE), as well as California Anglo English (CAE). I examine eight phonological variables previously described in these other varieties and reveal a complex sociolinguistic situation in which teens of both ethnicities appear to employ repertoires that draw on features of ChE, AAE, and CAE. I argue that the patterns of use I observe in this data provide evidence of a unique type of dialect contact situation that reflects ongoing trends in urban centers across the U.S.","PeriodicalId":51803,"journal":{"name":"Journal of English Linguistics","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2024-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142224276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-03DOI: 10.1177/00754242241254435
Lelia Glass, Jon Forrest
Against the backdrop of the fading Southern Vowel Shift, this paper explores the degree to which different young adults maintain or forego the SVS as a function of demographic traits and self-reported political ideology. Using data from 126 White young adults who grew up in Georgia and were recorded as university students, we find that the more canonically “Southern” pronunciations of the vowels in FACE, DRESS, TRAP, and PRIZE are positively correlated with a continuous measurement of political conservatism, even controlling for gender and hometown. These findings are consistent with speakers’ qualitative impression that the SVS is indexically linked to the conservative political beliefs attributed to a stereotyped White Southerner, constituting one factor that may motivate young adults in this changing landscape to maintain or forego the SVS.
{"title":"Testing the Effect of Political Ideology on the Southern Vowel Shift Among White Georgians","authors":"Lelia Glass, Jon Forrest","doi":"10.1177/00754242241254435","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00754242241254435","url":null,"abstract":"Against the backdrop of the fading Southern Vowel Shift, this paper explores the degree to which different young adults maintain or forego the SVS as a function of demographic traits and self-reported political ideology. Using data from 126 White young adults who grew up in Georgia and were recorded as university students, we find that the more canonically “Southern” pronunciations of the vowels in FACE, DRESS, TRAP, and PRIZE are positively correlated with a continuous measurement of political conservatism, even controlling for gender and hometown. These findings are consistent with speakers’ qualitative impression that the SVS is indexically linked to the conservative political beliefs attributed to a stereotyped White Southerner, constituting one factor that may motivate young adults in this changing landscape to maintain or forego the SVS.","PeriodicalId":51803,"journal":{"name":"Journal of English Linguistics","volume":"48 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2024-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141937564","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-03DOI: 10.1177/00754242241266851
Nandi Sims
The origins of the variable - s-marking patterns of present-tense verbs in earlier African American English (AAE) have been widely argued, with one of the most common arguments stating that the pattern is indicative of the Northern Subjects Rule (NSR), a variable - s-marking rule common in the northern British Isles. I explored verbal - s in the Federal Writer’s Project ex-slave narratives to understand what patterns of - s-marking existed in earlier AAE and how these patterns differed across regions. Statistical analysis suggested no NSR influence in AAE as a whole or within any of the regions, but - s-marking still significantly differed between and within regions. I discuss other possible causes of this variation, including influence from other concord patterns, aspectual marking, and phonotactics, but highlight the difficulty of proposing concrete hypotheses due to change over time and a dearth of data.
关于早期非裔美国人英语(AAE)中现在时态动词的可变-s标记模式的起源,已经引起了广泛的争论,其中最常见的论点之一是这种模式表明了北方主体规则(NSR),这是一种在不列颠群岛北部常见的可变-s标记规则。我探讨了联邦作家项目前奴隶叙事中的口头 - s,以了解早期 AAE 中存在哪些 - s 标记模式,以及这些模式在不同地区之间有何差异。统计分析表明,整个 AAE 或任何地区的 AAE 都没有受到 NSR 的影响,但地区之间和地区内部的 - s 标记仍然存在显著差异。我讨论了造成这种差异的其他可能原因,包括来自其他协和模式、方面标记和音位学的影响,但强调了由于随时间变化和数据匮乏而提出具体假设的困难。
{"title":"Verbal -s Variation in Earlier African American English","authors":"Nandi Sims","doi":"10.1177/00754242241266851","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00754242241266851","url":null,"abstract":"The origins of the variable - s-marking patterns of present-tense verbs in earlier African American English (AAE) have been widely argued, with one of the most common arguments stating that the pattern is indicative of the Northern Subjects Rule (NSR), a variable - s-marking rule common in the northern British Isles. I explored verbal - s in the Federal Writer’s Project ex-slave narratives to understand what patterns of - s-marking existed in earlier AAE and how these patterns differed across regions. Statistical analysis suggested no NSR influence in AAE as a whole or within any of the regions, but - s-marking still significantly differed between and within regions. I discuss other possible causes of this variation, including influence from other concord patterns, aspectual marking, and phonotactics, but highlight the difficulty of proposing concrete hypotheses due to change over time and a dearth of data.","PeriodicalId":51803,"journal":{"name":"Journal of English Linguistics","volume":"58 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2024-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141937565","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-24DOI: 10.1177/00754242241260760
Rashana Vikara Lydner
{"title":"Book Review: All English Accents Matter: In Pursuit of Accent Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion","authors":"Rashana Vikara Lydner","doi":"10.1177/00754242241260760","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00754242241260760","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51803,"journal":{"name":"Journal of English Linguistics","volume":"245 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2024-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141772497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-09DOI: 10.1177/00754242241247069
Adrienne Ronee Washington
{"title":"Book Review: Language in African American Communities","authors":"Adrienne Ronee Washington","doi":"10.1177/00754242241247069","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00754242241247069","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51803,"journal":{"name":"Journal of English Linguistics","volume":"62 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2024-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140932236","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-05-06DOI: 10.1177/00754242241245738
Maciej Grabski
The present article looks at patterns of Old and Middle English multiple adjectival modification (asyndetic and conjoined) and interprets their interrelations in the framework of Construction Grammar. This study contributes to previous research by offering a systematic, corpus-based comparison of formally related adjectival structures, which are analyzed from a usage-based perspective and then mapped onto the language network organized according to domain-general cognitive principles. The results indicate constructional change between Old and Middle English, which can be accounted for in terms of the reconfiguration of horizontal-relatedness links (which are based on contrast and alternation) and the resulting change in the vertical-inheritance structure. More broadly, the study confirms that any violations of the well-established Principle of No Synonymy in language may be explained in a diachronic perspective and with reference to general principles of language processing.
{"title":"Multiple Adjectival Modification in Old and Middle English: A Reconfiguration of a Constructional Network","authors":"Maciej Grabski","doi":"10.1177/00754242241245738","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00754242241245738","url":null,"abstract":"The present article looks at patterns of Old and Middle English multiple adjectival modification (asyndetic and conjoined) and interprets their interrelations in the framework of Construction Grammar. This study contributes to previous research by offering a systematic, corpus-based comparison of formally related adjectival structures, which are analyzed from a usage-based perspective and then mapped onto the language network organized according to domain-general cognitive principles. The results indicate constructional change between Old and Middle English, which can be accounted for in terms of the reconfiguration of horizontal-relatedness links (which are based on contrast and alternation) and the resulting change in the vertical-inheritance structure. More broadly, the study confirms that any violations of the well-established Principle of No Synonymy in language may be explained in a diachronic perspective and with reference to general principles of language processing.","PeriodicalId":51803,"journal":{"name":"Journal of English Linguistics","volume":"161 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2024-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140885977","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-03-19DOI: 10.1177/00754242241233643
Nandi Sims
{"title":"Book Review: Inheritance and Innovation in the Evolution of Rural African American English","authors":"Nandi Sims","doi":"10.1177/00754242241233643","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00754242241233643","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51803,"journal":{"name":"Journal of English Linguistics","volume":"70 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2024-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140168068","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-21DOI: 10.1177/00754242231222296
Douglas Biber, Tove Larsson, Gregory R. Hancock
In many studies, grammatical complexity has been treated as a single unified construct. However, other research contradicts that view, suggesting instead that the different structural types and syntactic functions of complexity features are distributed in texts in fundamentally different ways. These patterns have been documented in general corpora that include a wide range of spoken and written registers. One question that has not been fully addressed is whether grammatical complexity features are organized in the same ways in the spoken versus written modes. The present study tests the empirical adequacy of four competing models based on different theoretical conceptualizations of text complexity, comparing their goodness-of-fit in spoken versus written modes. The results show that text complexity must be treated as a multi-dimensional construct; dimensions that combine structural type and syntactic function provide the best account of the actual patterns of linguistic co-occurrence. To a large extent, the same complexity dimensions operate in both the spoken and written modes. Two of these dimensions—dependent phrases functioning as noun modifiers and finite dependent clauses functioning as clause-level constituents—represent the strongest co-occurrence patterns. In addition, these two dimensions operate in complementary distribution, in both the spoken and written modes. Overall, though, these two dimensions are shown to represent stronger co-occurrence patterns in the written mode than in the spoken mode.
{"title":"Dimensions of Text Complexity in the Spoken and Written Modes: A Comparison of Theory-Based Models","authors":"Douglas Biber, Tove Larsson, Gregory R. Hancock","doi":"10.1177/00754242231222296","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00754242231222296","url":null,"abstract":"In many studies, grammatical complexity has been treated as a single unified construct. However, other research contradicts that view, suggesting instead that the different structural types and syntactic functions of complexity features are distributed in texts in fundamentally different ways. These patterns have been documented in general corpora that include a wide range of spoken and written registers. One question that has not been fully addressed is whether grammatical complexity features are organized in the same ways in the spoken versus written modes. The present study tests the empirical adequacy of four competing models based on different theoretical conceptualizations of text complexity, comparing their goodness-of-fit in spoken versus written modes. The results show that text complexity must be treated as a multi-dimensional construct; dimensions that combine structural type and syntactic function provide the best account of the actual patterns of linguistic co-occurrence. To a large extent, the same complexity dimensions operate in both the spoken and written modes. Two of these dimensions—dependent phrases functioning as noun modifiers and finite dependent clauses functioning as clause-level constituents—represent the strongest co-occurrence patterns. In addition, these two dimensions operate in complementary distribution, in both the spoken and written modes. Overall, though, these two dimensions are shown to represent stronger co-occurrence patterns in the written mode than in the spoken mode.","PeriodicalId":51803,"journal":{"name":"Journal of English Linguistics","volume":"87 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2024-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139947155","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-19DOI: 10.1177/00754242231222485
Brita Wårvik
{"title":"Book Review: Sociolinguistic Variation in Old English: Records of Communities and People","authors":"Brita Wårvik","doi":"10.1177/00754242231222485","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00754242231222485","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51803,"journal":{"name":"Journal of English Linguistics","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2024-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139947115","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-17DOI: 10.1177/00754242231220343
Rhys Sandow
Despite the well attested finding that orientation to place can exhibit correlations with sociolinguistic usage, the role of place identity in sociolinguistic variation and change has been long disputed. The disputes often center around two key points. Firstly, a contested point is whether observed identity effects are independent statistically meaningful effects or whether they are corollaries of effects relating to other socio-demographic features such as age or socioeconomic class. Secondly, when place identity effects are found in sociolinguistic usage, few studies have explored the extent to which these effects can be attributed to acts of identity or to common interactions that can be influenced by attitudinal factors such as local orientation. To delve into these issues, I analyze lexical data from Cornwall and highlight the complexity involved in interpreting the role of place identity in sociolinguistic usage. I advocate, to varying extents, for both the act of identity and interlocutor frequency interpretations for different data sets.
{"title":"The Role of Local Identity in the Usage and Recognition of Anglo-Cornish Dialect Lexis","authors":"Rhys Sandow","doi":"10.1177/00754242231220343","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00754242231220343","url":null,"abstract":"Despite the well attested finding that orientation to place can exhibit correlations with sociolinguistic usage, the role of place identity in sociolinguistic variation and change has been long disputed. The disputes often center around two key points. Firstly, a contested point is whether observed identity effects are independent statistically meaningful effects or whether they are corollaries of effects relating to other socio-demographic features such as age or socioeconomic class. Secondly, when place identity effects are found in sociolinguistic usage, few studies have explored the extent to which these effects can be attributed to acts of identity or to common interactions that can be influenced by attitudinal factors such as local orientation. To delve into these issues, I analyze lexical data from Cornwall and highlight the complexity involved in interpreting the role of place identity in sociolinguistic usage. I advocate, to varying extents, for both the act of identity and interlocutor frequency interpretations for different data sets.","PeriodicalId":51803,"journal":{"name":"Journal of English Linguistics","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2024-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139947287","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}