American Speech recent issues

CONTRIBUTORS' COLUMN

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:35:28 PDT

LOCALIZED PATTERNS FOR GLOBAL VARIANTS: THE CASE OF QUOTATIVE SYSTEMS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN AND LATINO SPEAKERS

KOHN, M. E., FRANZ, H. A. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:35:28 PDT

This study explores quotative system norms within Latino communities and African American communities in two cities in North Carolina, Durham and Hickory, to identify how social and ethnic distribution intersects with regional distribution in such systems. Quotative frames were transcribed from sociolinguistic interviews conducted with 35 Latino and 27 African American participants between the ages of 9 and 21. The quotative verb form and the tense, person, and content of the quotation were analyzed as a basis for examining its distribution. Correlating Latino participants' length of residency in the United States to quotative usage provided insight into the possible effect of second-language acquisition on quotative systems. Quotative be like was found to be grammaticalized as a reporter of direct speech and thought in all communities and was favored in the first person for the Latino speech communities, mirroring prior studies of Anglo communities. Results indicate that Latino and African American quotative systems are aligning with other systems identified in the United States with respect to the types of verbal quotatives used and content constraints, though each group and region varies in the application of previously observed constraints.

T-GLOTTALIZATION IN AMERICAN ENGLISH

EDDINGTON, D., TAYLOR, M. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:35:28 PDT

In word-final prevocalic position (e.g., right ankle), there are various possible phonetic realizations of /t/ in American English: [t], [ ], [ ]. The present study focuses on the linguistic and social factors associated with the use of the glottal stop. Data were gathered by having participants repeat sentences they were presented auditorily (e.g., She twisted her right ankle). The particular pronunciation of /t/ in the presented sentences was masked with a tone. Logistic regression analysis identified three significant factors: (1) glottal stops were favored by following front vowels; (2) younger female speakers were most likely to use glottal stops, which may indicate a change in progress; and (3) speakers from the Western United States glottalized more than speakers from other parts of the country.

THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE ARMOIRE: LEXICAL VARIATION IN CASE FURNITURE TERMS

BURKETTE, A. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:35:28 PDT

This article explores the vast amount of lexical variation in case furniture terms found within databases of the Linguistic Atlas of the Middle and South Atlantic States and the Linguistic Atlas of the Gulf States as well as more recent picture-elicited survey data from Georgia and Mississippi. The history of case furniture is explored briefly in order to highlight the origins of some of the lexical variation found within the data. Also discussed is the larger issue of the general pattern of lexical variation. The variation itself is addressed as the responses to the Linguistic Atlas bureau/dresser question and wardrobe question are examined more closely as well as the data from the Georgia and Mississippi picture surveys.

AMONG THE NEW WORDS

BARRETT, G. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:35:28 PDT

ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP IN ALABAMA

EBLE, C. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:35:28 PDT

A SOCIAL, CULTURAL, AND LINGUISTIC LOOK AT YOUNG CHOLAS

NUSINOV, V. T. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:35:28 PDT

YOU, TOO, CAN BE A FUNCTIONING LINGUIST

PFREHM, J. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:35:28 PDT

CONTRIBUTORS' COLUMN

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:25:33 PDT

ENREGISTERMENT: A SPECIAL ISSUE

Adams, M. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:25:33 PDT

EVERYONE UP HERE: ENREGISTERMENT AND IDENTITY IN MICHIGAN'S KEWEENAW PENINSULA

Remlinger, K. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:25:33 PDT

This article investigates historical, economic, and ideological processes that have led to the emergence and development of dialect awareness in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula. Relying on the language-ideological approach to language attitudes about linguistic variation, the study examines ethnographic and archival data to determine how the local dialect, Copper Country English, has become enregistered and thus how it has come to index certain cultural values, especially those related to local identity. Copper Country English has not only become recognized as a dialect, but certain features have also become normed through discursive and metadiscursive practices that collectively function to create and maintain the idea of a local dialect and to define a local identity. These notions overlap and shift to affect perceptions of what makes a dialect a dialect and to link language, people, and place.

ENREGISTERMENT, COMMODIFICATION, AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT: "GEORDIE" VERSUS "SHEFFIELDISH"

Beal, J. C. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:25:33 PDT

This article examines a range of texts from nineteenth-century Newcastle and Sheffield, both in the north of England, to demonstrate how the urban dialects of these cities, known respectively as "Geordie" and "Sheffieldish," became enregistered in this period. Features that were actually more widespread in the north of England and in Scotland were "claimed" as unique to each of these new urban dialects, and in each case, a repertoire of features emerged that continues to be cited and indeed used by speakers and writers today, albeit often in performative contexts. The article goes on to consider how awareness of a distinct "Geordie" accent/dialect arrived much earlier and became more widespread than that of "Sheffieldish" and how this is reflected in the commodification of the former but not the latter.

PITTSBURGHESE SHIRTS: COMMODIFICATION AND THE ENREGISTERMENT OF AN URBAN DIALECT

Johnstone, B. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:25:33 PDT

This article considers a type of material artifact that circulates ideas about regional speech in the United States: T-shirts bearing words and phrases thought to be unique to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I argue that Pittsburghese shirts, seen for themselves and in the context of their production, distribution, and consumption, are part of a process leading to the creation and focusing of the idea that there is a Pittsburgh dialect. To describe how particular locally hearable forms have become linked with the city, I invoke Asif Agha's concept of "enregisterment." To understand why this has happened at the time and in the way it has, I draw on Arjun Appadurai's model of the "commodity situation." I suggest that Pittsburghese shirts contribute to dialect enregisterment in at least four ways: they put local speech on display, they imbue local speech with value, they standardize local speech, and they link local speech with particular social meanings.

REVISED PERCEPTIONS: CHANGING DIALECT PERCEPTIONS IN WISCONSIN AND MICHIGAN'S UPPER PENINSULA

Remlinger, K., Salmons, J., Von Schneidemesser, L. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:25:33 PDT

This article documents the developing awareness of and positive attitudes toward regional English used in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin and also exemplifies some key regional markers in each variety. Findings demonstrate how this awareness and affinity has taken shape through historical processes. These processes have affected the structure of variation in that features once considered ethnic markers are now recognized as regional features. This indexical shift has occurred through relations with outsiders and economic processes. These new indexes are reinforced through discursive and metadiscursive practices, in particular those represented in the media, and are very much underway, shifting and changing at present. With them, some structural features have come to mean "local" and those who use them are perceived to be the "best" speakers and thus the "most authentic" locals, despite the fact that many of the stereotypical features are found throughout the upper Midwest, even in other parts of the United States and southern Ontario.

AMONG THE NEW WORDS

Barrett, G. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:25:33 PDT

FRENCH IN NEW ORLEANS: THE COMMODIFICATION OF LANGUAGE HERITAGE

Eble, C. C. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:25:33 PDT

COMING TO TERMS WITH WHAT IT MEANS TO TEACH AND LEARN GRAMMAR

Brown, D. W. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:25:33 PDT

EXPLORING SOCIAL, REGIONAL, AND ETHNIC VARIATION IN THE UNDERGRADUATE CLASSROOM

Durian, D., Papke, J. P., Sampson, S. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:25:33 PDT

DEVELOPING A CURRICULUM FOR LANGUAGE STUDY: Valuing Language Study: Inquiry into Language for Elementary and Middle Schools

Amberg, J. S. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:25:33 PDT

RETHINKING LANGUAGE STUDY FOR TEACHERS AND LINGUISTS: Language Exploration and Awareness: A Resource Book for Teachers

Askin, H., Reaser, J. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:25:33 PDT

EMPOWERING STUDENTS THROUGH LITERACY: A NEW TYPE OF SOCIAL CHANGE: The Right to Literacy in Secondary Schools: Creating a Culture of Thinking

Wise, A., Reaser, J. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:25:33 PDT

CONTRIBUTORS' COLUMN

Mon, 04 May 2009 09:51:20 PDT

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Adams, M. — Mon, 04 May 2009 09:51:20 PDT

HISTORICAL AND COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES ON A-PREFIXING IN THE ENGLISH OF APPALACHIA

Montgomery, M. B. — Mon, 04 May 2009 09:51:20 PDT

This article both expands and confirms research on a relic grammatical feature, the prefix a- on present participles. Because previous work has concentrated on its occurrence in the English of Appalachia and only synchronically, first its superregional distribution is shown. The article then surveys its evolution from a preposition (on or at) + gerund in Early Middle English to the prefix a- + participle. The article assesses possible transatlantic sources, arguing that southern England to be most plausible. Previous work, especially Wolfram (1980, 1988) in West Virginia and Feagin (1979) in Alabama, have identified both grammatical and phonological constraints on its occurrence and possible semantic or discourse meaning, for the prefix. These are tested against a large corpus from an area intermediate between the two, the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina. Four major quantitative constraints prohibiting the prefix, originally proposed by Wolfram, are strongly substantiated, but a small number of exceptions to each argues that they are not categorical. With respect to other, more minor patterns, the prefix in the Smoky Mountains has a different distributed from West Virginia, but overall Wolfram's pioneering work is corroborated. Documenting and tracking these linguistic constraints through the history of English remain tasks for future corpus linguists.

DIALECT DIFFERENCES IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA: REGIONAL DIALECT USE AND ADAPTATION BY AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE LOWER SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY

Bloomquist, J. — Mon, 04 May 2009 09:51:20 PDT

This study examines the sociohistorical acquisition and nonacquisition of the regional dialect by African Americans who are at least second-generation residents (i.e., natives) of Pennsylvania's Lower Susquehanna Valley (including Harrisburg, York, and Lancaster). The linguistic factors that are considered are region-specific elements of lexicon and syntax; social and historical factors involve the migrant African Americans' relationships to the European American community including physical location (rural vs. urban, integrated vs. segregated), socioeconomic status, rates and types of contact among speakers, and the connections maintained by the relocated members to their home communities. Findings show that European Americans still use substantially more of the local expressions, and that the region's rural African Americans are no more likely to integrate the local lexicon into their everyday usage than the African Americans who reside in the area's urban centers. Despite the fact that urban Lower Susquehanna Valley African Americans are often closely connected to larger African American communities and have decreased rates of contact with non-African Americans, they also show evidence of familiarity with and usage of the local lexicon and report more usage of regional syntactic patterns (e.g., the car needs washed) than do the rural African American participants.

DIALECT IDENTIFICATION: THE EFFECTS OF REGION OF ORIGIN AND AMOUNT OF EXPERIENCE

Baker, W., Eddington, D., Nay, L. — Mon, 04 May 2009 09:51:20 PDT

This study examines whether two factors, region of origin (i.e., being from either Utah, Western states, or non-Western states) and amount of experience for those not native to Utah (having less than one, more than one but less than five, or over five years living in Utah), influence how well listeners are able to distinguish between Utah and non-Utah speakers and what phonetic characteristics they use to do so. The results suggest that the more similar the listener's dialect is to Utah English, the better his or her ability to identify Utah speakers. Moreover, it was found that listeners from Utah use less stereotypical characteristics of Utah English for identifying Utahns from non-Utahns; those from the Western United States and other locations use more. This study demonstrates that listeners with more experience with Utah English are better able to identify Utah speakers than those with less experience. These findings are also examined in light of stereotypical perceptions of both Utah English and the phonetic characteristics examined in this study.

EARLY USES AND ETYMOLOGY OF BLOTTO

Considine, J. — Mon, 04 May 2009 09:51:20 PDT

This article surveys the earliest attestations of blotto `drunk' and proposes a new etymology for it in their light. The first nine attestations of the form in English can be dated between July 1917 and the end of January 1919; eight of them, all with the sense `drunk', have a connection to World War I's Western Front. The odd one out, in which Blotto is used as a proper name and has no connection to intoxication, is from a story written by an Englishman residing in Paris. The article argues that none of the previously offered explanations of blotto is satisfactory and points out that none explains the nearly simultaneous emergence of the form in Western Front slang and as a fictional name. It proposes that blotto was likeliest suggested by the name of Blotto Frères, manufacturer of a well-known and often unstable delivery vehicle widely used in France in the early twentieth century.

AMONG THE NEW WORDS

Glowka, W., Barrett, G., Barnhart, D. K., Melancon, M., Salter, M. — Mon, 04 May 2009 09:51:20 PDT

"MISREADING" SECOND-LANGUAGE STUDIES

Erdim, E. — Mon, 04 May 2009 09:51:20 PDT

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

Dyer, D. L. — Mon, 04 May 2009 09:51:20 PDT

Erratum

Mon, 04 May 2009 09:51:20 PDT

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:51:50 PST

INTRODUCTION

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:51:50 PST

SOCIOHISTORICAL CONTEXT

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:51:50 PST

DIALECT CONTACT AND NEW-DIALECT FORMATION

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:51:50 PST

DEVELOPMENTS IN TEXAS GERMAN PHONOLOGY

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:51:50 PST

MORPHOSYNTACTIC DEVELOPMENTS IN TEXAS GERMAN

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:51:50 PST

LANGUAGE DEATH AND LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:51:50 PST

CONCLUSION

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:51:51 PST

NOTES

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:51:51 PST

REFERENCES

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:51:51 PST