LINGUIST List 17.2349
Thu Aug 17 2006
Diss: Socioling: Roeder: 'Ethnicity and Sound Change: Mexican Ameri...'
Editor for this issue: Hannah Morales
<hannahlinguistlist.org>
Directory
1. Rebecca
Roeder,
Ethnicity and Sound Change: Mexican American accommodation to the Northern Cities Shift in Lansing, Michigan
Message 1: Ethnicity and Sound Change: Mexican American accommodation to the Northern Cities Shift in Lansing, Michigan
Date: 17-Aug-2006
From: Rebecca Roeder <r.roederutoronto.ca>
Subject: Ethnicity and Sound Change: Mexican American accommodation to the Northern Cities Shift in Lansing, Michigan
Institution: Michigan State University
Program: Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian and African Languages
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2006
Author: Rebecca Roeder
Dissertation Title: Ethnicity and Sound Change: Mexican American accommodation to the Northern Cities Shift in Lansing, Michigan
Linguistic Field(s):
Sociolinguistics
Subject Language(s): English (eng)
Dissertation Director:
Dennis R. Preston
Dissertation Abstract:
This dissertation explores issues of language and dialect contact as theyaffect Mexican American speakers of English in Lansing, Michigan. Michiganis in the middle of a region labeled the Inland North by Labov, Ash andBoberg (2005), and the mainstream dialect in this area is characterized bya vowel change in progress known as the Northern Cities Shift (NCS). Thisthesis investigates 1) the degree to which Mexican Americans who have livedin Lansing for all or most of their lives have acquired an NCSpronunciation of the four vowels /æ, ɛ, ɑ, ɔ/ and 2) whether the effects ofadjacent phonetic environment show any previously unattested patterns forthe vowel /æ/. These topics are addressed separately, although the resultsof the investigation of coarticulatory effects reflect NCS influence.
In the first portion of the analysis, which uses wordlist data fromthirty-two speakers, the focus is on the nature and extent ofsociolinguistic stratification among the members of this group, who areexamined as a unified minority group speech community. The first and secondformant values of these vowels are analyzed statistically, in addition toduration for the vowel /æ/, for the effects of social factors such as age,sex, generation of residence in Michigan and socioeconomic status. Resultsindicate that women under 45, particularly those who have lived in Lansingtheir entire lives, have acquired NCS /æ/. Pronunciations of the otherthree vowels diverge somewhat from NCS norms, however, even among theyoungest women, leading to the conclusion that distinct norms ofpronunciation have developed within this minority speech community.Evidence regarding substrate influence from Spanish on the dialect of thesespeakers is inconclusive.
In the second portion of the analysis, which uses wordlist data from onlythe sixteen speakers who are both lifelong residents of Michigan and nativespeakers of English, focus is on coarticulatory effects in thepronunciation of /æ/. Results are compared to findings from previoussociophonetic and laboratory phonology studies. Findings show dramaticraising of /æ/ pre-nasally—a feature that is prevalent in NCS speech—infemale respondents under 25, supporting the conclusion that young women inthis speech community have fully acquired NCS /æ/. T-tests show nostatistically significant raising of /æ/ before nasals in the other tenspeakers, however, providing a counterexample to Labov's hypothesis thatsome raising of /æ/ in a pre-nasal environment occurs in almost everydialect of American English (Labov 1994: 197). These results concur withThomas (2001), who found a lack of /æ/-raising in a pre-nasal environmentin Mexican American speakers of English in Texas. Results for otherphonetic environments agree with previous findings.
ReferencesLabov, William. 1994. Principles of Linguistic Change. Vol. 1, InternalFactors. Language in Society 20. Oxford: Blackwell.
Labov, William, Sharon Ash and Charles Boberg. 2005. The Atlas of NorthAmerican English. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Thomas, Erik. 2001. An Acoustic Analysis of Vowel Variation in New WorldEnglish. Publication of the American Dialect Society 85. Durham, NC: DukeUniversity Press.
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