LINGUIST List 19.2242
Tue Jul 15 2008
Diss: Historical Ling/Phonetics/Socioling: Bigham: 'Dialect Contact...'
Editor for this issue: Evelyn Richter
<evelynlinguistlist.org>
1. Douglas
Bigham,
Dialect Contact and Accommodation among Emerging Adults in a University Setting
Message 1: Dialect Contact and Accommodation among Emerging Adults in a University Setting
Date: 14-Jul-2008
From: Douglas Bigham <douglas.s.bighamgmail.com>
Subject: Dialect Contact and Accommodation among Emerging Adults in a University Setting
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Institution: University of Texas at Austin
Program: Department of Linguistics
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2008
Author: Douglas Stephan Bigham
Dissertation Title: Dialect Contact and Accommodation among Emerging Adults in a University Setting
Linguistic Field(s):
Historical Linguistics
Phonetics
Sociolinguistics
Dissertation Director:
Robert D. King
Matthew J. Gordon
Randy Diehl
Janet M. Fuller
Dissertation Abstract:
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC) is a site of linguisticdiversity where speakers of three major dialects of American English -Northern, Midland, and Southern - are brought into contact with oneanother. The speech of undergraduates at SIUC is subject to the processesof dialect contact and accommodation; as a result, regional speech featuresare lost in favor of an overarching SIUC dialect norm or koiné.
The linguistic contact that takes place at Southern Illinois University atCarbondale is unique. Previous studies of dialect contact involvesituations created by migrations of large populations of settlers moving toa new area. These 'migrants' settle permanently in the new area and becomeisolated from their original anchor dialects. The dialect mixture thatarises from countless single instances of interpersonal accommodation will,under many circumstances, lead to koinéization or new dialect formation.
However, the dialect contact situation at SIUC is different from theseprevious studies. First, the contact situation at SIUC is made up of fluidpopulations of highly mobile individuals - undergraduates. While the groupsin contact remain consistent, individual students comprising thepopulations of these groups come and go every year. Additionally, ratherthan permanently relocating, the contact between the different groups atSIUC is interrupted by students leaving for three months of summer breakand one month of winter break every year, thereby preventing speakers ofthe displaced dialects from becoming isolated from their original anchordialects. The presence of these factors at SIUC provides a way to test andexpand our existing models of language use and language attitudes inregards to dialect contact, accommodation, self- and group-categorization,and individual- and community-level notions of linguistic variation andlanguage change.
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