DOCSLIB.ORG

Accent Acquisition: Jamaican Creole Speakers' Pronunciation of Standard American English Emily Anderson [email protected]

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Accent Acquisition: Jamaican Creole Speakers' Pronunciation of Standard American English Emily Anderson Eanderso@Wellesley.Edu Wellesley College Wellesley College Digital Scholarship and Archive Honors Thesis Collection 2014 Accent acquisition: Jamaican Creole speakers' pronunciation of Standard American English Emily Anderson [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.wellesley.edu/thesiscollection Recommended Citation Anderson, Emily, "Accent acquisition: Jamaican Creole speakers' pronunciation of Standard American English" (2014). Honors Thesis Collection. 219. https://repository.wellesley.edu/thesiscollection/219 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Wellesley College Digital Scholarship and Archive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Thesis Collection by an authorized administrator of Wellesley College Digital Scholarship and Archive. For more information, please contact [email protected]. i Accent acquisition: Jamaican Creole speakers’ pronunciation of Standard American English Emily Faith Anderson Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Prerequisite for Honors in Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences April 2014 Copyright © 2014 Emily Faith Anderson ii Table of Contents 1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………. 1 2 Historical background……………………………………………………………………. 3 2.1 History of Jamaica…………………………………………………………………. 3 2.2 Jamaican language situation……………………………………………………….. 6 2.2.1 Pidgin and creole languages……………………………………………….. 7 2.2.2 Formation of Patwa………………………………………………………... 7 2.2.3 Negative associations of creoles…………………………………………… 9 2.3 Jamaican immigration to the United States………………………………………... 11 2.4 Current language situation of Jamaica…………………………………………….. 12 2.4.1 Continuum model…………………………………………………………. 13 2.4.2 Diglossia and code-switching……………………………………………... 15 2.5 Social opinions on Patwa………………………………………………………….. 16 2.5.1 “The Patois debate”………………………………………………………... 16 2.5.2 Official status of Patwa……………………………………………………. 17 2.5.3 Nationalism and cultural identification……………………………………. 17 2.5.4 Bilingualism……………………………………………………………….. 18 2.5.5 Sociolinguistic implications of language change………………………….. 18 3 Phonetics and phonology of Patwa……………………………………………………… 21 3.1 Standard Jamaican English……………………………………………………....... 21 3.2 Patwa………………………………………………………………………………. 22 3.3 Received Pronunciation……………………………………………………………. 28 3.4 Standard American English………………………………………………………... 29 3.5 Overlap between Patwa and SAE…………………………………………………. 31 3.6 Phonological features to be studied..……………………………………………… 34 3.6.1 Glide insertion…………………………………………………………….. 36 3.6.2 /h/ dropping and hypercorrection………………………………………..... 36 3.6.3 Vowel unmerging of /ie/…………………………………………………... 37 3.6.4 Vowel unmerging of /a/………………………………………………….... 38 4 The current study……………………………………………………………………....... 39 4.1 Theoretical background..………………………………………………………….. 40 4.1.1 The Chambers (1992) study………………………………………………. 41 4.1.2 The Wells (1973) study……………………………………………………. 41 4.1.3 Sociolinguistic factors……………………………………………………... 42 4.2 Underlying assumptions..………………………………………………………….. 43 4.3 Hypotheses………………………………………………………………………… 44 4.4 Importance of this study………………………….……………………………....... 45 4.5 Summary of background.………………………………………………………….. 47 iii 5 Method……………………………………………………………………………………. 48 5.1 Research design…………………………………………………………………… 48 5.2 Participants………………………………………………………………………… 48 5.3 Materials…………………………………………………………………………... 49 5.4 Procedure………………………………………………………………………….. 51 6 Data analysis……………………………………………………………………………… 53 6.1 Consonants………………………………………………………………………… 53 6.1.1 Adaptation scores………………………………………………………….. 53 6.1.2 Glide insertion……………………………………………………………... 54 6.1.2.1 Description and coding…………………………………………….. 54 6.1.2.2 Adaptation score…………………………………………………… 54 6.1.2.3 Spectrogram examples……………………………………………... 55 6.1.3 /h/ dropping and hypercorrection………………………………………….. 57 6.1.3.1 Description and coding…………………………………………….. 57 6.1.3.2 Adaptation score…………………………………………………… 57 6.1.3.3 Spectrogram examples…………………………………………….. 58 6.2 Vowels……………………………………………………………………………... 59 6.2.1 Perceptual distance………………………………………………………… 59 6.2.2 Vowel unmerging of /ie/…………………………………………………… 60 6.2.2.1 Description and measurements……………………………………. 60 6.2.2.2 Spectrogram examples…………………………………………….. 62 6.2.3 Vowel unmerging of /a/……………………………………………………. 63 6.2.3.1 Description and measurements…………………………………….. 63 6.2.3.2 Spectrogram examples…………………………………………….. 64 6.3 Statistical tests……………………………………………………………………… 64 6.4 Data reliability……………………………………………………………………... 68 6.4.1 Inter rater reliability……………………………………………………….. 68 6.4.2 Standard American English speakers……………………………………… 70 7 Results…………………………………………………………………………………….. 71 7.1 Inter rater reliability……………………………………………………………….. 71 7.2 Consonants………………………………………………………………………… 71 7.2.1 Observations………………………………………………………………. 71 7.2.2 Statistics…………………………………………………………………… 73 7.3 Vowels…………………………………………………………………………….. 73 7.3.1 Observations………………………………………………………………. 73 7.3.2 Statistics…………………………………………………………………… 76 7.3.2.1 Distance from participant average to standard…………………….. 76 7.3.2.2 Distance between vowel pairs…………………………………….. 81 iv 8 Discussion………………………………………………………………………………… 87 8.1 Review of the study………………………………………………………………. 87 8.2 Analysis of results………………………………………………………………… 88 8.2.1 Unmerging vowel processes…………………………………………...…. 89 8.2.2 Overall accommodation………………………………………………...… 94 8.2.3 Phonological complexity…………………………………………………. 96 8.2.3.1 Vowel vs. consonant processes…………………………………… 97 8.2.3.2 Glide insertion vs. /h/ dropping and hypercorrection…………….. 97 8.3 Comparison to previous literature………………………………………………... 100 8.4 Limitations of this study………………………………………………………….. 102 8.5 Alternative explanations………………………………………………………….. 103 8.6 Areas for further research………………………………………………………..... 105 9 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………… 107 References………………………………………………………………………………….. 110 Appendices………………………………………………………………………………….. 123 A: Comparison of RP and SAE phoneme inventories………………………………… 123 B: Standard American English phoneme inventory…………………………………… 127 C: Standardized pronunciations of SAE and Patwa…………………………………… 129 D: Recruiting advertisement…………………………………………………………… 136 E: Verbal questionnaire………………………………………………………………... 137 F: Questions used to elicit free speech………………………………………………… 145 G: Follow-up questionnaire……………………………………………………………. 146 H: Consent forms………………………………………………………………………. 148 I: Explanation of research……………………………………………………………… 150 J: Confirmation of payment form…………………………………………………....... 151 K: Standard vowel formants of SAE…………………………………………………... 152 L: Removed words…………………………………………………………………..... 154 M: Average formant values……………………………………………………………. 155 N: Rater instructions…………………………………………………………………… 158 O: Glide insertion instructions……………….………………………………………… 164 P: Follow-up questionnaire for SAE speakers…………………………………………. 168 Q: Graphical presentations of adaptation scores and distances.……………………….. 169 R: Perceptual distance charts (in Hertz)...……………………………………………… 172 S: Perceptual distance charts (in Bark)………………………………………………… 191 v List of Tables 1 Patwa vowels according to Meade (2001)…………………………………………….. 23 2 Patwa vowels – Extension of Meade………………………………………………….. 24 3 Patwa consonants according to Meade (2001)………………………………………… 25 4 Patwa consonants – Extension of Meade……………………………………………… 26 5 Patwa diphthongs……………………………………………………………………… 28 6 Patwa consonants……………………………………………………………………… 28 7 Standard American English consonants………………………………………………. 31 8 Consonant inventories of Patwa and SAE……………………………………………. 34 9 Participant comparisons………………………………………………………………. 65 10 Permutation test, example scores……………………………………………………... 66 11 Permutation test, example scores with possibilities…………………………………... 67 12 Permutation test, example scores with differences in means…………………………. 67 13 H and K adaptation scores…………………………………………………………….. 72 14 One-tailed p-values, H and K adaptation scores………………………………………. 73 15 Distances from initial vowel segment to SAE standard………………………………. 76 16 One-tailed p-values, Distances from initial vowel segment to SAE standard………… 77 17 Distances between vowel pairs………………………………………………………... 82 18 One-tailed p-values, Distances between vowel pairs…………………………………. 83 19 One-tailed p-values, Distances between vowel pairs compared to SAE….………….. 85 20 One-tailed p-values, Distances between vowel pairs compared to SAE….………….. 90 21 H and K adaptation scores…………………………………………………………….. 98 vi List of Figures 1 Patwa short and long vowels…………………………………………………………… 27 2 Standard American English vowels……………………………………………………. 30 3 Standard American English diphthongs……………………………………………….. 30 4 Simple vowel inventories of Patwa and SAE………………………………………….. 32 5 Diphthong vowel inventories of Patwa and SAE……………………………………… 33 6 Relative complexities of phonological features……………………………………….. 35 7 Participant relation diagram……………………………………………………………. 49 8 Examples of questionnaire prompts……………………………………………………. 50 9 JCP2 pronunciation of “catholic”……………………………………………………… 56 10 JCP2 pronunciation of “can”…………………………………………………………... 56 11 JCP1 pronunciation of “herbs”………………………………………………………… 58 12 JCP4 pronunciation of “stairs”…………………………………………………………. 62 13 JCP4 pronunciation of “face”………………………………………………………….. 63 14 JCP2 pronunciation of “socks”………………………………………………………… 64 15 Permutation test, example differences in means……………………………………….. 68 16 Vowel charts of participant averages (in Hertz)……………………………………….. 74 17 Vowel charts of participant averages for diphthongs (in Hertz)………………………. 75 18 Distances from initial
Load more

Recommended publications
  • New England Phonology*
    New England phonology* Naomi Nagy and Julie Roberts 1. Introduction The six states that make up New England (NE) are Vermont (VT), New Hampshire (NH), Maine (ME), Massachusetts (MA), Connecticut (CT), and Rhode Island (RI). Cases where speakers in these states exhibit differences from other American speakers and from each other will be discussed in this chapter. The major sources of phonological information regarding NE dialects are the Linguistic Atlas of New England (LANE) (Kurath 1939-43), and Kurath (1961), representing speech pat- terns from the fi rst half of the 20th century; and Labov, Ash and Boberg, (fc); Boberg (2001); Nagy, Roberts and Boberg (2000); Cassidy (1985) and Thomas (2001) describing more recent stages of the dialects. There is a split between eastern and western NE, and a north-south split within eastern NE. Eastern New England (ENE) comprises Maine (ME), New Hamp- shire (NH), eastern Massachusetts (MA), eastern Connecticut (CT) and Rhode Is- land (RI). Western New England (WNE) is made up of Vermont, and western MA and CT. The lines of division are illustrated in fi gure 1. Two major New England shibboleths are the “dropping” of post-vocalic r (as in [ka:] car and [ba:n] barn) and the low central vowel [a] in the BATH class, words like aunt and glass (Carver 1987: 21). It is not surprising that these two features are among the most famous dialect phenomena in the region, as both are characteristic of the “Boston accent,” and Boston, as we discuss below, is the major urban center of the area. However, neither pattern is found across all of New England, nor are they all there is to the well-known dialect group.
    [Show full text]
  • 12 English Dialect Input to the Caribbean
    12 English dialect input to the Caribbean 1 Introduction There is no doubt that in the settlement of the Caribbean area by English speakers and in the rise of varieties of English there, the question of regional British input is of central importance (Rickford 1986; Harris 1986). But equally the two other sources of specific features in anglophone varieties there, early creolisation and independent developments, have been given continued attention by scholars. Opinions are still divided on the relative weight to be accorded to these sources. The purpose of the present chapter is not to offer a description of forms of English in the Caribbean – as this would lie outside the competence of the present author, see Holm (1994) for a resum´ e–b´ ut rather to present the arguments for regional British English input as the historical source of salient features of Caribbean formsofEnglish and consider these arguments in the light of recent research into both English in this region and historical varieties in the British Isles. This is done while explicitly acknowledging the role of West African input to forms of English in this region. This case has been argued eloquently and well, since at least Alleyne (1980) whose views are shared by many creolists, e.g. John Rickford. But the aim of the present volume, and specifically of the present chapter, is to consider overseas varieties of English in the light of possible continuity of input formsofEnglish from the British Isles. This concern does not seek to downplay West African input and general processes of creolisation, which of course need to be specified in detail,1 butrather tries to put the case for English input and so complement other views already available in the field.
    [Show full text]
  • Downeast New England and South Boston Dialects
    Downeast New England and South Boston Dialects by Juraj Gašpar Geographical Location Geographical Location The Downeast dialect - coastal Maine - southern New Hampshire - working-class Boston north-shore - eastern Rhode Island The South Boston dialect - Boston The Downeast New England Dialect Signature sounds 1. In the lot and cloth lexical sets we hear [ɒ] or [ɑ]. [ɒ] is the older, more traditional vowel and is pronounced half-long [ɒˑ]. rotten, lost jobs, college, swan, waffle, knowledge, off, cough, froth, cross, soft, often, Australia, long, Communist 2. In the bath set we most commonly hear long [aː] bath, pass, card, chance, last, branch, demand, example, half-caste 3. In the nurse set we hear [ɜː], [ɝ] or [ɞ]. The non-rhotic versions are the older, more traditional sounds bird, curly, furniture, pernicious, certain, earth, herd, rehearsal, work, worst, sermon, turncoat 4. In the face set we hear [eː]. The vowel tends to be a single-stage vowel, monophthong rather than diphthong, close and tense in the vicinity of [e] tape, change, taper, april, gauge, weight, day, rain, great 5. In the thought set we hear a variety of sounds in the region, a not very lip-rounded [ɔ] and [ʌ], the best being [ɒə] with a slight offglide taught, odd, applaud, atom, gob, jaw, chalk, all, bald, hold, alter, fault, awful, naughty, broad, small 6. In the goat set we hear [o], a fairly pure single-stage vowel in the vicinity of [u] soap, road, hole, noble, bowl, soul, cult, role, sow, dough 7. In the price set we hear [ʌɪ], the prescriptive GenAm, and [eɪ] or [əɪ] – the most evocative of the traditional dialect mind, timely, bright-eyed, childlike, bicycle, tight, either, height, fight 8.
    [Show full text]
  • The Use of Regional Accent in Audio Health Communications
    University of Otago The Use of Regional Accent in Audio Health Communications Rachel Leeson A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Communication Centre for Science Communication, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand 28 June 2019 Abstract Cancer is a large and complex family of diseases with a variety of causes and risk factors. The health communication strategy needed to combat cancer may also need to be a large and complex family of communications. Podcasts are an easily made, readily accessible form of audio communication. However, little research has been done about the use of podcasts for health communications. Drawing on the body of literature that supports the efficacy of tailored and targeted health communications, this project looks at the use of audio cancer prevention communications tailored with three regional accents, the American Midwestern accent, the Southern Texan accent, or the Tejano (Texan Mexican American) accent, focusing on a cancer prevention message in two cohorts, Americans (excluding Texans) and Texans. After listening to any of the three audio communications, both cohorts had a strong comprehension of the message and intended to exercise more. The American population reported liking the Southern-accented narrator less and viewing the message as less valid compared to the other narrators, but this did not impact either comprehension or intention to exercise. The Texan population had no significant difference in response to any of the three accents. However, in both the Texan and American population, there was a difference in the response to accents between men and women.
    [Show full text]
  • READ to Your Child!! Read in English OR in Your Home Language
    Grades K-2 PARENTS: READ to your child!! Read in English OR in your home language. Any type of reading improves a child’s ability to understand how to read! For example, you child learns that sounds are represented by letters and that the text runs in a direction. SPEAK with your child often! Point out interesting items on a daily walk or around your house. This builds your child’s observational skills, enabling him or her to be more focused when learning English. Again, do this in English or in your home language. Do not worry if your English is not as good as you want it to be! Your child will learn from you! Children have a unique ability to learn a second language like a native speaker; what you don’t know will not interfere with your child’s progress. BE EXCITED about learning! Do not act as if learning is a chore. Children are natural learners and are only discouraged when the tasks seem overwhelming or unrelated to what really matters. Make learning a central part of WHAT YOUR FAMILY LOVES TO DO: talk enthusiastically about what YOU are learning, ASK your child what they are learning and be happy! Grades 3-12 STUDENTS: WATCH movies or TV shows with SUBTITLES! Watch a favorite movie in English with subtitles in your first language, or switch it up: Watch the movie in your first language with English subtitles. Then, watch it in English with English subtitles and finally watch it without any subtitles. You will learn not only words, but how people use informal language.
    [Show full text]
  • Jody Fish BA Thesis
    Gende(r) in the Boston Accent A linguistic analysis of Boston (r) from a gender perspective Jody Fish English Studies – Linguistics BA Thesis 15 Credits Spring 2018 Supervisor: Soraya Tharani Gende(r) in the Boston Accent i Table of Contents Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………...... ii 1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………. 1 2 Background ……………………………………………………………………………………. 2 2.1 Historical background ……………………………………………………………………. 2 2.2 Theoretical background …………………………………………………………………... 3 2.3 Previous studies …………………………………………………………………………... 7 3 Design of the present study …………………………………….………………….…………. 10 3.1 Participants …………………………………………………………………………….... 10 3.2 Data elicitation ………………………………………………………………………….. 11 3.3 Method ………………………………………………………………………………….. 13 4 Results and discussion …...……………….………………………………………………....... 14 4.1 Casual speech vs careful speech ……………………………………………………....... 14 4.2 Gender differences ……………………………………………………………………… 16 4.3 Other social factors ……………………………………………………………………... 17 5 Concluding remarks …………………………………….……………………………………. 20 References …………………………………………………………………………………........ 22 Gende(r) in the Boston Accent ii Abstract The Boston accent is one of the most famous accents in the United States and is known for its non-rhoticity, which essentially means that Bostonians do not normally pronounce their r’s after vowels. While most Boston locals would tell you to ‘pahk the cah ova hea’ when you arrive in the city, not every Bostonian has the same level of non-rhoticity; this variation is due to a number of different factors, but arguably one of the most interesting factors, which this paper focuses on, is gender. This study looks into how Boston non-rhoticity differs between males and females, as well the theories that explain these potential differences. This is done by collecting and analyzing the speech of Boston locals, following two previous studies on the same topic. In addition to gender, types of speech and other social factors are also analyzed.
    [Show full text]
  • A Learner's Grammar of Jamaican
    A Learner’s Grammar of Jamaican Part of the Open Grammar Project Table of Contents 1. Acknowledgements . 1 2. Introduction. 2 2.1. The Open Grammar Project . 2 2.2. Source . 2 2.3. Jamaican . 3 2.3.1. Name . 3 3. Writing system . 4 3.1. Alphabet . 4 3.1.1. Overview of Jamaican alphabet . 4 3.2. Special Characters . 5 3.3. Punctuation . 5 3.3.1. Basic punctuation . 5 4. Pronunciation . 6 4.1. Vowels . 6 4.1.1. Vowel length . 6 4.1.1.1. Short vowels . 6 4.1.1.2. Long vowels . 7 4.1.1.2.1. aa . 7 4.1.1.2.2. ii . 7 4.1.1.2.3. uu . 8 4.1.2. Diphthongs . 9 4.1.2.1. ai . 9 4.1.2.2. ie . 9 4.1.2.3. uo . 11 4.1.2.4. ou . 12 4.1.3. Nasal Vowels . 13 4.1.4. Table of vowels and diphthongs . 14 4.1.5. Sounds to note . 14 4.1.5.1. ya (ia) . 14 4.1.5.2. yaa (iaa) . 15 4.2. Consonants. 15 4.2.1. Overview of Consonant Sounds . 19 4.2.2. Consonant Combinations . 20 4.2.3. Sounds to note . 21 4.2.3.1. Syllabic n . 21 4.2.3.2. Syllabic l . 22 4.2.3.3. Syllabic m . 23 4.2.4. Silent Letters . 23 4.2.5. Elided Sounds . 23 5. Morphology . 24 5.1. Nouns . 24 5.1.1. Basic Form of Nouns . 24 5.1.2.
    [Show full text]
  • Identity Among Barbadian University Students and Their Attitudes to Migrant Labor
    W&M ScholarWorks Undergraduate Honors Theses Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 4-2019 Identity Among Barbadian University Students and Their Attitudes to Migrant Labor Daniil Eliseev Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses Part of the Anthropological Linguistics and Sociolinguistics Commons Recommended Citation Eliseev, Daniil, "Identity Among Barbadian University Students and Their Attitudes to Migrant Labor" (2019). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 1309. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/1309 This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LANGUAGE ATTITUDES, IDENTITY, AND MIGRATION 2 Abstract The social, political, and linguistic situations in Barbados specifically and the English- official West Indies generally are marked by the legacy of hundreds of years of colonial rule. Labor flows from poorer countries like Guyana to richer ones like Barbados calcify regional economic hierarchies that replaced regional colonial offices. Regional economic institutions like the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), as described by their Mission and Core Values, were created in part to “affirm the collective identity and facilitate social cohesion of the people of the Community” to enable the new intraregional, no longer colonial, market to take
    [Show full text]
  • Karen Obilom Resume
    Karen Obilom SAG-AFTRA Hair: Brown Eyes: Brown Height: 5’6” Weight: 140 lbs. TELEVISION NCIS: LA Co-Star John P Kousakis Comedy Bang! Bang! Co-Star Stoney Sharp FILM Congo Cabaret Supporting Deondry & Quincy Gossfield Cultural Clash Lead Omodada Productions Hey Stacy Lead Outfest Festival: Outset Nutcracker Supporting Michael Aronson Bachelorette Party Supporting Rodrick Veal Princess Lead Bianca Emery 5AM Supporting Daryl Perle Unlikely Reunion Lead Ryan Gill NEW MEDIA Mr. Student Body President Recurring Verizon go90 A Movie For Women By Men Co Star Funny or Die American Quagmire Lead John Paul Black Boots Supporting Geno Brookes Spotlight Supporting Miller Walton Me You And Everyone We Know Lead Eloise Santa Maria THEATRE Reservoir Bitches Brown The Crucible Tituba Johanna Whitmore/Charles Hobby Midsummer Nights Dream Hippolyta/ Tituba Johanna Whitmore/Charles Hobby Our Town Mrs. Gibbs Whitmore & Hobby TRAINING AMDA Conservatory Anthony Meindl On-going Jordan Shappel Improv Workshops Katy Mushlin/ Tom Green Improv 1 Tom Christenson Improv 2 Katey Mushlin Dialects Deborah Ross-Sullivan Voice Projection 1 Giovanni Ortega Voice Projection 2 Deborah Ross-Sullivan Stage Combat: Mass Battles, Rapier & Dagger, Unarmed Dance & Movement Wendy Rosoff Movement Miming Michael Lee Cold Reading Trent Moore SKILLS Archery, Basketball, Bowling, Canoeing, Combat - Stage, Fishing, Football, Frisbee, Hula Hoop, Jump Rope, Roller Skating, Rollerblading, Running - General, Running - Long Distance, Running - Sprint, Segway, Soccer, Swimming - ability - general,
    [Show full text]
  • New Cambridge History of the English Language
    New Cambridge History of the English Language Volume V: English in North America and the Caribbean Editors: Natalie Schilling (Georgetown), Derek Denis (Toronto), Raymond Hickey (Essen) I The United States 1. Language change and the history of American English (Walt Wolfram) 2. The dialectology of Anglo-American English (Natalie Schilling) 3. The roots and development of New England English (James N. Stanford) 4. The history of the Midland-Northern boundary (Matthew J. Gordon) 5. The spread of English westwards (Valerie Fridland and Tyler Kendall) 6. American English in the city (Barbara Johnstone) 7. English in the southern United States (Becky Childs and Paul E. Reed) 8. Contact forms of American English (Cristopher Font-Santiago and Joseph Salmons) African American English 9. The roots of African American English (Tracey L. Weldon) 10. The Great Migration and regional variation in the speech of African Americans (Charlie Farrington) 11. Urban African American English (Nicole Holliday) 12. A longitudinal panel survey of African American English (Patricia Cukor-Avila) Latinx English 13. Puerto Rican English in Puerto Rico and in the continental United States (Rosa E. Guzzardo Tamargo) 14. The English of Americans of Mexican and Central American heritage (Erik R. Thomas) II Canada 15. Anglophone settlement and the creation of Canadian English (Charles Boberg) NewCHEL Vol 5: English in North America and the Caribbean Page 2 of 2 16. The open-class lexis of Canadian English: History, structure, and social correlations (Stefan Dollinger) 17. Ontario English: Loyalists and beyond (Derek Denis, Bridget Jankowski and Sali A. Tagliamonte) 18. The Prairies and the West of Canada (Alex D’Arcy and Nicole Rosen) 19.
    [Show full text]
  • Agreement in Educated Jamaican English: a Corpus Investigation of ICE-Jamaica
    Agreement in Educated Jamaican English: A Corpus Investigation of ICE-Jamaica Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der Philologischen Fakultät der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg i. Br. vorgelegt von Susanne Jantos aus Räckelwitz SS 2009 Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Christian Mair Zweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. Bernd Kortmann Vorsitzende des Promotionsausschusses der Gemeinsamen Kommission der Philologischen, Philosophischen und Wirtschafts- und Verhaltenswissenschaftlichen Fakultät: Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Cheauré Datum der Fachprüfung im Promotionsfach: 09.11.2009 Contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................1 2 Background to the Study ............................................................................................4 2.1 The Jamaican Language Situation......................................................................... 4 2.1.1 Historical Development of the Language Situation in Jamaica ....................5 2.1.2 New Englishes – Classification and Development......................................12 2.1.3 Linguistic Variation in New Englishes and Underlying Principles.............20 2.2 Linguistic Variation in Jamaica...........................................................................23 2.2.1 The Creole Continuum ................................................................................ 23 2.2.2 Morphosyntactic Characteristics of Jamaican English................................27 3 Previous Research
    [Show full text]
  • The Nature of Reduced Vowels
    MIT OpenCourseWare http://ocw.mit.edu 24.910 Topics in Linguistic Theory: Laboratory Phonology Spring 2007 For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use, visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/terms. Phonetics and phonology of accent variation Accents and Dialects Dialects of English can differ in all aspects of grammar •Lexicon – soda, coke, pop • Syntax – I might do vs. I might – The house needs painted (W. PA, E. Ohio, Scots) – The house needs painting • Phonology • Phonetics • ‘Accent’ refers to phonetics and phonology only. Accents of English Accents can differ in all aspects of phonology/phonetics • Phoneme inventory - differences in the number and arrangement of phonemes. • Phonological rules/phonotactics • Phonetic realization - differences in the detailed realization of phonemes. Differences in phoneme inventory • Contrast /ɑɔ/, e.g. Inland North, Atlantic States • Only /ɑ/, West, NE New England – Homophones: cot-caught, Don-dawn, hock-hawk Distinct [N=262] Close [N=70] Same [N=174] The Merger of /o/ and /oh/ Contrast in production of /o/ and /oh/ before /t/ in COT vs. CAUGHT. Figure by MIT OpenCourseWare. Adapted from the Linguistics Laboratory of the University of Pennsylvania. Differences in distribution of contrasts • All accents contrast /ɪ, ɛ/. • In some accents (e.g. South) this contrast is neutralized before nasals. pʰɪn ‘pin, pen’ hɪm ‘him, hem’ mɪni ‘many, mini’ lɪŋkθ ‘length’ Differences in distribution of contrasts Distinct [N=296] Close [N=69] Same [N=116] The PIN/PEN merger Contrast in speech production of /l/ and /e/ before nasals in PIN and PEN, HIM and HEM. Figure by MIT OpenCourseWare. Adapted from the Linguistics Laboratory of the University of Pennsylvania.
    [Show full text]