Sociolinguistic and Formal Perspectives on Variation In
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A WINDOW ON THE PAST, A MOVE TOWARD THE FUTURE: SOCIOLINGUISTIC AND FORMAL PERSPECTIVES ON VARIATION IN ACADIAN FRENCH PHILIP DENIS COMEAU A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN LINGUISTICS AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS YORK UNIVERSITY, TORONTO, ONTARIO DECEMBER 2011 © PHILIP DENIS COMEAU, 2011 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-88668-7 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-88668-7 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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Abstract This dissertation examines variation in mood choice and in the expression of future temporal reference in a conservative variety of Acadian French. The data come from two sociolinguistic corpora representative of the variety spoken in the Baie Sainte-Marie area of southwest Nova Scotia. Since varieties of Acadian French preserve features lost in most other contemporary varieties, they offer a unique opportunity to study linguistic systems closely related to earlier stages of the language. The methodological and theoretical approaches involve both variationist sociolinguistics and generative theories of grammar, thus combining two areas of research not usually brought together. The study focuses on two linguistic variables: 1) use of the subjunctive vs. other moods (indicative and conditional), and 2) expression of future temporal reference (inflected future vs. periphrastic future). The analysis of the subjunctive shows that there is actually little variation and the subjunctive mood is well preserved. The variation which is observed can be accounted for by assuming that mood choice turns on the presence or absence of a semantic feature, assertion. The results for the future temporal reference variable show, contrary to what has been found for Laurentian varieties, that the inflected future remains in robust use, with the strongest predictor of variant choice being temporal reference, with proximate actions favouring the periphrastic future. The future results are in line with both prior studies of Acadian French and with grammarians' characterization of the latter variant as le futur proche. The results also differ from those of studies of Laurentian varieties in that sentential iv polarity plays no role in conditioning variant choice. The formal analysis accounts for variation by positing two loci of variation (one pre-syntax and one post-syntax) which accurately predicts the observed frequencies of the variants. Overall, this dissertation shows that while there may be variable usage there is no evidence of change in the linguistic system for these two variables, thus supporting the characterization of this variety of Acadian French as conservative. The formal analyses contribute to an emerging line of research, sometimes referred to as sociosyntax, which aims at accounting for variation within the grammar. v A ma famille. vi Acknowledgements First and foremost, this work would not have been possible without the generous time and commitment of the residents of Baie Sainte-Marie, Nova Scotia who participated in the two corpora analyzed in this study (the Butler Grosses Coques Sociolinguistic Corpus and the Corpus acadien de la Nouvelle-Ecosse). The consultants graciously welcomed me into their homes whenever we needed additional information. This dissertation would never have seen the light of day without the guidance, encouragement, and generosity of Ruth King. She has provided constant support, even in ways I may not have realized at the time, which occasionally included orders to take a day off. Ruth has been a true mentor in every sense of the word. I am honoured and privileged to have had the opportunity to learn from such a dedicated scholar. The other members of my supervisory committee also greatly contributed to this dissertation project. Thanks to Raymond Mougeon, who shared his expertise and native- speaker intuitions of French and also for his insight into the sociolinguistic analyses. Thanks also to Gabriela Alboiu, who provided important feedback on the formal analyses. Her contribution to this and other research projects is greatly appreciated. Thanks also to the examination committee, chaired by Raymond, and composed of David Heap, Ruth, James Walker, and Linda Steinman. Their insightful feedback regarding particular analyses and other aspects of the work helped strengthen the clarity of this research. Thanks to Gary Butler for granting me access to the Grosses Coques corpus for this study and for other research projects. Thanks also to Michelle Daveluy (and to Karin Flikeid) for collaborating with me on the preservation of the Corpus acadien de la Nouvelle-Ecosse. Other professors and staff in the Linguistics and Applied Linguistics program helped create a fruitful learning environment and I am grateful for the many classroom discussions and friendly chats. In particular, I'd like to thank Rose Frezza-Edgecombe, for her support within the program, and James Walker, who provided valuable feedback and constant support of graduate students in the infancy of our PhD program. Without a doubt, the journey of a PhD student is enriched by peers. While Tanya, Jeff, and I found the department quieter in the early years, we were soon joined by an energetic group of students working on a range of interesting and diverse projects. It's great to have gone through this program with them. Tanya and Jeff provided a great start to a program and the arrival of Laura, Sibley, Rick, Jacqueline, Jessica Spieker, Jessica Vll King, John, Sean, etc. enriched our program further. Their intellectual and social interactions made graduate school enjoyable. Thanks especially to Rick for the endless discussions of French and its myriad varieties and complexities. He is a great collaborator and friend. I appreciated the opportunity to leave a humid Toronto summer when invited by Gerard Van Herk to work at his sociolinguistics lab at Memorial University as a visiting student scholar. The people at the MUSL lab (Jenn, Suzanne, Matt, Lindsay, and others) provided a new and fun environment to do sociolinguistic research. Their generosity and hospitality is much appreciated. I am also thankful to have had the chance to work on the CIEL-F project with the welcoming people at Universite de Moncton (Annette Boudreau, Laurence Arrighi, Karine Gauvin, Matthieu LeBlanc) and Fransoise Gadet of Universite Paris Ouest Nanterre La Defense. The interesting discussions about the creation of corpora justified the sometimes confusing teleconference calls. For technical aspects of this dissertation, I thank Walter Giesbrecht at York University for assistance with accessing older census data. I also thank Carolyn King of York University for drawing such great maps. My interest in language was nurtured by various teachers I've had throughout the years, but, bar none, Jeannette Ireland of Saint Mary's University instigated my early decision to study linguistics. She has provided constant encouragement to pursue research on Acadian French and her teachings instilled a passion in me for syntax and for linguistics, in general. Thanks also to Ingrid Neumann-Holzschuh and Julia Hennemann who generously provided information they had gathered on a wide range of varieties of Acadian French. I am grateful for financial support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada in the form of a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (767-2008-2215). Beyond the academic support I have received, I would like to thank my family for their love and encouragement. They remain the biggest supporters of all my endeavours. Mercil Je vous aime a pu finir! In addition, they provided me with numerous grammaticality judgments