Sociophonetic Variation and Change in a Post-Industrial, South Yorkshire Speech Community. Kate Burland-Gibson A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Sheffield School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics May 2019 Acknowledgements This thesis is dedicated to my soulmate and the love of my life, Dave Gibson. His belief in me, and his constant love, encouragement and support kept me going when it might have been easier to give in. I miss him every second of every day but he is forever in my heart and in my head, inspiring me and spurring me on. I owe a very special thank you to my supervisors, Emma Moore, and Gareth Walker. I count myself incredibly lucky to have Emma as my primary supervisor. She is a truly inspirational person and has been a constant source of motivation, support and sage advice throughout my PhD. Gareth has been a great help and support throughout my PhD and I am particularly grateful for his advice on the phonetic elements of my research. Thank you also to Joan Beal for all her encouragement and support in the early stages of my research. In addition, I would like to say an enormous thank you to Sam Kirkham for his invaluable help and advice on vowel measurement, statistical analysis and scripting in R. He managed to make these daunting and complex processes accessible and even interesting - which is no mean feat! I also owe a big thank you to Paul Carter for his help and advice on developing an effective method of vowel measurement, and his excellent guidance through the complexities of R. Thank you also to Danielle Turton for her input on vowel coding, and to Nicholas Flynn for his advice on vowel normalisation methods. This research would not have been possible without all the individuals who agreed to be interviewed or recorded, and particularly the wonderful members of the Royston History Group who took me under their wing and shared their extensive knowledge and experiences of Royston. Last, but very definitely not least, I want to thank my daughter and best friend, Christie. You are a constant source of joy and inspiration and I couldn’t have done this without your love, friendship and wisdom. 1 Abstract This thesis presents an analysis of the relationship between phonological variation and perceptions of local identity in the dialect of Royston, an ex-mining community located on the border between the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, and the Metropolitan District of Wakefield in West Yorkshire. Previous studies of Yorkshire varieties (cf. Petyt 1985; Stoddart et al. 1999, Haddican et al. 2013) have established that long monophthongal forms of FACE and GOAT constitute a pan-Yorkshire phonological norm. Furthermore, there is also evidence to suggest that long monophthongal FACE and GOAT production represents a ‘principal northern shibboleth’ (Haddican et al. 2013: 373). However, metalinguistic commentary surrounding the dialect of Royston (cf. Burland 2017) claims that speakers in the township produce distinctive diphthongal variants of both FACE and GOAT (see Chapter 8, Section 8.3.4). This study analyses FACE and GOAT data from wordlist recordings collected from Royston, Barnsley and Wakefield speakers. Auditory and acoustic analysis supports metalinguistic claims providing evidence of dominant diphthongal Royston forms which differ from the majority monophthongal Barnsley and Wakefield variants, and from pan-Yorkshire monophthongal FACE and GOAT norms. The Royston wordlist data is then considered alongside ideological commentary, collected from ethnographic interviews with older and younger Royston speakers, in order to evaluate the social meanings which underpin this regionally distinctive FACE and GOAT production. The data is interpreted using dialect contact and language ideology frameworks, and the results question the inevitability of mutual convergence in situations of dialect contact by demonstrating how, and why, three successive generations of Royston speakers have resisted the widespread diffusion of pan-regional phonological norms. 2 Contents Acknowledgements 1 Abstract 2 Contents 3 List of Tables 9 List of Figures 11 Chapter 1 Introduction 14 1.1 Motivations 14 1.2 Aims 15 1.3 Research Questions 16 1.4 Chapter Summaries 16 Chapter 2 Situating the Research: Theoretical Background 20 2.1 Introduction 20 2.2 Dialect Variation and Contact 20 2.2.1 Models of Language Change 20 2.2.2 Levelling and Diffusion 22 2.2.3 Dialect Contact and Phonological Resistance 24 2.2.4 A Sense of Place 25 2.2.5 Summary 27 2.3 Dialect Variation and Identity 28 2.3.1 Language Ideology 29 2.3.2 Indexicality and Linguistic Identity 33 2.3.3 Socio-Stylistic Reallocation 35 2.3.4 Summary 39 Chapter 3 Situating the Research: The Research Location 41 3.1 Introduction 41 3.2 The Research Location: The Urban Township of Royston 41 3.2.1 Royston: Current Geographical, Administrative and 41 Employment Status 3.2.2 The Shifting Nature of Royston’s Historical Status Within the 45 Yorkshire Region 3.2.3 Royston: Education Provision 47 3.2.4 Royston: Public Transport 48 3.2.5 Royston’s Industrial Heritage 49 3.2.6 Yorkshire’s Coal Mining Heritage 50 3.2.7 Royston’s Coal Mining Heritage 51 3.2.8 The Unique Nature of Industrial Migration to Royston 53 3.3 Summary 61 3 Chapter 4 Data and Methodology 63 4.1 Introduction 63 4.1.1 Research Question (1) 63 4.1.2 Research Question (2) 63 4.1.3 Research Question (3) 64 4.1.4 Research Question (4) 64 4.2 Synthesis of Pan-Yorkshire FACE and GOAT Legacy Data: 65 Methodological Approach 1 4.2.1 Traditional and Modern Dialect Phases 65 4.2.2 Analysis of Pan-Yorkshire FACE and GOAT Data from the 67 Survey of English Dialects 4.2.3 Methodology for a New Analysis of Pan-Yorkshire FACE and 70 GOAT Data from the Survey of English Dialects 4.2.4 Methodology for a New Analysis of Pan-Yorkshire FACE and 73 GOAT Data from the Millennium Memory Bank Recordings 4.2.5 Methodology for the Collation and Analysis of Legacy Data 75 from Previous Studies of Pan-Yorkshire FACE and GOAT Production 4.3 Data Collection Methods: Royston, Barnsley and Wakefield 76 FACE and GOAT 4.3.1 Quantitative Data Collection: Methodological Approaches 2 & 76 4.3.2 Wordlist Data Collection: Sample Stratification by Location 77 4.3.3 Wordlist Data Collection: Sample Stratification by Age 79 4.3.3.1 Characteristics of the Older Royston Generation 81 4.3.3.2 Characteristics of the Middle Royston Generation 82 4.3.3.3 Characteristics of the Younger Royston Generation 83 4.3.4 Wordlist Data Collection: Sample Stratification by Gender 83 4.3.5 Decisions on Social Class 85 4.3.6 Ethical Approval 86 4.3.7 Recruitment of Wordlist Participants: Royston 86 4.3.8 Recruitment of Wordlist Participants: Barnsley 89 4.3.9 Recruitment of Wordlist Participants: Wakefield 91 4.4 Wordlist Formulation Methods 92 4.4.1 Selection of Tokens 93 4.4.2 Phonological Environment of Wordlist Tokens 94 4.4.3 Recording Protocols 97 4.5 Methodological Approach 2 - Auditory Analysis of FACE and 97 Vowel Qualities in the Royston, Barnsley and Wakefield Varieties 4.5.1 Methods of Auditory Coding of FACE and GOAT Vowels 97 4.6 Methodological Approach 3 - Acoustic Analysis: Calculating 98 the Degree of Diphthongisation 4.6.1 Vowel Measurement 99 4.6.2 Vowel Coding Protocols 103 4.6.3 Methods of Vowel Normalisation 104 4.6.4 Calculating the Degree of Diphthongisation (dipDegree) 107 4.6.5 Statistical Analysis: Mixed Effects Linear Regression 108 4.7 Methodological Approach 4: Quantitative Analysis of 110 Interview Data from Two Social Groupings Drawn from the Royston Speech Community 4.7.1 Communities of Practice 110 4.7.2 Ethnographic Fieldwork in the Royston Speech Community 111 4.7.2.1 Royston History Group Community of Practice 112 4.7.2.2 Royston High School Community of Practice 116 4.7.3 Qualitative Data Collection Methods 118 4 4.7.4 Interview Recording Protocols 123 4.7.4.1 Royston History Group Community of Practice Recordings 123 4.7.4.2 Royston High School Community of Practice Recordings 124 Chapter 5 Analysis of FACE and GOAT Variation in the Dialects of 125 Yorkshire 5.1 Introduction 125 5.2 Analysis of Previous Studies of FACE and GOAT Production in 126 Pan-Yorkshire Varieties 5.2.1 FACE and GOAT Findings from Previous Studies of South 127 Yorkshire Dialects 5.2.1.1 South Yorkshire: FACE 127 5.2.1.2 South Yorkshire: GOAT 130 5.2.2 FACE and GOAT Findings from Previous Studies of West 132 Yorkshire Dialects 5.2.2.1 West Yorkshire: FACE 132 5.2.2.2 West Yorkshire: GOAT 135 5.2.3 FACE and GOAT Findings from Previous Studies of North 137 Yorkshire Dialects 5.2.3.1 North Yorkshire: FACE 137 5.2.3.2 North Yorkshire: GOAT 139 5.2.4 FACE and GOAT Findings from Previous Studies of East 140 Yorkshire Dialects 5.2.4.1 East Yorkshire: FACE 140 5.2.4.2 East Yorkshire: GOAT 142 5.3 Pan-Yorkshire FACE Variation 142 5.4 Pan-Yorkshire GOAT Variation 144 5.5 Summary 145 Chapter 6 FACE and GOAT: Auditory Qualities of Royston, 147 Barnsley and Wakefield Variants. 6.1 Introduction 147 6.2 Auditory Qualities of Royston FACE and GOAT Vowels 147 6.2.1 Royston FACE Vowels 147 6.2.2 Royston FACE Vowels by Age 149 6.2.3 Royston FACE Vowels by Gender 150 6.2.3.1 Royston Females 150 6.2.3.2 Royston Males 151 6.2.4 Discussion 153 6.2.5 Royston GOAT Vowels 155 6.2.6 Royston GOAT Vowels by Age 157 6.2.7 Royston GOAT Vowels by Gender 159 6.2.7.1 Royston Females 159 6.2.7.2 Royston Males 160 6.2.8 Discussion 162 6.3 Auditory Qualities of Barnsley FACE and GOAT Vowels 164 6.3.1