NEW MODEL FOR ANALYZING SOCIOLINGUISTIC VARIATION: THE INTERACTION OF SOCIAL AND LINGUISTIC CONSTRAINTS By RANIA HABIB A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2008 1 © 2008 Rania Habib 2 To my parents: Ibrahim and Amira To my sister: Suzi To my brothers: Husam and Faraj I love you …. 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study owes a great deal to my adviser, Professor Fiona McLaughlin. Although I did not take a course with her, I had a very nice experience working with her as a Research Assistant in “The Project on the Languages of Urban Africa.” I admired her eloquence and personality from the time I met her and when she attended one of our Research Methods class as a visiting professor. In that class, Dr. McLaughlin shared her experience with us about collecting data in Senegal in Africa as part of an introduction to Field Methods. She has been very kind and listened closely whenever I felt hesitant towards making a decision. She has been supportive in my job search and promoting my research and me among colleagues. This study also owes a great deal to Professor Caroline Wiltshire who has helped me with the Gradual Learning Algorithm (GLA). My interest in GLA started when I was taking Issues in Phonology with her. Then, I wrote a paper for that class, using the idea of the GLA. This idea extended to my study in greater depth. She has been caring and supportive from the time I came to UF as a Fulbright student. I do not forget the time when I was very sick and she offered to take me to the doctor and the time she sent me a wonderful report about my performance in my classes and the professors’ evaluation of me. I would like to thank Professor Atiqa Hachimi for being on my committee and for the support and comments she has given me. I would also like to thank Professor Jessi Aaron for agreeing to be on my committee as an external member at a short notice. Her comments have been valuable. I would also like to thank Professor André Khuri for his help in statistics. Unfortunately, uncontrollable circumstances prevented him from staying on my committee. I would like to extend my thanks to all the faculty members at the Linguistics Department who were part of my training in many fields and a window for widening my horizons. Many of them have been very helpful and willing to discuss some questions regarding my study or were 4 very interested in my work and progress and supportive of my career development as well as the promotion of my work among colleagues, such as Diana Boxer, Edith Kaan, Brent Henderson, Wind Cowles, Ratree Wayland, and Eric Potsdam. I would also like to pass a note of thanks to all my graduate friends and colleagues at the Linguistics Department, wishing them all the best in their careers. I would like to thank my international adviser, Debra Anderson, who has been like a mother to me in the absence of my real mother. She has been a great companion when I needed one. She listened and advised whenever she could. Thanks go to all my friends and those who opened their hearts and homes to me here in Gainesville, FL and in the U.S. Everyone has contributed in some way to my life. My greatest appreciation goes to my parents who brought me to this world and have shown support throughout my life. Their support has made me who I am. I hope you will always be proud of me. To my sister, Suzi, and two brothers, Faraj and Husam, who have also shown me great support, I want to say I am proud of you and of being your sister. I love you all so much. Finally, I want to extend special thanks to all those who participated in this study. Without you, it would not have been possible. I appreciate your enthusiasm to help and be part of my work. I am grateful to you for the rest of my life. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES .........................................................................................................................12 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................16 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................17 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................18 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................21 1.1 Proposal ............................................................................................................................21 1.2 Correlation between Linguistic Variables and Social Factors in the Course of the Development of Sociolinguistic Methodology ...................................................................30 1.2.1 Quantitative Methods .............................................................................................31 1.2.2 Long Term Participant Observation Methods ........................................................33 1.2.2.1 Participant observation (ethnography of communication) and quantitative analysis ..............................................................................................34 1.2.2.2 Participant observation and qualitative analysis ..........................................35 1.2.2.3 Participant observation and combining quantitative and qualitative analyses .................................................................................................................37 1.2.3 Summary of the above Sociolinguistic Methods ....................................................39 1.3 Introduction to Optimality Theory (OT) ...........................................................................43 1.3.1 Constraint Demotion Algorithm (CDA), Floating Constraints (FCs), and Stratified Grammars (SG) ............................................................................................45 1.3.1.1 Constraint Demotion Algorithm (CDA) ......................................................46 1.3.1.2 Floating Constraints (FCs) ...........................................................................46 1.3.1.3 Stratified Grammar (SG) ..............................................................................48 1.3.2 Working Mechanism and Advantages of the GLA over CDA, FCs, and SG ........49 1.3.2.1 Pure linguistic applications of the GLA .......................................................54 1.3.2.2 Example of a sociolinguistic application of GLA ........................................55 1.3.2.3 Concluding remarks about the GLA ............................................................58 1.4 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................59 1.5 Research Questions ...........................................................................................................61 1.6 Structure of the Study .......................................................................................................61 2 METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................65 2.1 Setting: The City of Hims .................................................................................................65 2.2 Speech Sample ..................................................................................................................69 2.3 Variables under Investigation ...........................................................................................75 6 2.3.1 Linguistic Variables ................................................................................................75 2.3.1.1 The variable (q) ............................................................................................76 2.3.1.2 The variable () ............................................................................................77 2.3.1.3 The variable () ............................................................................................79 2.3.2 Social Variables ......................................................................................................80 2.3.2.1 Overview of Al-Hameeddieh .......................................................................81 2.3.2.2 Overview of Akrama ....................................................................................82 2.4 Analysis ............................................................................................................................83 3 THEORETICAL ANALYSIS ................................................................................................87 3.1 Introduction to the Theoretical Analysis of the Data ........................................................87 3.2 Modeling Variation between [q] and [] ..........................................................................88 3.2.1 Linguistic Constraints Pertinent to the Variation between [q] and [] ...................89 3.2.1.1 Grammar of RCA .........................................................................................91 3.2.1.2 Grammar of HCA .........................................................................................93 3.2.1.3 Acquisition of the HCA form by an RCA speaker .......................................94