Sociolinguistics (2) Lecture Notes PDF

Sociolinguistics (2) Dr Thorsten Brato Department of English and American Studies VL Introduction to English Linguistic: English in Use Week 6  Recap A standard variety is usually used in media, Variable...

Sociolinguistics (2) Dr Thorsten Brato Department of English and American Studies VL Introduction to English Linguistic: English in Use Week 6  Recap A standard variety is usually used in media, Variable education and formal contexts – it is not(!) inherently better than any other variety Variant Variant William Labov is the founding father of sociolinguistics Variant Variation is structured Observer’s paradox Variables can be linguistics (internal) nor Sociolinguistic interview non-linguistic (external) 2  Today's lecture 1 English in England 4 The New York Dialect Survey 2 English in the US 5 Real and apparent time 3 Major differences 3  1 English in England From standards and nonstandards (Reprise) No accent or dialect is inherently superior or better suited to serve as the standard than other accents or dialects Matter of political, historical or social factors – often the variety spoken in the capital or at the royal court is most prestigious  The normal social convention what we operates with in the English speaking world be that writing, particularly writing intended for publication, should be done in Standard English. This here book ain’t no exception – it be writ in Standard English. This, however, be a matter of social convention. There ain’t nothing what you can say nor write in Standard English what can’t be said nor writ in other dialects. That’s why we’s writ this here paragraph in a nonstandard dialect, just to make the point. (Trudgill 2004: 6) 4  1 English in England Basic vocabulary  Where speakers differ (or vary) at the level of  [Variety is a r]elatively neutral term used to refer to pronunciation only (phonetics and phonology), they have languages and dialects. Avoids the problem of drawing a different accents. Their grammar may be wholly or distinction between the two, and avoids negative attitudes largely the same. Accents can index a speaker’s regional/geographic origin, or social factors such as level often attached to the term dialect. and type of education, or even their attitude. (Meyerhoff 2019: 34) (Meyerhoff 2019: 33)  A term widely applied to what are considered sub-varieties  A language is a dialect with an army and a navy. of a single language. Generally, dialect and accent are (Max Weinreich) distinguished by how much of the linguistic system differs. Dialects differ on more than just pronunciation, i.e., on the basis of morphosyntactic structure and/or how semantic relations are mapped into the syntax. (Meyerhoff 2019: 34) 5  1 English in England From standards and nonstandards (Reprise) H-dropping in Bradford, West Yorkshire Social class % H-dropping Upper middle class 12 Social variation Lower middle class 28 Upper working class 67 Middle working class 89 Lower working class 93 Regional variation in pronunciation (Hughes et al. 2012: 10) (Petyt 1977; cited in Hughes et al. 2012: 11) 6  1 English in England Received Pronunciation (RP) Spoken by a tiny minority (2-5%) as their first accent Little nor no traces of regional origin Originated from the accent at the court Much more common in the south Also: Southern Standard British English (SSBE) Traditional RP Modern RP 7  1 English in England Accent areas England can be divided into eight major accent areas Greater London (Cockney) South East West Country Midlands (Birmingham) East Anglia (Norwich) North (Manchester, Lancashire, Leeds, Sheffield, Hull) Merseyside (Liverpool – Scouse) North East (Newcastle – Geordie) Four lexical sets are particularly helpful to place an Englishperson geographically (Collins & Mees 2013: 165) 8  1 English in England Wells’ lexical sets KIT FLEECE NEAR  The use of one vowel or another in particular words (lexical items) can be illustrated by tabulating their occurrence in the set of keywords DRESS FACE SQUARE […], each of which […] stands for a large number of words which behave the same way in respect of TRAP PALM START the incidence of vowels in different accents. (Wells 1982: 119-120) LOT THOUGHT NORTH STRUT GOAT FORCE Lexical sets are written in SMALL CAPS FOOT GOOSE CURE Examples: KIT contains words like wish, lift, or drink BATH PRICE happY FLEECE contains words like beat, sheep or CLOTH CHOICE lettER reach NURSE contains words like bird, turn or verb NURSE MOUTH commA 9  1 English in England TRAP-BATH split (TRAP-BATH merger) In RP and across the south(-east), words of the lexical set BATH (e.g. dance, staff, ask) are phonemically long Usually the vowel spelt found before fricatives and nasals /ɑː/  merged with PALM In all other parts of the UK, the vowel is a short low front vowel /a/  merged with TRAP (Collins & Mees 2013: 166) 10  1 English in England FOOT-STRUT split Separates England into 'the North' and 'the South' Northern speakers retain the older pronunciation [ʊ] in all words of the lexical set STRUT (e.g. bus, love, touch) merging it with FOOT (e.g. hood, bullet, woman, cushion) In the south, FOOT and STRUT are kept separated (Collins & Mees 2013: 166) 11  1 English in England Realisation of FACE and GOAT In most parts of the UK, the vowels in FACE (e.g. pay, cake, eight) and goat (soap, noble, shoulder) are realised as monophthongs /e(ː)/ /o(ː)/ But /ɛː/ and /ɔː/ in parts of Yorkshire Traditionally, Cockney and Brummie (Birmingham) are known for their wide diphthongs /æɪ/ /æʊ/ Only in RP and in a few regions, do you have /eɪ/ and /əʊ/ (Collins & Mees 2013: 166) 12  1 English in England Grammatical variation Demonstrative them there was/there's with plural subject Look at them spiders! There was some singers here; There's cars outside Absence of plural marking Perfect participle sat/stood following BE You need two pound of flour. She was sat/stood over there looking at the what as a subject relative pronoun car The film what was on last night ain't/in't negation never as past tense negator That ain't/in't working. No, I never broke that! Non-standard was We was singing 14 2 English in the US Introduction One of the oldest varieties outside Britain 1620: Mayflower brings the first settlers followed by waves of in- migration over the following decades Today’s linguistic situation is characterised by differentiation – on a much smaller level than in the UK Schneider (2007: 297-307) describes 13 major distinct groups and varieties, e.g. Southern English – very strongly marked Northern Cities Shift – chain shift of vowels Native American Englishes African American English Hispanic varieties Asian Englishes 15 2 English in the US Accent areas Labov et al (2006: 146) describe nine major accents in the US North Eastern New England New York City Mid-Atlantic Western Pennsylvania South Midland Southeast West North Central “The Atlas data do not justify the labeling of any one dialect as ‘General American’” (p. 263) (Labov et al. 2006: 148) 16  2 English in the US Common phonetic-phonological features Rhoticity T-deletion is pronounced in all positions Deletion of /t/ in unstressed syllables when – /fɑ:rm/ following /n/ Not all American accents are rhotic (e.g. – /ˈwɪnər/ African American English, Boston, New York, – /ˈrenəl/ parts of the south) NB: Often also transcribed with a flap:/ˈwɪnt̬ ər/, /ˈrent̬ əl/ T-flapping (also T-voicing) /t/ is realized as a flapped [t̬ ] in the onset of an unstressed syllable following a vowel or sonorant consonant – /ˈlet̬ ər/ – /ˈraɪt̬ ɪŋ/ – /ˈbɑːt̬ l/ 17 2 English in the US Regional accent variation: the pin/pen merger (Labov et al. 2006: 148) 18  2 English in the US Regional accent variation: the pin/pen merger The pin/pen merger is a stereotypical feature of the American South The phonetic merger between /e/ and /ɪ/ before nasals, e.g. vs. - /pen/ vs. /pɪn/ vs. - /hem/ vs. /hɪm/ vs. - /dʒem/ vs. /dʒɪm/ Usually a strongly nasalised vowel more in the region of [ɪ] than [e] ɪ ɪ̞ ̃ e 19  2 English in the US African American Vernacular English (AAVE) African American Vernacular English (AAVE) Variety spoken by many African Americans Not regionally restricted, but mainly found in urban areas Combination of phonetic-phonological, grammatical and lexical features Phonetic-phonological features Consonant cluster reduction (CCR), e.g. /hænd/  [hæn], /desk/  /des/ Stopping of /θ/ and /ð/, e.g. /θɪn/  [tɪn], /ðɛn/  [dɛn] No rhoticity, e.g. /ɑrm/  [ɑːm] Metathesis, e.g. /æsk/  [æks] Monophthongisation (and lengthening) of diphthongs, e.g. /baɪ/  [bɑː] 20  2 English in the US Grammar Past tense: -ed vs. -t – burned vs. burnt Mandative subjunctive: They demanded that he leave. Phrasal verbs: Paperwork is filled out. Simple past used as participle: Me and Bob have swam in that pond. Inversion of auxiliary verb and subject in indirect questions: Susan wants to know should she bring a casserole. Multiple negation: I didn’t do nothing. Double modals: I might could go. Preverbal a-: He’s a-comin’. 21  3 Major differences Accent Differences in the realisation of vowels Phonotactics Lexical set LOT (e.g. ) Generally no /nj/, tj/, /sj/, /dj/ in syllable onsets RP GA RP GA /ɒ/ /ɑː/ – /njuː/ /nuː/ Lexical set BATH () – /tjuːn/ /tuːn/ RP GA – /sjuːt/ /suːt/ – /djuəl/ /duəl/ /ɑː/ /æ/ But note /dɪsˈpjuːt/ Lexical set CLOTH () RP GA /ɒ/ /ɑː/ ~ /ɔː/ 22  3 Major differences Spelling and lexis Spelling Lexis AE BE AE BE AE BE college university vacation holiday chips crisps fries chips Lexis often is not categorical! 23  4 The New York Dialect Survey Introduction  The pronunciation of a very large number of New Yorkers exhibits a pattern … that might most accurately be described as the complete absence of a pattern. Such speakers sometimes pronounce the /r/ before a consonant or a pause and sometimes omit it, in a thoroughly haphazard pattern. … The speaker hears both types of pronunciation about him all the time, both seem almost equally natural to him, and it is a matter of pure chance which one comes to his lips first. (Hubbell 1950: 48; cited in Chambers 2003: 17) (Stereo)typical features of New York English (Author Year: Page) Historically, non-rhotic, i.e. /r/ is only pronounced in prevocalic position Offglides in a number of monophthongs, e.g. /æ/  [æə~ɛə], e.g. in /ɔ/  [ɔə], e.g. in TH- and DH-stopping, /θ, ð/  [t, d], e.g. in , 24  4 The New York Dialect Survey Method: Rapid anonymous survey Sales people of large stores in Manhattan from the top, middle and bottom of the price and fashion scale Hypothesis: Sales people borrow prestige from their customers and therefore try to behave like them Different values of realised /r/ dependent on shop The shops: Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's, S. Klein Ranked by Location Advertising Prices Floor Space 25  4 The New York Dialect Survey Method: Rapid anonymous survey The interviewer (Labov) approached the informant in the role of a customer He asked for directions to a particular department or item which he knew was on the fourth floor The answer would be something like On the fourth floor Following the answer of the shop assistant, he would lean forward and say ‘Excuse me?’ In the first instance, the shop assistant would not pay much attention In the second instance, the shop assistant would likely pronounce the words more carefully Labov would then note down the following: 26  4 The New York Dialect Survey Variables and variants Dependent variable Independent variables Independent variables (r) (Style) (Age) Casual Estimated [r] Emphatic (Occupation) [] (Position) Floorwalker Internal Sales Final Cashier (Store) Stock boy Saks … Macy’s (Ethnicity) S. Klein White (Sex) Black Male Hispanic Female … 27  4 The New York Dialect Survey Results Overall stratification of (r) by store 100 90 79 80 Realisation of [r] in % 70 60 49 50 40 30 32 31 28 30 20 20 17 10 4 0 all [r] % some [r] % no [r] % Saks Macy's S. Klein 28  4 The New York Dialect Survey Results 70 64 63 60 61 50 Realisation of [r] 40 40 44 Saks 30 30 Macy's 27 S. Klein 20 22 18 10 13 8 0 5 fourth (1) floor (1) fourth (2) floor (2) 29  5 Real time and apparent-time Real time Real time studies of variation and change are also called diachronic studies Real time study Real time study Real time study ALL PER MIL 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 DOVE 361 0.89 0.54 0.53 0.31 0.69 1.27 0.81 1.17 1.47 1.86 2.22 2.00 DIVED 732 1.81 1.76 2.51 2.30 2.72 3.74 2.65 1.96 2.18 2.09 1.57 1.35 ALL PER MIL 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 AUTOMOBILE 9019 22.27 22.67 32.16 63.5 66.94 42.92 35.16 31.03 24.06 14.89 13.49 8.08 Data drawn from the Corpus of Historical American English (COHA) 31  5 Real time and apparent-time Real time Often comparison of two or more (similar) synchronic studies Labov et al. (2013) on Philadelphia, speakers born 1888-1991 Gordon et al. (2004) on New Zealand, interviews from 1930s and 1940s (speakers born as long ago as 1850s) Older data has usually not been collected for linguistic purposes Oral history archives Newspapers Radio broadcasts Corpora Corpus of Historical American English (COHA) BROWN family (BROWN, LOB, FROWN, FLOB, B-BROWN, Phil-BROWN, etc.) Historical Corpus of English in Ghana (HiCE Ghana) 32  5 Real time and apparent-time Apparent time  The pronunciation of a very large number of New Yorkers exhibits a pattern … that might most accurately be described as the complete absence of a pattern. Such speakers sometimes pronounce the /r/ before a consonant or a pause and sometimes omit it, in a thoroughly haphazard pattern. … The speaker hears both types of pronunciation about him all the time, both seem almost equally natural to him, and it is a matter of pure chance which one comes to his lips first. (Hubbell 1950: 48; cited in Chambers 2003: 17) By far the most common approach in sociolinguistics Age today Speech patterns (Author Year: in… Page) Sampling speakers of different age groups 75 1954-1958 Comparing variation patterns across generations 50 1978-1983 Assumes a critical period, after which the linguistic system is comparatively stable 40 1988-1993 Holds best for phonology and morphosyntax 22 2006-2011 Least strongly for lexical features 10 2018-2023 33  5 Real time and apparent-time Apparent time Lexical choice among Canadians for a large piece of living room furniture (Chambers 1995) 100 80 Percentage 60 40 20 0 14-19 yrs 20-29 yrs 30-39 yrs 40-49 yrs 50-59 yrs 60-69 yrs 70-79 yrs 80-89 yrs Age group couch chesterfield sofa  Activity 2 Interpret the apparent-time change in the diagram above. 34  5 Real time and apparent-time Testing the construct https://www.uni-due.de/SHE /SHE_Transmission.htm http://www.helsinki.fi/varieng/series/ volumes/16/nevalainen/ 36   Keywords Accent Lexical set Accent areas of England Pin/pen merger Accent areas of the USA Real time African American Vernacular English (AAVE) Rhoticity Apparent time S-curve model of language change Corpus of Historical American English (COHA) T-deletion Diachronic T-flapping Dialect TRAP-BATH split (TRAP-BATH merger) FOOT-STRUT split Variety Language 39   References Chambers, J. K. 2003. Sociolinguistic theory: Linguistic variation and its social significance, 2nd edn. Oxford: Blackwell. Collins, Beverley & Inger M. Mees. 2013. Practical phonetics and phonology: A resource book for students, 3rd edn. Abingdon, Oxon, New York: Routledge. Hughes, Arthur, Peter Trudgill & Dominic Watt. 2012. English accents and dialects: An introduction to social and regional varieties of English in the British Isles, 5th edn. London: Hodder Arnold. Labov, William. 1966. The social stratification of English in New York City. Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics. Labov, William, Sharon Ash & Charles Boberg. 2006. The Atlas of North American English: Phonetics, phonology and sound change. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Meyerhoff, Miriam. 2019. Introducing sociolinguistics (3rd edn.). London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. Trudgill, Peter. 2004. Dialects, 2nd edn. (Language workbooks). London: Routledge. Wells, John C. 1982. Accents of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 40