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Stop and go (away) Linguistic consequences of non-local aspirations among small-town
Newfoundland youth
Sarah Knee Gerard Van Herk Memorial University of Newfoundland
1 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Explaining social influences on linguistic variation
• “You talk like who you are.” – Speech community, social categories like age,
gender, class
• “You talk like who you talk to.” – Social networks, communities of practice
• “You talk like who you want to be.” – Speaker design, agency, social mobility,
performance
• Which of these matters? Depends on situation.
2 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Explaining social influences on linguistic variation
• “You talk like who you are.” – Speech community, social categories like age,
gender, class
• “You talk like who you talk to.” – Social networks, communities of practice
• “You talk like who you want to be.” – Speaker design, agency, social mobility,
performance
• Which of these matters? Depends on situation.
3 nwav39, 06/nov/10
“Who you want to be”
• Implies speaker agency • Social aspirations
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Hypotheses, predictions: “You talk like…
• “…who you are.” – Differences between categories (e.g.,
genders)
• “…who you talk to.” – Differences between social networks,
communities of practice
• “…who you want to be.” – Differences within categories and networks,
due to speaker aspiration
5 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Today’s question
• Can we tease out social aspiration from social categories, networks, communities?
• In other words, what happens (linguistically) when we manipulate these factors to test the hypotheses that they imply?
• Can we do that?
6 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Investigating speaker aspiration
• The right social situation – Meaningful social options for speakers
• “mobility” (Chambers 2003): movement across social categories is possible
• aspirations can be realized
• The right variable – Socially salient variation – Shared understanding of social options
indexed by each variant
7 nwav39, 06/nov/10
8 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Situation: Newfoundland English (NE)
• Rapid social and linguistic change • Strong (and growing) local pride • Distinct and diverse local variety,
heavily implicated in identity practices • = intense sociolinguistic forces
9 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Variable: Interdental Stopping
• [θ] [t], [ð] [d] • widespread and well attested
phenomenon in Newfoundland English (PADDOCK, 1981, COLBOURNE, 1982, CLARKE, 1991, 1997, 2004, 2008)
10 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Stopping and salience
My take on NL, is I like some words that we use like I use b’y, like ‘eh b’y’, or maid. [I do that just to make fun of myself.] We’re forever sayin’ that.
But like, I don’t like it when they mispronounce ‘th’, like tree [3]. I hate that. A tree is a living thing that grows from the ground, not the number.
---Aphrodite 11 nwav39, 06/nov/10
12 nwav39, 06/nov/10
The Variable:
All they used to do was make fun of my accent. All the time. Especially when I’d say tree [3].
For one week straight, like ever two seconds a kid would come up to me and dey’re like: “say ‘three million, three thousand, three hundred, and thirty three’”.
And I’d be like: “ 3,003,333”. Dey’re like: “No, the way you always say it”. And I was like, kay, “tree million, tree tousand, tree hundred, and tirty tree”
---Jessica 13 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Petty Harbour (Van Herk et al 2009)
• Young women orient toward education, StdE – limited opportunities within rural traditional
roles since decline of the fishery (1992)
• Young men split – some match the women – others maintain high rates of local traditional
forms, orient toward vernacular culture and working class occupations (92)
14 nwav39, 06/nov/10
But…
• These are young adults, already in workforce
• Petty Harbour has limited local (traditional) employment
• People commute to nearby urban centre for school and work
• Hard to disentangle aspiration/affiliation, experiences, social networks/CoPs
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So…
• Let’s look elsewhere
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So…
• Let’s look elsewhere • New age group • New Community
17 nwav39, 06/nov/10
So…
• Let’s look elsewhere • New age group: 12-16 year olds • New Community: New-Wes-Valley
http://townofnewwesvalley.com/ 18 nwav39, 06/nov/10
New-Wes-Valley
• Population: 2,485 (2006 CENSUS)
http://townofnewwesvalley.com/ 19 nwav39, 06/nov/10
New-Wes-Valley
• economy still centers around the local fishplant
http://townofnewwesvalley.com/ 20 nwav39, 06/nov/10
New-Wes-Valley
• the nearest shopping centre is 1h30 away by car
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New-Wes-Valley
• One school: K-12 (about 300 students)
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New-Wes-Valley: not Petty Harbour
• Local traditional employment still viable • Shared local schooling • Non-local aspirations require leaving the
community (and people do)
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Why 12-16 year olds?
• We need to talk to people who want to leave, but before they do leave
• 12-16 year olds usually can’t choose where to live (up to parents/guardians)
• But some independence • Thinking about where they want to be,
plans for after high school, etc
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Reminder of Hypotheses: “You talk like…
1. “…who you are.” 2. “…who you talk to.” 3. “…who you want to be.”
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Addressing Predictions
Who are we? – Speech community – Age
– Socioeconomic class – Sex
1. “…who you are.” 2. “…who you talk to.” 3. “…who you want to be.”
26 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Addressing Predictions
Who are we? – Speech community: New-Wes-Valley – Age: 12-16 year-olds
– Socioeconomic class – Sex
1. “…who you are.” 2. “…who you talk to.” 3. “…who you want to be.”
27 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Addressing Predictions
Who are we? – Speech community: New-Wes-Valley – Age: 12-16 years old
– Socioeconomic class – Children of working class parents
– Sex
1. “…who you are.” 2. “…who you talk to.” 3. “…who you want to be.”
28 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Addressing Predictions
Who are we? – Speech community: New-Wes-Valley – Age: 12-16 years old
– Socioeconomic class – Children of working class parents
– Sex: 6 male, 6 female
1. “…who you are.” 2. “…who you talk to.” 3. “…who you want to be.”
29 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Addressing Predictions
• Social factors held steady: – Community, Age, SES
• Social factor that varies: – Sex
PREDICTION:
DIFFERENCES WILL BE BETWEEN MALES AND FEMALES, NOT WITHIN MALES OR WITHIN FEMALES
1. “…who you are.” 2. “…who you talk to.” 3. “…who you want to be.”
30 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Addressing Predictions
PREDICTION: GREATER VARIATION BETWEEN PARTICIPANTS
IN DIFFERENT SOCIAL NETWORKS/COPS THAN PARTICIPANTS IN THE SAME SOCIAL NETWORK/COP
1. “…who you are.” 2. “…who you talk to.” 3. “…who you want to be.”
31 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Addressing Predictions
Networks/CoPs • Gabe & Kole – friends, participate in the
same activities together, share the same friends and interests
• Venus & Aphrodite – share same interests, on same sports teams, hang out inside and outside of class
• Jessica & Elizabeth – fraternal twins, raised together, involved in church together, spend most of their (free) time together
1. “…who you are.” 2. “…who you talk to.” 3. “…who you want to be.”
32 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Addressing Predictions
Aspirations • Education
– Trade – university – undecided
• Local vs. non local – Newfoundlanders vs. Mainlanders – Newfoundlanders vs. Come-From-Aways (CFA) – Townies (from St. John’s) vs. Baymen
PREDICTION: PARTICIPANTS WITH LIKE ASPIRATIONS SHOULD PATTERN MORE
SIMILARLY THAN PARTICIPANTS WITH UNLIKE ASPIRATIONS
1. “…who you are.” 2. “…who you talk to.” 3. “…who you want to be.”
33 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Hypotheses, predictions: “You talk like…
1. “…who you are.” – Differences will be between males and
females, not within males or within females 2. “…who you talk to.”
– The following pairs should pattern more similarly Gabe&Kole, Venus&Aphrodite, and Jessica&Elizabeth
3. “…who you want to be.” – Participants sharing aspirations will pattern
similarly; Differences within categories and networks
34 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Hypotheses, predictions: “You talk like…
1. “…who you are.” – Differences will be between males and
females, not within males or within females 2. “…who you talk to.”
– The following pairs should pattern similarly Gabe&Kole, Venus&Aphrodite, and Jessica&Elizabeth
3. “…who you want to be.” – Participants sharing aspirations will pattern
similarly; Differences within categories and networks
35 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Hypotheses, predictions: “You talk like…
1. “…who you are.” – Differences will be between males and
females, not within males or within females 2. “…who you talk to.”
– The following pairs should pattern similarly: Gabe&Kole, Venus&Aphrodite, and Jessica&Elizabeth
3. “…who you want to be.” – Participants sharing aspirations will pattern
similarly; Differences will be within categories and networks
36 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Method: Participants
• Found participants through a friend-of-my-friend method
• Interviews were: – digitally recorded – between 45mins – 2 hours long
– conducted in private homes in New-Wes-Valley, usually in a living room or kitchen
37 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Method: Data Extraction
• Tokens were extracted after the first 15 mins of an interview – Exception Gabe&Kole
• Type-token ratio of 5 • These types were lexical not
phonological – 5 tokens of they’re and 5 tokens of there
were kept
38 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Method: Data Extraction
• 4 different kinds of that were kept – Pronoun: I like that – Complementizer: I said that I wanted to
leave – Determiner: that book was terrible – Modifier: it wasn’t that quick
39 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Method: Data Extraction
• Contracted forms were included as the same as the non contracted form – e.g., that’s would count as that
• Exception: – if the vowel quality and syllable type was
change by the contraction, this was coded as a different word
– E.g., they’re would not count as they
40 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Method: Data Extraction
Exclusions • Tokens that could not be identified after
looking at a spectrogram or waveform
• Tokens that were proceeded or followed by one of the variants unless a contrast could be heard – Ex With them
41 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Linguistic Factors
• Place in syllable – onset – coda
• Word class (FOR ð) – lexical – Functional
• Lexical stress – stressed syllable – unstressed syllable
• Voicing – Voiced and voiceless run separately
42 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Social Factors
• Sex – male – female
• Local Aspiration – local (plans to live in small town NL) – non local (plans to move away)
• Educational Aspiration – university – trade – undecided
43 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Method: Data Analysis & Results
• All statistical analyses were done using Goldvarb X
• First present stopping rates for ð then θ • Then look at individual rates of
stopping
44 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Total N = 664, corrected mean .68
Education Local
uni trade undec. nonlocal local
prob .25 .52 .87 .20 .69
% 33 83 90 30 80
N 291 214 159 236 428
range 62 range 49
Rate of ð-stopping
Not significant: place in syllable, word class, lexical stress, sex 45 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Total N = 360, corrected mean .262
Sex Education Local
female male uni trade undec. nonlocal local
prob .36 .64 .38 .45 .75 .18 .69
% 53 47 10 47 59 10 48
N 177 183 143 130 87 126 234
range 28 range 37 range 51
Rate of θ-stopping
Not significant: place in syllable, lexical stress 46 nwav39, 06/nov/10
STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT
X
STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT
√ Results for ð-stopping Participant asp. fricative stop other total % stop
Uhura N U 56 2 0 58 3% Aphrodite N U 61 4 1 66 6% Elizabeth N U 41 17 1 59 29% Cat L U 26 32 3 61 52% Venus L U 17 40 2 59 68% Jay L T 12 34 0 46 74% Daniel N D 10 48 3 61 79% Jessica L T 10 48 3 61 79% Ken L T 9 50 4 63 79% Kole L D 4 42 1 47 89% Ty L T 5 46 0 51 90% Gabe L D 3 53 1 57 93%
47 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Participant asp. fricative stop other total % stop
Uhura N U 56 2 0 58 3% Aphrodite N U 61 4 1 66 6% Elizabeth N U 41 17 1 59 29% Cat L U 26 32 3 61 52% Venus L U 17 40 2 59 68% Jay L T 12 34 0 46 74% Daniel N D 10 48 3 61 79% Jessica L T 10 48 3 61 79% Ken L T 9 50 4 63 79% Kole L D 4 42 1 47 89% Ty L T 5 46 0 51 90% Gabe L D 3 53 1 57 93% *
*
Results for ð-stopping STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT
X
48 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Participant asp. fricative stop other total % stop
Uhura N U 56 2 0 58 3% Aphrodite N U 61 4 1 66 6% Elizabeth N U 41 17 1 59 29% Cat L U 26 32 3 61 52% Venus L U 17 40 2 59 68% Jay L T 12 34 0 46 74% Daniel N D 10 48 3 61 79% Jessica L T 10 48 3 61 79% Ken L T 9 50 4 63 79% Kole L D 4 42 1 47 89% Ty L T 5 46 0 51 90% Gabe L D 3 53 1 57 93%
*
*
Results for ð-stopping STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT
√
49 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Participant asp. fricative stop other total % stop
Uhura N U 56 2 0 58 3% Aphrodite N U 61 4 1 66 6% Elizabeth N U 41 17 1 59 29% Cat L U 26 32 3 61 52% Venus L U 17 40 2 59 68% Jay L T 12 34 0 46 74% Daniel N D 10 48 3 61 79% Jessica L T 10 48 3 61 79% Ken L T 9 50 4 63 79% Kole L D 4 42 1 47 89% Ty L T 5 46 0 51 90% Gabe L D 3 53 1 57 93%
*
*
Results for ð-stopping STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT
√
50 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Participant asp. fricative stop other total % stop
Aphrodite N U 32 0 2 33 0% Elizabeth N U 36 0 5 41 0% Uhura N U 26 1 1 29 3% Venus L U 16 5 6 27 19% Jessica L T 26 10 3 39 26% Cat L U 27 11 1 39 28% Daniel N D 25 12 2 39 31% Jay L T 23 14 0 37 38% Ken L T 17 14 4 35 40% Ty L T 6 26 4 36 72% Gabe L D 6 25 3 34 74% Kole L D 5 17 1 23 74%
Results for θ-stopping
51 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Participant asp. fricative stop other total % stop
Aphrodite N U 32 0 2 33 0% Elizabeth N U 36 0 5 41 0% Uhura N U 26 1 1 29 3% Venus L U 16 5 6 27 19% Jessica L T 26 10 3 39 26% Cat L U 27 11 1 39 28% Daniel N D 25 12 2 39 31% Jay L T 23 14 0 37 38% Ken L T 17 14 4 35 40% Ty L T 6 26 4 36 72% Gabe L D 6 25 3 34 74% Kole L D 5 17 1 23 74%
* *
Results for θ-stopping STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT
X
52 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Participant asp. fricative stop other total % stop
Aphrodite N U 32 0 2 33 0% Elizabeth N U 36 0 5 41 0% Uhura N U 26 1 1 29 3% Venus L U 16 5 6 27 19% Jessica L T 26 10 3 39 26% Cat L U 27 11 1 39 28% Daniel N D 25 12 2 39 31% Jay L T 23 14 0 37 38% Ken L T 17 14 4 35 40% Ty L T 6 26 4 36 72% Gabe L D 6 25 3 34 74% Kole L D 5 17 1 23 74%
*
*
Results for θ-stopping STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT
√
53 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Participant asp. fricative stop other total % stop
Aphrodite N U 32 0 2 33 0% Elizabeth N U 36 0 5 41 0% Uhura N U 26 1 1 29 3% Venus L U 16 5 6 27 19% Jessica L T 26 10 3 39 26% Cat L U 27 11 1 39 28% Daniel N D 25 12 2 39 31% Jay L T 23 14 0 37 38% Ken L T 17 14 4 35 40% Ty L T 6 26 4 36 72% Gabe L D 6 25 3 34 74% Kole L D 5 17 1 23 74%
*
*
Results for θ-stopping STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT
√
54 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Difference between θ and ð
• Lower rates overall of θ-stopping • Significant sex difference between θ-
stopping but not ð-stopping
• Why? – θ-stopping is more salient than ð-stopping (Van Herk et al 2009)
55 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Discussion
• Which predictions were borne out?
56 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Hypotheses, predictions: “You talk like…
1. “…who you are.” – Differences will be between males and
females, not within males or within females
2. “…who you talk to.” – The following pairs should pattern more
similarly: Ty&Ken, Venus&Aphrodite, and Jessica&Elizabeth
3. “…who you want to be.” – Participants sharing aspirations will
pattern similarly; Differences within categories and networks
ð θ
57 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Hypotheses, predictions: “You talk like…
1. “…who you are.” – Differences will be between males and
females, not within males or within females
2. “…who you talk to.” – The following pairs should pattern more
similarly: Ty&Ken, Venus&Aphrodite, and Jessica&Elizabeth
3. “…who you want to be.” – Participants sharing aspirations will
pattern similarly; Differences within categories and networks
X √
ð θ
58 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Hypotheses, predictions: “You talk like…
1. “…who you are.” – Differences will be between males and
females, not within males or within females
2. “…who you talk to.” – The following pairs should pattern more
similarly: Ty&Ken, Venus&Aphrodite, and Jessica&Elizabeth
3. “…who you want to be.” – Participants sharing aspirations will
pattern similarly; Differences within categories and networks
X √
ð θ
59 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Hypotheses, predictions: “You talk like…
1. “…who you are.” – Differences will be between males and
females, not within males or within females
2. “…who you talk to.” – The following pairs should pattern more
similarly: Ty&Ken, Venus&Aphrodite, and Jessica&Elizabeth
3. “…who you want to be.” – Participants sharing aspirations will
pattern similarly; Differences within categories and networks
X
X
√
ð θ
X
60 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Hypotheses, predictions: “You talk like…
1. “…who you are.” – Differences will be between males and
females, not within males or within females
2. “…who you talk to.” – The following pairs should pattern more
similarly: Ty&Ken, Venus&Aphrodite, and Jessica&Elizabeth
3. “…who you want to be.” – Participants sharing aspirations will
pattern similarly; Differences within categories and networks
X
X
√
ð θ
X
61 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Hypotheses, predictions: “You talk like…
1. “…who you are.” – Differences will be between males and
females, not within males or within females
2. “…who you talk to.” – The following pairs should pattern more
similarly: Ty&Ken, Venus&Aphrodite, and Jessica&Elizabeth
3. “…who you want to be.” – Participants sharing aspirations will
pattern similarly; Differences within categories and networks
X
X
√
ð θ
X
√ √
62 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Discussion
• For this population and variable, we need to appeal to speaker agency
• Speakers are making decisions (whether conscious or not) about how they speak
• Their decisions to use local vs. non local features are related to their educational and local aspirations
63 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Discussion
• These findings suggest that personal aspirations also need to be considered when explaining sociolinguistic variation
• In accordance with previous research (ECKERT 2000, GARDNER 2010, HAZEN 2001, ITO&PRESTON 1998)
64 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Thanks!
SPECIAL THANKS TO: SSHRC Jennifer Thorburn, Lindsay Harding, James Bulgin, Evan Hazenberg, & Suzanne Power Participants
65 nwav39, 06/nov/10
Chambers, J. K. (2003). Sociolinguistic theory: linguistic variation and its social significance (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Clarke, S. (1991). Phonological variation and recent language change in St. John's English. In J. Cheshire (Ed.), English around the world: Sociolinguistic perspectives (p. 109-122). Cambridge University Press.
Clarke, S. (2004). Newfoundland English phonology. In B. Kortman & E. Schneider (Eds.), Handbook of varieties of English (p. 355-370). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Colbourne, W. B. (1982). A sociolinguistic study of Long Island, Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland. Regional Language Studies, 10 , 20-21.
Eckert, Penelope. (2000). Back to the Future. Plenoquium on the Future of Sociolinguistics. NWAV 29. East Lansing: Michigan State University.
Gardner, Matt. (2010). The in-crowd and the "oat"-casts: diphthongs and identity in a Cape Breton high school. NWAV 39.
Hazen, Kirk. (2000). Identity and ethnicity in the rural south: a sociolinguistic view through past and present BE. PADS. 83. Raleigh, North Carolina: Duke University Press.
Ito, Rika and Preston, Dennis. (1998). Identity, discourse and language variation. Language and Social Psychology 17, 4, 465-483.
Paddock, H. (1981). A dialect survey of Carbonear, Newfoundland (No. 68). University of Alabama Press.
Van Herk, G., Childs, B., & Thorburn, J. (2009). Identity marking and affiliation in an urbanizing Newfoundland community. In W. Cichocki (Ed.), Papers from the 31st annual meeting of the Atlantic provinces linguistic association/actes du 31e colloque annuel de l'association de linguistique des provinces atlantiques (p. 85-94).
Williamson, M., & Cardoso, W. (2009). The social stratification of the voiced interdental in the Battery Dialect of Newfoundland. NWAV 38.
Selected References
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