bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The apparent time construct
Authors: Bailey Guy , Wikle Tom , Tillery Jan , Sand Lori 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThe use of apparent time differences to study language change in progress has been a basic analytical construct in quantitative sociolinguistics for over 30 years. The basic assumption underlying the construct is that, unless there is evidence to the contrary, differences among generations of similar adults mirror actual diachronic developments in a language: the speech of each generation is assumed to reflect the language more or less as it existed at the time when that generation learned the language. In providing a mirror of real time change, apparent time forms the basis of a conceptual framework for exploring language change in progress. However, the basic assumptions that underlie apparent time have never been fully tested. This article tests those assumptions by comparing apparent time data from two recent random sample telephone surveys of Texas speech with real time data from the Linguistic Atlas of the Gulf States, which was conducted some 15 years before the telephone surveys. The real time differences between the linguistic atlas data and the data from the telephone surveys provide strong support for the apparent time construct. Whenever apparent time data in the telephone surveys clearly suggest change in progress, the atlas data show substantially fewer innovative forms. Whenever the apparent time data suggest stable variation, the atlas data are virtually identical to that from the more recent surveys. Whenever the relationships between real and apparent time data are unclear, sorting out mitigating factors, such as nativity and subregional residence, clarifies and confirms the relationships. The results of our test of the apparent time construct suggest that it is unquestionably a valid and useful analytical tool.
Processing and morpho-semantic effects in complementation in Brazilian Portuguese
Authors: Mollica Maria Cecilia 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTSubordinate clauses in Brazilian Portuguese can be introduced by the complementizers que or de que, both corresponding to ‘that’. Both variants are attested even in the earliest documents, although de que is an innovation with respect to Latin. In the standard language, each variant is used in its own characteristic contexts, but in current usage there is variation. Here, the replacement of either variant by the other is treated in a unified manner, with one phenomenon viewed as the mirror image of the other. Psycholinguistic dimensions, such as the parallel processing effect and the effect of distance, are shown to be connected with the semantic dimension of iconicity.
African American English in the diaspora: Evidence from old-line Nova Scotians
Authors: Poplack Shana , Tagliamonte Sali 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTIn this article, we describe a new research project on African Nova Scotian English (ANSE), a variety spoken by descendants of African American slaves who immigrated to Nova Scotia in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Subsequent segregation from surrounding populations has created a situation favoring retention of the vernacular, in conjunction with Standard English. In addition to providing the first systematic linguistic documentation of ANSE, we detail the characteristics of the Canadian scenario that make it an ideal test of the creole-origins and divergence hypotheses: in particular, that, more clearly than other African American English varieties that evolved independently in the diaspora, the Canadian situation has featured no creole influence. This fact can effectively date the occurrence of any creole-like features in contemporary ANSE (and, by extension, other varieties of African American Vernacular English [AAVE]) to (at least) the late 18th century, an important time-depth characterization. We then present the results of a series of quantitative analyses of linguistically diagnostic features and compare them to those obtained for (1) another transplanted variety of African American English (Samaná English) and (2) a prototype variety (the Ex-slave Recordings), and note the striking similarities among them. The results militate in favor of a genetic relationship among ANSE and its counterparts as a common precursor of contemporary varieties, thereby providing the first methodologically consistent cross-linguistic comparison of three distinct vestiges of “early” African American English, and contributing missing links in the history and development of AAVE.
The serial effect on internal and external variables
Authors: Scherre Maria Marta Pereira , Naro Anthony J. 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTExamination of three variable concord phenomena in spoken Portuguese of Rio de Janeiro (noun phrase, subject/predicate adjective, subject/verb) demonstrates that the most consistent and strongest variable constraint on the use of concord is the discourse level serial (or parallel processing) effect, that is, a preference for similar forms to co-occur in sections of discourse, even if this results in redundancy or lack of economy. Given the strength of this constraint, we separated the data into two subsets such that one contains only serial occurrences, where parallel processing can operate, whereas the other contains only isolated or first occurrences, where there is no preceding form to trigger the parallel effect. In the serial set, the parallel effect is so strong that other nonsocial constraints are not selected. External forces, such as the normative pressure of the school system toward fully redundant marking, have no significant effect on the serial tokens, although education does correlate with increased use of concord in isolated/first tokens. Thus, in the serial context the linguistic system is so highly constrained that external, and even internal, influences are blocked. We conclude that strong constraints should be identified, and that data in which they are operative should be analyzed separately from data in which they are not present in order to understand the interplay of the diverse forces in the linguistic system.
Deflection in Flemish between the 13th and 20th centuries: An interplay between analogical and articulatory factors
Authors: Gerritsen Marinel 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThis article deals with the linguistic embedding, transition, and actuation of the obliteration of the gerund ending -ein the West Flemish dialect of Bruges between the 13th and 20th centuries. The following factors appear to have played a part in the change: syllable structure of the verb, nasalization of the last consonant of the stem, and frequency of the verb. The study shows that deflection (loss of inflections) started in the 14th century and is almost complete today. There are strong indications that the obliteration of the gerund ending was originally caused by analogical factors, but that articulatory factors played a leading role in the ensuing centuries. The areal spread of the linguistic factors that condition the occurrence of the gerund ending in the dialects in the region around Bruges nowadays suggests that the diachronic development in Bruges is not idiosyncratic for Bruges but holds for a much larger area.
Dimensions of register variation in Somali
Authors: Biber Douglas , Hared Mohamed 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThe present study uses a multidimensional approach to analyze the linguistic characteristics of Somali spoken and written registers. Somali is unusual in that it has a very short history of literacy (only since 1973), but at present it has a wide range of written and spoken registers, including governmental, educational, and public information uses. It thus represents a very different language type from previously described languages. We analyze the distribution of 65 linguistic features across 279 texts from 26 spoken and written registers, using factor analysis to identify five major dimensions of variation. None of these dimensions defines an absolute dichotomy between spoken and written registers, although three of the dimensions can be considered “oral/literate” parameters. As in the multidimensional analyses of other languages, the present study shows that no single dimension adequately describes the relations among spoken and written registers; rather, each dimension reflects a different set of communicative functions relating to the purpose, general topic, degree of interactiveness, personal involvement, production circumstances, and other physical mode characteristics. In the conclusion, we briefly discuss our findings relative to previous multidimensional analyses of English, Tuvaluan, and Korean, laying the foundation for cross-linguistic analyses of universal tendencies of register variation.
Linguistic change in intonation: The use of high rising terminals in New Zealand English
Authors: Britain David 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThis article reports sociolinguistic research on linguistic change in an intonation feature of New Zealand English, namely, the use of high rising terminal contours (HRTs) in declarative clauses. Recorded interviews from 75 inhabitants of Porirua, a small city north of Wellington, were analyzed for the use of HRTs. The speaker sample was subdivided according to years of age (20–29, 40–49, 70–79), sex, ethnicity (Maori and Pakeha), and class (working and middle). The results show that linguistic change is in progress, the use of HRTs being favored by young Maori and by young Pakeha women. The results are explained in terms of the function of HRTs as positive politeness markers. The usefulness of the term “linguistic variable” in the analysis of intonational change and discourse features is assessed.
Interviewer's linguistic production and its effect on speaker's descriptive style
Authors: Dubois Sylvie , Horvath Barbara 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTA re-examination of primary school descriptions by Anglo, Greek, and Italian speakers in the Sydney sociolinguistic survey focuses on the interactional patterns that characterize the elicitation of a particular text type. Two aspects of the interaction are analyzed—the type or mixture of types of questions asked by the fieldworker within the same or different turns at talk, and the response behavior of the speaker—in order to determine what part of the variability in the text data is the result of the interaction process itself rather than of the characteristics and intentions of the respondents. We hypothesize that a constant feature of every interaction is the negotiation of tension between interviewer and speaker. The results confirm that varying the details of the interviewer's questioning strategy, even when the referential content of the questions seem uniform, can have strong and predictable effects on the nature of the speaker's response. We also demonstrate links among stylistic variation, interactional patterning, and ethnicity differentiation. Where differences in behavior in the same setting have often been attributed to learned patterns of different ethnic or social groups, much of this may instead be due to different degrees of interactional tension. We show that less negotiation of interactional tension is required when the interviewer and the speaker share a set of sociolinguistic assumptions through common ethnic identity, and more negotiation is required when this is not the case.
The sociolinguistics of exemplification in spoken French in Montréal
Authors: Vincent Diane 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTExemplification is considered to be a rhetorical procedure used to illustrate a point. In spoken discourse, we can attribute to it an argumentative and pragmatic character. In this study, the data base is constituted of utterances marked by exemplification particles (par exemple, comme, genre, style, mettons, and disons ‘for example’, ‘like’, ‘of the (…) kind’, ‘of the (…) variety’, ‘let's say’) extracted from two corpora of spoken French in Montréal. One goal is to describe the constraints which govern the choice of discourse variant and at the same time to get the deepest insights possible into the procedure that interrelates these constraints. The main objective is to observe to what extent we can have access to the characteristics of a complex rhetorical phenomenon by using sociolinguistic data.
Extension particles, etc.
Authors: Dubois Sylvie 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThe study of the 2700 occurrences of phrase-terminal extension particles (e.g., tout ça ‘all that’, des affaires de même ‘things like that’) in two large corpora of Montréal French reveals that they are typically formed of some combination of a quantifier, a generic and a comparative, and that the particle is optionally prefaced by a connector (the conjunctions puis, et ‘and’, ou ‘or’). The 76 particle types (not counting minor variations) also include a good number of fixed forms (e.g., et cetera) often having an onomatopoeic aspect (e.g., patati patata). Extension particles can be characterized through prosodic, syntactic, and semantic criteria. The analysis bears on the sociodemographic conditioning of overall rates of particle use; of choices within the quantifier, generic, and comparative categories; and of preference for each of four major classes of particle: those containing a universal quantifier, those containing an existential quantifier, those consisting of just a generic and a comparative, and fixed forms. The discourse insertion of the four classes is also analyzed in terms of connector, type of discourse transition, the complexity of the term(s) semantically “extended” by the particle, and the discourse genre. The clearest result pertaining to overall rates of use is an age-grading effect, whereby speakers use fewer particles as they grow older. Within the components, women use more quantifiers than men, and both generics and comparatives are sharply stratified by social class and age. The reconstituted particles tend to favor certain co-occurrence patterns and avoid others more than could be predicted from the component distributions, consistent with a stylistic concord effect. As for the four classes of particle, it is the presence and nature of the connector that have the strongest effects, where puis contrasts with both ou and the null connector, while the complexity of the extended term distinguishes among the classes both by virtue of the number of terms and their syntactic complexity. As is predictable from functional considerations the sociodemographic factors do not contrast the two semantically most distinct classes, involving universal versus existential quantifiers. The linguistic validity of the four classes is confirmed by the fact that their quantitative conditioning is not predictable from the strong sociodemographic conditioning of their component elements, but rather reflects their differential suitability for various discourse functions.
Chicano English evidence for the exponential hypothesis: A variable rule pervades lexical phonology
Authors: Otto Santa Ana A. 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTGuy (1991) proposed a linkage between empirical linguistics, in the morphological constraints of /-t,d/ deletion, and formal linguistic theory, in lexical phonology. He hypothesized an explanation for the actual rate of deletion reported in /-t,d/ studies in the three-tier lexical phonology model (Kiparsky, 1979): namely, that an exponential relationship exists in the relative rate of deletion of /-t,d/ clusters in words, according to different morphological classes as described in the three-tier model. In this article, the hypothesis is tested in the English of 45 Chicanos from Los Angeles, which as a recently formed dialect provides an interesting test case in two respects. A major difference exists between the English of older and younger Chicanos involving the morphological classes associated with /-t,d/ deletion. Additionally, age grading of the /-t,d/ deletion process operates only among the younger speakers. Guy's model receives solid independent confirmation in the Chicano English data. These results simultaneously integrate the three-tier lexical phonology model, Guy's hypothesis, and the dialect-specific characteristics of Chicano English.
Verb position in future clauses in Biblical Hebrew
Authors: Myhill John 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTIn clauses with future meaning in Biblical Hebrew, a basically VSO language, there are consistent functional differences between clauses with verb-initial word order and clauses with non-verb-initial word order. Quantitative study shows that verb-initial clauses are associated with future events that come about through cooperation between (some combination of) the speaker, the listener, and God, whereas non-verb-initial clauses are associated with future events that are the result of unilateral action. This is related to the finding of Givón (1977) that, in clauses with past time reference in Biblical Hebrew, verb-initial order is associated with the unmarked function of temporal sequencing and continuity of the narrative, whereas non-verb-initial order is associated with a break in sequencing and discontinuity. If we take verb-initial order as generally associated with unmarked discourse functions, these data suggest that cooperation represents the unmarked expectation in dialogues about the future in the same way that sequencing represents the unmarked expectation in narratives about the past.
Subject NP doubling, matching, and minority French
Authors: Nadasdi Terry 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTOur study presents a variationist analysis of subject doubling in the French of Ontario, Canada. Two principal variants are distinguished: a non-doubled variant and a doubled variant containing a clitic agreement marker. In our analyses, both linguistic and social factors are taken into account and analyzed usinggoldvarb2. It is proposed that subject clitics are marked for default features, and that the doubled variant is favored when the clitic's default features match those of the subject NP; lack of matching favors the non-doubled variant. Discussion of linguistic factors for the present study, therefore, is limited to those factors which can be explained in terms matching. The principal social factor studied is restricted language use (cf. Mougeon & Beniak, 1991). Our results show that the greater the restriction, the fewer doubled subjects one finds.
The velar nasal in Tokyo Japanese: A case of diffusion from above
Authors: Hibiya Junko 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThe present study is an attempt to investigate Japanese as it is spoken in Tokyo within the variationist framework, focusing on the variable (ng). The results of earlier research and observation have shown that this variable has been in the process of change. Speakers at younger age levels favor the newer variant [g], while those at older age levels favor the older variant [ŋ]. Results of quantitative analyses of the data obtained from sociolinguistic interviews with 62 native speakers of Tokyo Japanese allow us to establish the case under investigation as one of diffusion from above. The findings of the present investigation add to the body of research conducted within the variationist framework; they confirm the existence of inherent variation and orderly heterogeneity.
Phonological convergence in dialect contact: Evidence from citation forms
Authors: Kerswill Paul 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThis article addresses the question: In dialect contact, is there a difference in degree of convergence at different phonological levels? Data are taken from three experimental studies on British English. The first, a comparison of alveolar assimilation andl-vocalization, tests the hypothesis that the phonologization of connected speech processes involves increasing phonetic discreteness. The second provides evidence of the phonological restructuring of final /1/ in speakers who consistenly vocalize it and who, hypercorrectly, occasionally use “clear” /1/. This anomalous behavior, which may be due to underlying phonological differences, is explained in terms of a clash between nonstandard and standard speech. The third experiment looks at the “clarification” of /1/ before vowels in environments such aspeel it, as well as the glottaling of /t/. Data are collected from the speech of two teenagers, native to Reading. It is argued that the phonetically subtle differences between them are due to quite different underlying processes. These data are interpreted in light of Labov's speech community model; it seems necessary to differentiate between levels of analysis and to explain convergence in terms of salience.
A peak at death: Assessing continuity and change in an underdocumented language
Authors: Sabino Robin 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTNeither historical nor linguistic records reveal exactly when the shift from Negerhollands to English and English Creole began in the Danish West Indies. In order to assess phonological continuity and change in the last stage of this moribund creole, the following discussion (1) contrasts earlier and current views of Negerhollands and sketches language contact in the Danish West Indies; (2) examines the language history and the vowel systems of the last speaker; and (3) assesses variation in a Negerhollands corpus produced by 10 elderly bilinguals. The article demonstrates how using a variety of approaches can enhance the investigation of an underdocumented language.
Sonority and syllable structure in Chicano English
Authors: Santa Ana A. Otto 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThree analyses of /-t,d/ deletion are undertaken to investigate whether convergence with the matrix regional dialect has taken place in Los Angeles Chicano English. Two superficial analyses mistakenly find convergence. A third emic multivariate analysis finds no phonological convergence. It is argued that sonority of adjacent consonants accounts for most of the variation. In order to give an account of the degree and direction of the /-t,d/ deletion processses in Chicano English, Clement's (1988) model of nonaffixal syllabification, which is also based on sonority, is extended to this affix-affecting delection process.
Children, adolescents, and language change
Authors: Kerswill Paul 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThe article models the spread of linguistic change by taking precise account of the ages of the acquirers and transmitters of change. Several studies, some original, are reviewed in order to address the following questions: “What types of linguistic feature can an individual acquire at different ages?” “How much influence do people of different ages exert on the speech of other individuals?” The article is organized around three key interlocutor combinations: parent-infant/young child, peer group-preadolescent, and older adolescent/adult-adolescent. The studies suggest that borrowings are the easiest to acquire, while lexically unpredictable phonological changes are the most difficult. In between are Neogrammarian changes and morphologically conditioned features. The age of the speaker is critical; only the youngest children acquire the “hardest” features. However, adolescents may be the most influential transmitters of change. A difficulty hierarchy for the acquisition of second dialect features is then presented; it is suggested that this predicts the nature of linguistic change found under different sociolinguistic conditions. The approach presented here allows for a more detailed understanding of the spread of linguistic change.