This paper examines the use of phonetic variation in word-final rhotics among nineteen adult new speakers of Scottish Gaelic, i.e. speakers who did not acquire the language through intergenerational transmission. Our speakers learned Gaelic as adults and are now highly advanced users of the language. We consider variation in their rhotic productions compared to the productions of six older, traditional speakers. Previous approaches to variation in second language users have either focussed on how variable production will eventually result in native-like 'target' forms (Type 1 study), or have investigated the extent to which second language users reproduce patterns of variation similar to 'native speakers' (Type 2 study). We additionally draw on sociocultural approaches to Second Language Acquisition and apply notions of accent aim, identity construction, and learning motivation in order to fully explore the data. In doing so, we advocate a 'Type 3' approach to variation in second language users.Bheir am p aipear seo s uil air caochlaideachd fh ogharach an cois fhuaimean le ruis (/r/) dheireannach am measg naoi deug luchd-labhairt ura na G aidhlig, i.e. luchd-labhairt nach do thog a' Gh aidhlig tro thar-chur eadarghinealach. Dh'ionnsaich an luchd-labhairt seo a' Gh aidhlig nan inbhich, agus tha iad uile a' cleachdadh na G aidhlig aig ıre ard san latha an-diugh. Sa ph aipear seo bheir sinn s uil air caochlaideachd nan ruisean aig an luchdlabhairt seo ann an coimeas ris a' chleachdadh a tha aig sia luchd-labhairt dualchasach na G aidhlig a tha nas sine. Gu ruige seo tha rannsachadh air caochlaideachd am measg luchd-labhairt d arna c anain air f ocas a chur air mar a dh'fh asas caochlaideachd ch ananach nas fhaisge air cleachdaidhean dualchasach na c anain 'targaid' (sgr udadh Se orsa 1), no air an ıre gus an cleachdar p atranan dualchasach caochlaidh le luchd-labhairt den t-se orsa ud (sgr udadh Se orsa 2). A thuilleadh air sin cleachdaidh sinn bunbheachdan s oisio-chultarach ann an Togail D arna C anain san sgr udadh againn, a' cleachdadh amasan dualchainnt, cruthachadh f ein-aithne agus adhbharan ionnsachaidh airson rannsachadh iomlan a dh eanamh air an d ata. Na l uib, molaidh sinn sgr udadh 'Se orsa 3' airson rannsachadh air Journal of Sociolinguistics 20/2, 2016: 164-191

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This paper aims to describe pre-aspirated and post-aspirated stops in an endangered language, Scottish Gaelic. Our small-scale study investigates several acoustic parameters of Scottish Gaelic stop consonants designed to measure the duration and noisiness of aspiration of the stop in its immediate phonetic context. Our study expands on previous phonetic descriptions of phonemic (pre-)aspiration in three ways: firstly, we provide a more complete durational description of Scottish Gaelic than previous work in the literature; secondly, we apply a new measure, band-pass filtered zero crossing rate (Gordeeva & Scobbie 2010), in order to examine the noisiness of aspiration in addition to durational characteristics. The results from this measure are presented in tandem with durational results in order to assess its usefulness for future research. Thirdly, we consider the possibility of change in the Scottish Gaelic stop system by examining data from older and younger speakers. Results suggest that band-pass filtered zero crossing rate is a useful tool and should be considered in future research on aspiration. Also, durational and zero crossing results indicate that younger speakers have shorter and less noisy pre-aspiration than older speakers. We discuss these results as a possible sound change in progress.

This article analyses phonetic variation among young people who have learned a minority language in immersion schooling as part of revitalisation measures. Such speakers are increasingly referred to as ‘new speakers’ in an expanding body of literature. The variable phonetic features analysed are vowels, laterals, and intonation in the speech of new Gaelic speakers from Glasgow and the Isle of Lewis. Results support previous work suggesting that new speakers will sound different from ‘traditional speakers’. These results are discussed in terms of language contact, modes of acquisition in revitalisation situations, and the differing perceptions and ideologies surrounding how new speakers use Gaelic. The data also necessitate an examination of some of the assumptions in sociolinguistic models of change and their applicability to contexts of rapid social evolution. (New speakers, language revitalisation, minority languages, Scottish Gaelic, laterals, vowels, intonation)*

Scottish Gaelic is a minority language of Scotland spoken by approximately 58,000 people, or 1% of the Scottish population (speaker numbers from the 2011 Census available in National Records of Scotland 2015). Here, we refer to the language as ‘Gaelic’, pronounced in British English as /ɡalɪk/, as is customary within the Gaelic-speaking community. In Gaelic, the language is referred to asGàidhlig/kaːlɪc/. Gaelic is a Celtic language, closely related to Irish (MacAulay 1992, Ní Chasaide 1999, Gillies 2009). Although Gaelic was widely spoken across much of Scotland in medieval times (Withers 1984, Clancy 2009), the language has recently declined in traditional areas such as the western seaboard and western islands of Scotland and is now considered ‘definitely endangered’ by UNESCO classification (Moseley 2010). Analysis of the location of Gaelic speakers in Scotland and maps from the most recent Census in 2011 can be found in National Records of Scotland (2015). Figure 1 shows the location of Gaelic speakers in Scotland as a percentage of the inhabitants aged over three in each Civil Parish who reported being able to speak Gaelic in the 2011 Census.