Change and stability in the use of verbal —<i>s</i>over time in AAVE

Cukor‐Avila, Patricia

doi:10.1075/veaw.g18.26cuk

Cited by 51 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Stockman and Vaughn‐Cook 1989; Seymour and Roeper 1999) or examine change during early childhood through the lens of apparent time (Craig and Washington 2006). And the relatively rare, longitudinal sociolinguistic study of adolescent AAE (Cukor‐Avila 1997) tends to follow speakers from later adolescence through early adulthood rather than from early childhood through adolescence. Consequentially, there are no long‐term, longitudinal sociolinguistic studies of African American speakers from early childhood through the teenaged years, making it difficult to evaluate hypotheses about the development of vernacularity over this period.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coming of age in African American English: A longitudinal study¹

Hofwegen¹,

Wolfram²

2010

Journal of Sociolinguistics

104

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This study examines trajectories of development in the use of African American English (AAE) for 32 speakers through the first 17 years of their lives based on a unique, longitudinal database. Temporal data points in the analysis include 48 months, Grade 1 (about age 6), Grade 4 (about age 9), Grade 6 (about age 11), Grade 8 (about age 13), and Grade 10 (about age 15). Complementary methods of analysis for assessing AAE include a tokenbased Dialect Density Measure (DDM), a type-based vernacular diversity index, and frequency-based variation analysis. The study reveals different trajectories and peak periods for the use of AAE, including a 'roller coaster' and a curvilinear trajectory; at the same time, there is a common dip among speakers in the overall use of vernacular AAE from Grade 1 through Grade 4. Examination of a selective set of demographic and self-regard measures shows no significant differences for gender, school racial density, racial peer contacts, and measures of Afro-centrality, but does show a significant correlation between mothers' and child use of AAE as well as age/grade.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coming of age in African American English: A longitudinal study¹

Hofwegen¹,

Wolfram²

2010

Journal of Sociolinguistics

104

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“…This variable has been analyzed extensively in the sociolinguistic literature, as it occurs in many varieties of English worldwide (e.g., Cheshire, 1982;Clarke, 1997:229;Cukor-Avila, 1997;Fasold, 1972;Godfrey & Tagliamonte, 1999;Labov, Cohen, Robins, & Lewis, 1968;Poplack & Tagliamonte 1989, 2005Schneider, 1983;Singler, 1991;Wolfram, 1969). For present purposes, we provide a brief summary only of findings from synchrony and diachrony.…”

Section: -S I N T H I R D -P E R S O N -P L U R a L C O N T E X T Smentioning

confidence: 99%

“Mam, my trousers is fa'in doon!”: Community, caregiver, and child in the acquisition of variation in a Scottish dialect

2007

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"Mam, my trousers is fa'in doon!": Community, caregiver, and child in the acquisition of variation in a Scottish dialect J e n n i f e r S m i t h Glasgow University M e r c e d e s D u r h a m a n d L i a n e F o r t u n e University of YorkRecent work on acquisition in sociolinguistic research suggests that some aspects of the structured variation found in adult speech are evident in children's speech from the very start of language acquisition, and input from the primary caregiver is crucial in this process. In this article we contribute to this research by conducting a cross-sectional analysis of the acquisition of variable forms in a Scottish dialect. Two linguistic variables are targeted in the speech of eleven children (2;10-3;6) and their primary caregivers. Quantitative analysis of over 5000 contexts of use demonstrates that one variable is conditioned by social and linguistic constraints in the speech of the caregiver and these constraints are matched by the children. In contrast, the other variable is influenced by a complex array of linguistic constraints only. We explore the ramifications of these findings for understanding the mechanisms involved in acquisition of variation from the very earliest stages.Over the past few decades, sociolinguistic research has concentrated on the structured heterogeneity inherent in all speech and how this variation is conditioned by both internal and external linguistic constraints (e.g., Weinreich, Labov, & Herzog, 1968). The predominant focus of this research has been on adolescent and adult speech 1 , but what about variation at the source, that is, the acquisition of variable forms from the very youngest age, as shown in (1)? (1) Mam my tr [öõ]sers is fa'in d [u:] n . . . they're too big. (Kieran 3;3) Chambers (2003:174) made the common-sense observation that "when children acquire their mother tongues, they evidently acquire the local variants and the We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Economic and Social Research Council for award no. RES-000-22-0447. We thank Jack Chambers, Paul Foulkes, and three anonymous reviewers for very helpful feedback on earlier versions of this manuscript. We would also like to thank Hazel Steele for her input to the project in its early stages, and Moira Smith, our invaluable on-site fieldworker. We dedicate this article to the caregivers and children of Buckie who were willing to share their walks, playtimes, bathtimes, and even "meltdowns," all in the name of linguistic research.

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“…Wolfram and Beckett (: 28) highlight a crucial paradox: while some degree of individuation is both inevitable and crucial to take into account, there will always be ‘extensive patterning of linguistic variation in terms of group affiliations and social boundaries’ (cf. Cukor‐Avila : 305; Wagner : 197). With respect to the same issue, Chambers (: 113–114) points out that even the sociolinguistic ‘oddballs’ mostly fall in line with the norms of their communities, and that most speakers ‘sound the way you would expect them to sound given the facts about their class, sex, age, and region’.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, from a variationist standpoint, few studies have followed individuals beyond post‐secondary graduation into the workforce. Those that exist seldom go beyond analysis of frequencies (but see Cukor‐Avila ; Wagner ; Wagner and Tagliamonte ), and more than one author highlights the need for studies across different types of variables (Tagliamonte : 83; Kohn : 123). Additionally, the relationship between variation in real time in young adults and the same variation as it exists in the surrounding speech community has not yet been explored extensively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘I don't come off as timid anymore’: Real‐time change in early adulthood against the backdrop of the community

Brook

Jankowski

Konnelly

et al. 2018

Journal of Sociolinguistics

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The period from ages 18 to 25 is sometimes called ‘emerging adulthood’ (Arnett , ) since it has come to be characterized by major life transitions. Linguistically, this means that lifespan change in the individual (Sankoff , ) might be particularly likely during these years (Labov : 447; Bigham : 533; Kohn : 20). Addressing a need for more real‐time sociolinguistic research on early adulthood, we employ data from a panel study of a single speaker, ‘Clara’ (b. 1986), interviewed every 12 to 18 months between the ages of 16 and 30 (Tagliamonte , : 274–276). We examine four linguistic variables that differ according to level of the grammar and social salience in Clara's community (Toronto, Canada). For each variable, Clara's rates of the variants shift to match those of subsequent age cohorts in the community around her as she gets older and joins the workforce. These findings attest to emerging adulthood as a sociolinguistically formative period. More generally, they emphasize the inseparability of individuals and their linguistic surroundings.

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Change and stability in the use of verbal —sover time in AAVE

Cited by 51 publications

References 0 publications

Coming of age in African American English: A longitudinal study¹

Coming of age in African American English: A longitudinal study¹

“Mam, my trousers is fa'in doon!”: Community, caregiver, and child in the acquisition of variation in a Scottish dialect

‘I don't come off as timid anymore’: Real‐time change in early adulthood against the backdrop of the community

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Change and stability in the use of verbal —sover time in AAVE

Cited by 51 publications

References 0 publications

Coming of age in African American English: A longitudinal study1

Coming of age in African American English: A longitudinal study1

“Mam, my trousers is fa'in doon!”: Community, caregiver, and child in the acquisition of variation in a Scottish dialect

‘I don't come off as timid anymore’: Real‐time change in early adulthood against the backdrop of the community

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Coming of age in African American English: A longitudinal study¹

Coming of age in African American English: A longitudinal study¹