Convergence and language shift in New Zealand: Consonant cluster reduction in 19th Century Maori English

Schreier, Daniel

doi:10.1111/1467-9481.00230

Cited by 21 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Following from Schreier (2003), Schreier (2005) is a thorough book-length study of consonant changes in English, within which final cluster reduction, especially CCR, plays a large role. After reviewing the methodological choices made in many studies-whether to include tokens with more than two consonants, whether to include heterovoiced clusters, whether to include clusters ending in a nonalveolar-Schreier compares constraints on CCR in New Zealand and the Englishes of the South Atlantic.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Clearly, the South Atlantic English speakers have different constraint hierarchies for CCR. Schreier (2009) took those observations further when he investigated CCR worldwide to assess the claim of vernacular universals. He concluded that "there exist individual and dialectspecific differences as to the frequency and conditioning of CCR in English varieties around the world" (2009:67).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Flying high above the social radar: Coronal stop deletion in modern Appalachia

Hazen

2011

Lang Var Change

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In this paper I examine how a classic feature of variationist research, coronal stop deletion (CSD), operates at the end of the 20th century in one of the most renowned vernacular dialects in the United States, English in Appalachia. Through examination of CSD in a corpus of Appalachian speech, this paper also focuses on the methodological choices available. Several methodological questions are reviewed, such as the choices concerning voicing of the codas (wind vs. went vs. west). The corpus comprises interviews with 67 Appalachian speakers, yielding 17,694 tokens of potential CSD. These were analyzed using quantitative variationist methodology to reveal that morphological categories are less influential than even the preceding phonological environment. This finding is in stark contrast with some other vernacular varieties and suggests that apparent morphological influences are actually phonological influences that present themselves as morphological trends. Overall, the following phonological environment is overwhelmingly the most influential linguistic factor on the rate of CSD. These Appalachian speakers maintain relatively high rates, in effect constraining the social distinctions within Appalachia that could possibly be made using CSD, but marking them as vernacular speakers for those outside Appalachia.In general, we will find that consonant cluster simplification is a phonological process which intersects with grammatical processes, operating on a number of surface formatives to produce highly reduced surface forms, and the general rule which governs simplification can only be written when these grammatical forms are accurately known.-Labov, Cohen, Robins, & Lewis (1968:124) What was once seen as a vernacular feature of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) has now been investigated as a common feature in varieties of English around the world. As Schneider (2004:1126) summarized, deleting the final consonant of a consonant cluster "is the norm in the Caribbean, in ethnic dialects and contact forms in Am[erican] E[nglish], in L[iberean] S[ettler]

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Flying high above the social radar: Coronal stop deletion in modern Appalachia

Hazen

2011

Lang Var Change

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“…2004: 69;Schneider 2007; but see Bauer 1994a: 386-387). Schreier (2003) has also analysed consonant cluster reduction and concluded that any substratum effects did not persist for long.…”

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confidence: 99%

Phonological Variation and the Construction of Regional Identities in New Zealand English

Marsden¹

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<p>This thesis addresses the ongoing evolution of New Zealand English phonology. In particular it explores the links between phonological variation and the social identities of speakers. The thesis investigates the possible emergence of regional dialects in the ongoing development of the variety. The investigation contributes to theories of dialect development, especially in relation to linguistic varieties described as “postcolonial” English. Since the onset of linguistic research on New Zealand English, scholars have highlighted the remarkable geographical uniformity of the variety. However, recent research concerning the development of postcolonial Englishes suggests that regional diversity is inevitable, but that its occurrence is tied to the construction of sociocultural identities. In this thesis I apply a holistic approach to investigating phonological variation and the construction of regional identities in modern New Zealand English. My aim in this thesis is twofold: firstly, to investigate current trends in 21st century New Zealand English phonology and secondly, to gain insights into the linguistic, social and cultural processes associated with the birth of new regional dialects. I view the ongoing evolution of Englishes as involving a composite of wide-ranging factors from the linguistic, historical, social, cultural and ideological domains. In order to address the full complexities of the issues I track variation and change in one influential and important dimension of English phonological systems: rhoticity. I explore the social life of this variable throughout the history of the English language since the 17th century and investigate in detail its manifestation in the speech of 21st century New Zealand teenagers. I consider evidence for contemporary regional diversification by comparing variation in rhoticity in two distinct New Zealand locations; a small rural community in the lower North Island and a small rural community further north in the central North Island. I take a social constructionist approach, paying close attention to local contexts and speakers‟ constructions of their local identities. Quantitative and qualitative approaches to the analysis of the data are utilised. Observations of general trends in rhoticity in modern New Zealand English are enhanced through the examination of the social meanings underlying individual linguistic behaviour. The findings demonstrate the historical and inherent variability of /r/ and reveal changes underway in modern New Zealand English rhoticity. The findings suggest that change involving linking /r/ is associated with a combination of social identity and attitudinal issues. The analysis of non-pre-vocalic /r/ demonstrates the value of exploring innovative features during their onset of use. The findings suggest that the onset of increasing non-pre-vocalic /r/ use in modern New Zealand English may be involved in the utilisation of globally accessible phonological features in the construction of both locally and globally relevant identities. The thesis identifies geographical mobility, transience and changing ethnolinguistic diversity as key factors in ongoing dialect developments in New Zealand English. It concludes that the emergence of ethnically-based identities may hold significance for the emergence of localised identities. The absence of distinctive regional linguistic varieties reflects the absence of recognised regional identities, but the thesis provides tentative evidence that evolving identity constructions in 21st century New Zealand may fuel regional diversification.</p>

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“…Moreover, there is relatively little research studying stable variation in NZE, compared with attention paid to variables undergoing change (Maclagan & Hay, 2010). To the best of my knowledge, there are only a few studies of (ING) and CSD in NZE (Bell & Holmes, 1992;Holmes and Bell 1994;Bayard & Krishnayya, 2001;Schreier, 2003Schreier, , 2005.…”

Section: The Variables Of This Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Phonological constraints may be the locus of first language transfer which may or may not become a marker of ethnicity or identity at a later stage. For example, the older version of Maori English (19th century Maori English), had a constraint hierarchy for CSD that is different from contemporary Maori English (Schreier, 2003).…”

Section: Coronal Stop Deletion In English (Csd)mentioning

confidence: 99%

The acquisition of variation: Arab migrants' acquisition of (ING) and Coronal Stop Deletion in Wellington

Za'rour¹

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<p>This dissertation investigates the patterns of acquisition found among Arab migrants to Wellington for two stable variables: coronal stop deletion (CSD) and (ING). CSD is the alternation between retained and deleted final consonant clusters, i.e. /wɛst/ vs. /wɛs/ and (ING) is the realisation of the final nasal in unstressed word-final syllables i.e. /dɹaivɪŋ/ vs. /dɹaivɪn/. CSD is a phonological variable that is mainly conditioned by articulatory constraints while (ING) is a morpho-phonemic variable with syntactic conditioning as well. An emerging trend in variationist sociolinguistics is to study variation in non-native varieties by analysing how far non-native speaker (NNS) patterns of variation replicate constraints on variation found among native speakers (NS) of a target variety. This study applies variationist methods to investigate the following questions: 1. What are the linguistic and the non-linguistic constraints that condition variation in the production of (ING) and CSD among NS in the New Zealand Spoken English Database (NZSED) in Wellington? 2. What are the linguistic and the non-linguistic constraints that condition variation in the production of (ING) and CSD among Arab migrants in Wellington (AM)? 3. Based on the results for (1) and (2), is there any evidence for “transformation under transfer” (Meyerhoff, 2009a). Interpretation of the results is done in line with the so-called “three lines of evidence”, and considers significant and non-significant constraints, constraint hierarchies and rank ordering of constraints (Tagliamonte & Temple, 2005). I consider the proposition that AMs, of all ages, are prone to transformation under transfer of NS constraints on the variables CSD and (ING), mainly illustrating strong and weak transfer. It is expected that old and middle-aged AMs will have patterns different from those found among young AMs. I also consider the possibility that articulatory constraints may be more readily transformed by AMs into ethnolectal marking, whereas grammatical constraints may be more likely to be strongly transferred by AMs. Old and middle-aged AMs seem to be more likely to display strong transfer of NS constraints, but they do not seem to be using variation in the L2 stylistically. By contrast, young AMs stylistically use articulatory constraints to convey important social indexicalities. The results suggest that oold and middle-aged AMs with developing grammars are like NS children acquiring variation of their L1, in the sense that old and middle-aged AMs are sensitive, in both CSD and (ING), to dialect-specific constraints on variation as they display strong transfer of the highest ranked NS constraint, be it articulatory or grammatical in nature; they also seem to perceive NS frequencies of occurrence of variables. Old and middle-aged AMs have an advantage over NS-children in their cognitive abilities that enable them to apply global constraints on variation by filtering their previous exposure to English, to replicate grammatical constraints of the L2 variables. Old and middle-aged AMs also seem to replicate the articulatory constraints that are perceptually salient, or that can host L1 transfer. They sometimes innovate articulatory constraints that are meaningful to them probably because of the influence of their L1. Young AM, who have arrived in New Zealand at an age of six years or younger, would be expected to illustrate strong transfer for stable variables like CSD and (ING). The results, nevertheless, illustrate that although young AMs share the same significant constraints found among NS of NZSED, they have different rank orderings, internal hierarchies and frequency of variants. Young AM, unexpectedly, diverge from NS norms and exhibit weak transfer of NS articulatory constraints on CSD, while they show strong transfer of NS grammatical constraints for the variable (ING). I suggest that young AMs seem to be using articulatory constraints in the L2 stylistically, to convey important social indexicalities. In addition, young AMs seem to hold an intermediate status between NS of NZSED and first-generation AM. Like old and middle-aged AMs, they replicate global-grammatical constraints on (ING) with an internal hierarchy that follows the Labovian nominal-verbal continuum, rather than the local, internal hierarchy. This suggests that (ING), as a morphophonemic variable with syntactic interfaces, has less room for the stylistic use of variation patterns as a reflection of identity marking. Articulatory constraints may be more subject to L1 transfer and these may become a marker of ethnicity among a Second-generation of migrants.</p>

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Convergence and language shift in New Zealand: Consonant cluster reduction in 19th Century Maori English

Cited by 21 publications

References 16 publications

Flying high above the social radar: Coronal stop deletion in modern Appalachia

Flying high above the social radar: Coronal stop deletion in modern Appalachia

Phonological Variation and the Construction of Regional Identities in New Zealand English

The acquisition of variation: Arab migrants' acquisition of (ING) and Coronal Stop Deletion in Wellington

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