Problems of Navajo Speakers in Learning English

Cook, Mary Jane; Sharp, Margaret Amy

doi:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1966.tb00805.x

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Such substitutions have been at times used to humorously stereotype rural, elderly speakers, with words such as glasses pronounced [t͡ laesəs]. Research supports this observation: earlier generations of Diné speakers were found to substitute /dl/ for English /gl/ and /tɬ/ for English /kl/ when reading aloud (Cook & Sharp, 1966). Relatedly, there is evidence that these affricates are conventionally associated with the English clusters /kl/ and /gl/.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

New speakers and language change in Diné Bizaad (Navajo)

Palakurthy

2022

International Journal of Bilingualism

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Aims and objectives: This paper analyzes the extent to which new speakers are participating in an ongoing phonological change in Diné Bizaad (Navajo). The implications of these patterns are discussed as they relate to theories of new speakers and language change. Methodology design: I apply a variationist methodology to analyze the pronunciation of lateral affricates from speakers representing different generations and language learning contexts. I focus on comparing new speakers, who report acquiring the language primarily through school or in a language program, with their age-equivalent peers. Data and analysis: The data come from interviews recorded with 51 bilingual Diné Bizaad-English participants, ages 18–75. This includes four new speakers. The analysis focuses on variation in the lateral affricates in connected speech samples and an oral translation task. Findings/conclusion: Results reveal that new speakers diverge from other younger participants in their lack of participation in an ongoing change in the affricates. Instead, new speakers more closely resemble middle-aged and older speakers. Originality: This study applies the new speaker framework to an Indigenous North American language, an under-represented sociolinguistic context within the literature. These findings provide a counterexample to the more frequent finding of new speakers linguistically diverging from older, traditional speakers. Significance/implications: These results are interpreted as arising due to literacy practices, language usage networks, and community values. The orthographic representation of the affricates is thought to inhibit sound change. At the same time, due to their more formal language learning background, new speakers have developed a self-monitored speech style oriented toward the prestigious, older speakers. A lack of peer group language usage is thought to prevent the development of linguistically or ideologically distinct new speaker varieties. The confluence of these factors means that instead of constituting agents of language change, new speakers are more similar to older participants.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

New speakers and language change in Diné Bizaad (Navajo)

Palakurthy

2022

International Journal of Bilingualism

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“…Also, final consonants are not common (Cook & Sharp, 1966). Consequently, unless Navajo pupils are helped to hear and produce English sounds and sound clusters, they will substitute familiar Navajo sounds for unfamiliar English ones.…”

Section: Navajo Languagementioning

confidence: 95%

“…Auxiliaries, verbals and forms showing subject-verb agreement in English, are difficult. Navajo speakers tend to confuse he/she and his/hers because the Navajo language does not have a gender distinction in its third person pronoun forms (Cook & Sharp, 1966). Patterns of idiomatic expressions plague the native Navajo speaker learning English, too.…”

Section: Navajo Languagementioning

confidence: 97%

Building Optimum Learning Environments for Navajo Students

Soldier

1992

Childhood Education

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“…Recently, there has been new interest in the theoretical and practical problems of teaching English to American Indians, in areas such as the Southwest where nonstandard English or Indian monolingualism are still common; relevant publications include Shuy 1965, Cook and Sharp 1966, Ohanessian 1967, and Bauer 1968 Finally, regarding the obsolescence and extinction of American Indian languages in the contact situation, one may refer to the pioneering article of Swadesh (1948). To end this section on a less gloomy note, however, it may be observed that several obsolescent languages are showing new signs of life; in southern California, for instance, during 1969, classes in the Luisei'io, Cupei'io, and Dieguei'io languages were being held by Indians, for Indians, and on Indian initiative, with some advice from White linguists.…”

Section: Contact With European Languagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

North American Indian Language Contact

Bright¹

1976

Native Languages of the Americas

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Problems of Navajo Speakers in Learning English

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

New speakers and language change in Diné Bizaad (Navajo)

New speakers and language change in Diné Bizaad (Navajo)

Building Optimum Learning Environments for Navajo Students

North American Indian Language Contact

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