My talk for http://www.icphs2011.hk/, which provides slightly more information on the topic than the proceedings paper (downloadable at http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~lhlew/Hall-Lew_ICPhS2011.pdf )
- 1. The Completion of a Sound Change in California English
Lauren Hall-Lew
University of Edinburgh
[email protected]
*Travel support provided by:
2. Overview
Analysis of the fronting of /u/
a.k.a.goose,boot, /u:/, or (uw)
Analysis with respect to speaker age, gender, &
ethnicity:
Asian American vs. European American
3. /u/-fronting in English
A widely documented sound change:
United Kingdom(Cruttenden 2001; Gimson 1962; Harrington, Kleber
& Reubold 2008; Hawkins & Midgley 2005; Schneider
2004)
Southern Hemisphere(Lanham 1978; Lass 1995; Mesthrie 2010;
Schneider 2004)
North America(Fridland & Bartlett 2006; Hall-Lew 2005; Ohala
1981; Labov, Ash & Boberg 2006; Labov, Yaeger & Steiner
1972; Thomas 2001)
& specifically, in California(Fought 1999; Godinez &
Maddieson 1985; Hagiwara 1997; Hinton et al. 1987)
4. /u/-fronting in California English
No documentation (in urban environments) prior to 1987(no mention
of it inDeCamp1953)
As in most varieties, /u/-fronting first appeared in the
environment following anterior coronals (see Flemming 2003).
In earlier studies, /u/-fronting among older Californians only
occurred after coronals.
5. Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006)
The Atlas of North American English
Post-coronal /u/,
or too, is fronted across most of the United States.
Non-post-coronal /u/, or koo, is mainly fronted across the Southern
U.S., but is also found in the Midwest & West.
6. /u/-fronting in California English
/u/-fronting generally occurs within the vowel nucleus, not the
vowel off-glide.
Off-glides remain backed, resulting in increased
diphthongization.
Fronting is inhibited by a following /l/
(The single lexical exception, cool, appears limited to the
informal, non-temperature evaluative adjective & social uses,
such as taking particular stances. More on this later)
7. post-coronal /u/
San Francisco,
Irish American,
Female, 65yrs
8. elsewhere /u/
San Francisco,
Irish American,
Female, 65yrs
9. pre-liquid /u/
San Francisco,
Irish American,
Female, 65yrs
10. /u/-fronting & Ethnicity in California
Mexican Americans in Los Angeles, CA produce /u/ further back than
European Americans (Godinez & Maddieson 1985).
Mexican Americans in Los Angeles, CA produce a wide range of /u/
realizations, with frontedness varying more with network, gender,
and social class (Fought 1999).
11. /u/-fronting & Gender in California
Hinton et al. (1987) found that /u/-fronting was a feature of a
gendered mock California persona, e.g. Valley Girl.
Todays analysis:
this indexical association is weakening
the correlation with gender is also weakening
the change is nearing completion
12. Fieldwork
Spring & Summer 2008
Guided spontaneous speech from sociolinguistic & ethnographic
interviews
San Franciscos largest residential neighborhood, the Sunset
District:
roughly all middle class
approximately 50% Asian American,
45% Euro American, 5% Other
13. Speakers Analyzed
16 Asian Americans & 14 European Americans
17 females, 13 males
Ages 1676
The Asian Americans:
(12) Chinese
(1) Filipino
(1) Japanese
(2) Mixed
14. Speakers Analyzed
All dominant English speakers since at least age 5.
Asian Americans heritage language self-reports:
(11) Cantonese
(1) Shanghainese
(1) Northern Mandarin
(1) Taiwanese Mandarin
Asian Americans bilingualism self-reports:
(3) active, (3) intermediate, (3) passive
(7) monolingual English
15. (1) Tagalog 16. (1) Ilokano
