Referred Conference Presentations

Abstract:

What happens when various English dialects coexist within the same family? The current project is a novel investigation of lexical knowledge and dialect attitudes in families of Irish heritage with relatives living in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States (U.S.). Building on Potowski’s (2016) concept of intrafamilial dialect contact (i.e., multiple dialects in contact in a single family) in the context of Spanish-speaking families living in the U.S., this study sims to extend the concept to English varieties and kinship networks beyond the immediate family. This study asks how speakers from different generations and national contexts mediate exposure to, knowledge of, and attitudes towards regional lexical variants. 

In its early stages, this project will employ (1) a lexical identification and rating task featuring common lexical items that differ across English dialects (e.g., Del Ángel Guevara, 2023; Potowski & Torres, 2023; Scotto di Carlo, 2013; Zentella, 1990), (2) a perceptual dialectology map-labeling task to elicit language ideologies (e.g., Cukor-Avila et al., 2012; Wilson & Koops, 2015), and (3) a semi-structured interview to explore language use and identity formation within Irish-heritage families. Preliminary findings and methodological reflections will be discussed.

References: 

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           Cukor-Avila, P., Jeon, L., Rector, P. C., Tiwari, C., & Shelton, Z. (2012). Texas–It’s like a whole nuther country:    Mapping Texans’ perceptions of dialect variation in the Lone Star state. Proceedings from the Twentieth Annual Symposium about Language and Society.

           Del Ángel Guevara, M. E. (2023). Returning to Northern New Mexico. A Study of the Nuevomexicano Lexicon [Doctoral Dissertation]. The University of New Mexico.

          Erker, D., & Otheguy, R. (2016). Contact and coherence: Dialectal leveling and structural convergence in NYC Spanish. Lingua, 172–173, 131–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2015.10.011

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          Potowski, K. (2008). “I was raised talking like my mom”: The influence of mothers in the developments of MexiRicans’ phonological and lexical features. In M. Niño-Murcia & J. Rothman (Eds.), Bilingualism and Identity. Spanish at the crossroads with other languages (pp. 201–220). John Benjamins.

          Potowski, K. (2011). Intrafamilial Dialect Contact. In M. Díaz-Campos (Ed.), The Handbook of Hispanic Sociolinguistics. Wiley.

          Potowski, K. (2016). IntraLatino Language and Identity. John Benjamins.

          Potowski, K., & Torres, L. (2023). Spanish in Chicago. Oxford University Press.

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            Scotto di Carlo, G. (2013). Lexical differences between American and British English: A survey study. Language Design: Journal of Theoretical and Experimental Linguistics, 15, 0061–0075.

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           Wilson, D. V., & Koops, C. (2015). Norteños Sing Their Words and Sueños Mexicanos: Bilingualism and Attitudes in the Perceptual Dialectology of New Mexico. International Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest, 34(1–2), 165–189.

           Zentella, A. C. (1990). Lexical leveling in four New York City Spanish dialects: Linguistic and social factors. Hispania, 73(4), 1094–1105.