LIN200 Midterm 2

AAE in adolescents

Can be used by anybody; signals "coolness"; signals rejection of school-oriented culture Part of adopting an American identity for immigrants (especially Latinos and Asians)

Completive done

Completive indicates an activity that has already been completed Ex: He done read that book (He already read, and finished, that book)

Previous names of AAE

Black English: BE (60s-70s) BEV: Black English Vernacular (60s-70s) - or BVE Ebonics (70s) AAVE: African American Vernacular English (80s) AAE: Afircan American English (Late 1990s) BL: Black language (21st century; Alim 2005)

Adolescence is NOT a natural life stage according to many social scientists

True

Adolescent language is more diverse than the language of different age groups

True

Adolescent language is not uniform; there are many styles, reflecting different orientations, identities, and lifestyle

True

If you want to study adolescent language, you have to explore a whole range of practices that go along with it

True

Slaves were denied access to education and failed to learn Standard English

True

Eckert 1989 study of "jocks" vs "burnouts"

"Jocks" - college bound, scholarships, rewarded and acknowledged by school culture "Burnouts" - vocational training, marginalized, alienated, not acknowledged by school culture

Define sex

A determination made through the application of socially agreed upon, biological criteria for classifying persons as females or males - genitalia at birth - chromosomal typing (XX female vs XY male) - identification display that proclaims one's membership in one category or the other

What is AAE?

A dialect with its own phonology, grammar, and vocabulary A rule-governed systematic language system like all other dialects and language varieties A culturally transmitted way of communicating

Indignant come

A serial verb construction Ex: She come telling me (She has the nerve to tell me)

Compliments in difference model

A wider range of compliments may be addressed to women, and women also tend to pay more compliments

Unified View of origin of AAE

AAE arose from numerous sources: including African languages and Southern US varieties AAE has come from several evolutionary tracks

Creolist theory

AAE has roots in African language Arose from pidgin language created among slaves; features of both West African languages and English Developed into a creole (hybridized language) and became decreolized and began to resemble English more closely

Dialectist View of Origin of AAE

AAE is a dialect of American English like any other; unique features come from older dialects of British, Irish, and Scottish English

Creolist View of Origin of AAE

AAE is not a dialect of English but a new development created by the interaction of Africans and Anglos as a result of slavery

Where in Africa did the slaves come from?

About a quarter from central-southeast Africa (modern Angola and North Cameroon) Another quarter from "Bight of Biafra" in modern Nigeria 15% from "Bight of Benin" in Nigeria Other: Sierra Leone, Senegal, Gambia, Ghana, and the Ivory Coast

Define copula

Am, is, are, etc.

Define Nortenas

American, Chicana identities San Francisco 49ers Mexican banda music (polka) Greater use of English

Define hlonipha

Avoidance language found in Xhosa (South African language) Certain types of in-laws cannot be referred to or spoken directly, and words which sound like the names of such relatives must be avoided Ex: Male in-law named Bheki or Bhengu--> the syllable "bhe-" has to be avoided. Distort the word, use a synonym, or paraphrase

Remote Past BIN

BIN is a verbal marker that indicates an activity or state that happened in the remote ("distant") past. BIN must be stressed to have this meaning (different from "been") Bruce BIN ran (Bruce ran a long time ago) Bruce BIN practicin' for an hour (For a long time, Bruce used to practice in 1 hour periods) I BIN bought her clothes vs I BIN buyin' her clothes = BIN bought says that you bought her clothes a long time ago; BIN buyin' says that you are still buying but you have been for a long time

Define Polari

Back in Britain (1950s) language of gay community; secret code to help keep out of prison

Define Great Migration

Before WWI, most African Americans lived in the South Afterwards, they began moving north to find better jobs

Language of burnouts

- Negation; negative concord or "multiple negation" ex: I didn't do nothing -Northern Cities Vowel Shift -Strongly non-standard and generally evaluated as reflecting lack of education

Negative aspects of adolescent language

- Use of filler "like" - Use of quotative "like" or "be all" - Rising intonation (rising terminals) - Slang words and expressions

Why is adolescence important?

Important for establishing group membership and social identity. Linguistic research concentrates on role of language in this process

AAE Morphosyntax - Embedded questions

In a subordinate clause, an indirect "yes/no question" has statement word order. BUT in AAE, the clause has question word order Ex: We wondered could he come out (instead of We wondered if he could come out) Ex: Didn't nobody ask me do I be late for class (instead of Nobody asked me if I'm usually late for class) [example of negative inversion and habitual be]

How do adults characterize adolescent language?

Inarticulate Sloppy Vague Indecisive Irresponsible Illogical

Identifying sexual orientation by speech?

Inconclusive studies Some studies found that it is at chance level Some say it's possible. When it is possible, it's unclear what phonetic cues are used

Define slang

Informal words or phrases (vocabulary) - informal - doesn't last for long (one generation) - often used for taboo words (sex, drugs, etc.) - must be constantly updated to remain effective - adults have less occasions to use slang

Define sibilant duration

Length of /s/ and /z/ Crist (1997) - 5 out of 6 speakers exhibited longer /s/ in gay stereotype speech Linville (1998) - gay speakers had longer /s/ Rogers, Smyth, and Jacobs (2000) - both /s/ and /z/ were longer in gay-sounding speech Levon (2004) - altering sibilant duration artifically in perception tests is insufficient to change perception of gayness

Define social age

Linked to social milestones -- marriage, etc.

West (1984) deficit model

Male doctors interrupt patients more often than female doctors do Male patients interrupt female doctors more than female patients do Both female and male patients interrupt female doctors more than they interrupt male doctors

Amount of talk in difference model

Male speakers have been found to talk more than females

Interruptions in difference model

Male speakers interrupt female speakers more than vice versa

"You just don't understand" by Deborah Tannen

Males and females are different subcultures Women: rapport style -creating and maintaining relationships Men: report style - communicating information, placing themselves in social hierarchy

Zimmerman and West (1975) Deficit model

Males interrupt more than females

Define mannish/womanish

Mature, adult

Define Surenas

Mexicana identities LA Raiders American "Oldies", Motown music of 1950s and 1960s Greater use of Spanish

AAE phonology

Monopthongization of /aI/ words like time and high Pin~pen merger Postvocalic /r/-lessness Consonant cluster reduction Interdental fricatives (th) --> d/f

Define creaky voice (vocal fry)

More frequently used by females, particularly college-aged women Also noted among Latinos (more by females than males)

Slaves come from various linguistic background

Nigeria (500+) Cameroon (200+) Ivory Coast (80+) etc.

Define chronological age

Number of years since birth

Define African American English (AAE)

One of oldest dialects of English; dates back to earliest contract between enslaved Africans and Europeans (four centuries) Social variety or sociolect spoken by a majority of African Americans in the US

Define vowel differences in gay men

Particular pronunciation of /ae/

Define code-switching

Patterned switching between two or more languages or dialects

Define biological age

Physical maturation

Attitudes to Male Gay American English; Mann (2011)

Positive: -highly ranked on intelligence/status scale - highly ranked on solidarity/friendliness scale Negative attitudes -sounds effeminate, unmanly -might hinder upward social mobility

Define Third Wave Feminism

Post feminism; exploring structural factors behind gender inequality; the performative nature of gender; gay and lesbian rights

Define First Wave Feminism

Pre 1960s; human rights, suffrage, divorce, child custody

Define pitch raising in gay men

Present in declarative sentences

Situations when copula CAN drop

Present participle statives Ex: She runnin' Locatives and adjectival predicates Ex: He here, He pretty Nominal predicates Ex: They teachers

Define epicene pronouns

Pronouns that include both genders; "he-and/or-she" Refer to both, but often perceived as male Ex:they, them, their; s/he; co, se, shim.

Define rap

Rap: originally a romantic conversation from a man to a woman to win her affections; now means any strong, aggressive, highly fluent powerful talk

AAE refers to...

Refers to the full range of standard and non-standard or "vernacular" varieties used (mainly) by people of African American descent in the US

Nerds in California

Rejection of California "cool" vowel shift Articulation of medial /t/ and final /t/ ex: Butter, and what's that?

Situations when copula CANNOT drop

Sentence final position Ex: I ain't the one did it, he is Emphatic context Ex: Allah IS God Tag questions Ex: He ain't home, is he? The first person strongly resists copula drop: I'm running; NOT I runnin'

Define gay implicature

Similar to counterlanguage, a system of exposing one's sexuality to one another without making themselves vulnerable to potentially homophobic and hostile straight overhearers

Male and female language use a series of 6 contrasts (Tannen)

Status vs Support Independence vs Intimacy Advice vs Understanding Information vs Feelings Orders vs Proposals Conflicts vs Compromise

Define style

Style is how kids signal their orientation to the culture of school. Makeup, clothing, hobbies, hair, language

Define "get over on"

Take advantage of

Criticism of deficit model

-Data was personally observed and not systematically collected -Features observed by Layoff are not emblematic of women, but of people with lack of power -however, even that is too strong, as indirectness is often used by powerful politicians

Define Second Wave Feminism

1960s-1970s; birth control, abortion, sexual liberation, equal pay for equal work (ERA), access to job market

Who speaks AAE?

-Majority of African Americans speak AAE -Many code-switch between AAE and MUSE -Some speak only MUSE -Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and other who live in or near African American communities learn AAE -Young people who affiliate with hip hop culture learn lexicon and some phonology, but not necessarily the full range of grammatical features

Where did AAE come from?

-West African (Niger Congo) languages (verbal markers instead of infelction) -British English dialects (uninflected be; use of ain't) -Scots Irish English (pronunciation and grammatical patterns; habitual be by Ulster Scots)

Statistics of the Slave Trade

1701-1810- 6 million transported to Americas 1 million to Latin America 500k to US 3 to 4 million to the Caribbean

Define consonant cluster reduction

Deletion of the second consonant in consonant clusters that occur at the end of a syllable or word A consonant cluster consists of two consecutive consonants (st, nd, ld, pt, kt) Ex: test> tes desk> des hand> han Happens in spoken english when the following segment is a consonant, but AAE speakers reduce consonant clusters even if the following segment is a vowel

Examples of negating verb markers in AAE

Dropped copulas Ex: She not running Habitual be Ex: She don't be running, She not be running, she ben't running Remote past BIN Ex: Bruce ain't BIN ran, Bruce BIN not ran, Bruce don't BIN ran

Define ashy

Dry (as in skin)

Define uptalk

Ending declarative sentences with rising intonation, as in questions Function of uptalk is unclear -encourages participation in conversation? -discourages interruption by signaling that the speaker is not yet finished?

Transgender opinion on pronoun

Expect to be referred with the pronouns that matches their gender, not their sex (does not apply to transexuals)

Conversational support in difference models

Female speakers more frequently use features that provide support and encouragement for other speakers

Variationist studies (Labov and Trudgill)

Females: tendency to use prestige features (overt prestige) Males: tendency to use vernacular features (covert prestige)

Define gender

How we perform our sexual identities; learned behavior "Gender is the activity of managing situated conduct in light of normative conceptions of attitudes and activities appropriate for one's sex category" "Gender activities emerge from and bolster claims to membership in a sex category"

Gendered language

French, Japanese, etc. - reflect gender in grammar itself English can be male or female

Define quotatives

Function words that signal when the speaker is going to quote someone else's speech. Ex: He says... She's like... He's all... Allows for speech and/or actions of another person to be reported, for lively narration, and does not make a claim to verbatim speech

Define Gangsta limp/pimp walk

Gansta limp/pimp walk: male style of walking or strutting with a slight dip in the stride

Define "got your nose open"

Got your nose open: refers to a person who is vulnerable or helpless because of being deeply in love

O'Barr and Atkins (1980) courtroom language interactions

Hedges, polite speech, etc did not correlate most strongly with women Correlated instead with people who had relatively little power in the courtroom

Define hip

Hip: knowledgeable, with it; to inform someone or make them aware of something

Negative inversion (and multiple negation)

The inversion of a negated auxiliary or modal (e.g. couldn't) and the subject (e.g. nobody) Ex: Ain't no cop gonna put his hands on me Can't nobody beat 'em Can't nobody say nothin' to dem peoples Switch positions of negated auxiliary/modal and subject (both negative)

Define counterlanguage

The value placed on the ability to infer meaning from purposefully ambiguous statements -communicative system that allows for multiple levels of meaning -a feature of African American speech communities

Tentativeness in difference model

There are claims that female speakers use features that make their speech appear tentative and uncertain (e.g. rising intonation in declarative sentences, uptalk)

Poor imitaiton "call X's self __-ing)

They call themselves dancing (They are only doing a poor imitation of what I'd call dancing)

What kind of person embraces standard language?

Those who orient more towards globalizing institutions

What kind of person embraces vernacular language?

Those whose loyalties and aspirations are tied to the local milieu (social environment). Embrace vernacular as part of a construction and an expression of local identity and solidarity

Habitual "be"

Un-conjugated (or "invariant") form of the verb be used to denote repeated or habitual action Ex: She be runnin' (She runs regularly) She be workin' (She always/usually works)

Define hedge "like"

Used for approximations

Define focus "like"

Used for emphasis. Ex: This dude is like real cute.

Cross-gendered forms

Used in LGBT community for humor "John invited me to her house" Acceptable only in certain contexts and between members of relevant community

Define steady

Used to mark actions that occur consistently or persistently, especially of the activity that is vigorous and intentional. Occurs immediately before the main verb of the sentence Ex: "she steady talkin'" = she is talking non-stop

Phonology of plural in MUSE

Voiceless consonants end in /s/ Voiced consonants end in /z/ Words that end in /s/, /z/, /sh/, or /dg/ end in [ez]

Reduction + plural in AAE

When consonant cluster reduction occurs, speakers logically follow rules of English plural formation desk --> des'--> desses

Questions about male vs female speakers

Who talks more? Who interrupts more? Who is most cooperative in conversation? Who is most tentative? Who pays more compliments?

Define Lakoff's deficit model (1975)

Women (white educated women) use a number of features that collectively indicate uncertainty and hesitancy. Tag questions: It's late, isn't it? Politeness: Would you please close the door? Hedges: It's sort of hot. Rising intonation: I was born in LA ((?)) Empty adjectives: darling, adorable, divine, cute, lovely Features deny women strong expression; appear trivial. Denies access to power.

Difference model

Women appear cooperative, facilitative participants, demonstrating in a variety of ways their concern for their conversational partners Men tend to dominate the talking time, interrupt more often than women, and focus on the content of the interaction and the task in hand, at the expense of attention to their addressees

Generalizations about women's language

Women are more polite, more attuned to status and prestige, and strive for solidarity in interactions

Phrase "Call ___-self X"

X only to a degree that fails to meet perceived standards Ex: They call themselves dancin' --> They are bad dancers

Interdentals in AAE

these, them, those --> d think, thanks --> t bath, cloth--> f brother, mother --> v