Transcript The Life History of Linguistic Change

Northern
Cities
Shift
Canadian
Shift
The Life History of Linguistic Change
Inland
North:
front /o/
Low back merger
Increase phonetic
distance
Pittsburgh
chain shift
Back
vowel
shift
Eastern
seaboard:
raise /oh/
South:
add
upglide
William Labov, University of Pennsylvania
Back
upglide
chain
shift
/o/ ~ /oh/
ICHL Montreal
Skewed opposition
depending on length
August 20071
www.ling.upenn.edu/~labov
2
A sequence of linguistic changes
A’
B’
Unidirectional
Causally linked
A
B
Bidirectional
Triggering event
Contingent alternatives
Unstable condition
3
Components of a sequence of linguistic changes
1.
Triggering events: the first in the chain of causally connected
events
2.
Governing principles: constraints that determine the
unidirectional character of changes
3.
Forks in the road: alternate pathways of change that
differentiate sister dialects
4.
Driving forces: factors that lead to the continued
incrementation of the changes
5.
Re-analysis: the process that leads to the uniform
distribution of the changes across the speech community.
4
Two ways of looking at the problems of language change
Weinreich, Labov & Herzog 1968
Accounting for changes
This presentation
Accounting for sequences of changes
1.
The actuation problem
Triggering events
2.
Constraints problem
Governing principles
3.
The transition problem
Forks in the road
4.
The embedding problem
Driving forces
5.
The evaluation problem
Re-analysis
5
ANAE notation for the word classes of North American English
LONG
SHORT
Upgliding
Ingl iding
Front upgliding Back upgliding
V
nucleus
Vy
front
back
front
high
i
u
iy
mid
e
¦
ey
low
Q
o
Vw
back
Vh
front
back
iw
uw
oy
ow
ay
aw
unrounded
rounded
oh
ah
6
ANAE notation aligned with JC Wells’ word classes for American English
LONG
SHORT
Upgliding
Front upgliding
Back upgliding
Vy
Vw
V
nucleus
high
mid
low
Ingli ding
Vh
front
back
front
i
u
iy
uw
KIT
FOOT
FLEECE
GOOSE
e
¦
ey
oy
ow
´h
oh
DRESS
STRUT
FACE
CHOICE
GOAT
NURSE
T HOUGHT
æ
O
LOT
T RAP
back
front
back
unrounded rounded
ay
aw
ah
PRICE
MOUTH
PALM
7
Triggering events
8
The Canadian Shift in the vowel system of Marsha M., 24 [1997], Montreal, TS659
lowering of /e/
merger of
/o/ and /oh
backing of /æ/
9
The Canadian Shift in the vowel system of Hubert B., 17, Toronto, TS798
lowering of /e/
merger of
/o/ and /oh
backing of /æ/
10
The Canadian Shift: mean values of Canadian Telsur subjects
[N=25] compared to all others [N=414].
F2
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
500
/i /
550
600
650
F1
2200
/e/
700
/æ
/
Canadian
All others
750
/o/
800
850
Source: The Atlas of North American English
11
The Canadian Shift nested in the Low Back Merger area (ANAE Map 11.7)
Low back merger
isogloss
12
The Canadian Shift
3
2
1
13
The low back merger of /o/ and /oh/ in cot and caught, etc. (ANAE Map 9.1)
Canada
E.N.E.
The West
W. Pa.
14
OE
ME
thought,
bought
EME
off, cost,
cloth, strong
vocalization of /x/
water,
wash
The development of /oh/
ah
fought,
taught
oht
av
breaking
hawk,
laundry
eah
aw
[ç:
[a
u]

vocalization of /l/
ag
alC
maw,
saw,
draw
talk,
call,
all
wa
lengthening
vocalization of /v/
rounding
thaw,
straw,
claw
vocalization of /g/
o
__f,s,T,N
au
a+u
denasalization
aN
applaud, brawn, lawn,
because pawn spawn
OF
rounding
/oh/
]
monophthongization
15
Minimal pairs contrasting /o/ and /oh/
/o/
/oh/
cot
caught
Don
dawn
hock
hawk
stock
stalk
odd
awed
cod
cawed
Sol
Saul
odd ability
audibility
...
...
16
Contrast of /o/ and /oh/ after tensing of /o/
a
p
i
c
a
l
s
/o/
t
d
s
z
n
l
p
b
c&
j
g
k
f
T
S
D
z&
m
N
#
cot, tot, hot, got, dot
odd, hod, god, sod
toss, moss, floss, cost
Oz, positive
don, don, pond
doll, moll, collar
hop, pop, top, sop
rob, hob
Scotch, botch, watch
lodge, dodge, Roger
log. hog, cog, dog
stock, hock, clock
{boff}
{Goth}
gosh, bosh, tosh
bother
---------bomb, Tom, prom
{ping pong}
----------
/o/ -> /oh/
/oh/
caught. bought, taut, fought
awed, hawed, gaud, sawed
sauce, exhaust, caustic
cause, clause, hawser, paws
on
dawn, awn, yawn, lawn
all, tall, maul, caller
---------daub, bauble
------------------auger, augment, augur, August
stalk, hawk, talk
off, doff, scoff,
cough,
cloth, moth,
---------------------------------------------strong. song, wrong ---------law, saw, flaw, thaw, claw
17
A linguistic sequence
Canadian
Shift
e
æ
o
oh
Low back
merger
/oh/ ~ /o/
Unstable condition
EME ç:
Mod E. off, lost, song
ME ç(:}u
ME av
OE oht
OF an
ME a(:}u
OE eah
OE aw
OE au OE ah
OF au OF a+u
18
A linguistic sequence 1
Canadian
Shift
e
æ
o
oh
Merge /o/ -> /oh/
Triggering event
/oh/ ~ /o/
Unstable condition
19
Governing principles
20
General principles of merger
Garde’s Principle:
Mergers cannot be reversed by linguistic means
Herzog’s Corollary:
Mergers expand at the expense of distinctions
21
A linguistic sequence 1
Canadian
Shift
e
æ
o
oh
Merge /o/ -> /oh/
Unidirectional
/oh/ ~ /o/ ~ /ah/
22
General principles of chain shifting
In chain shifts,
I. Long vowels rise.
II. Short nuclei fall.
II. Back nuclei shift to the front.
--Labov, Yaeger & Steiner 1972
23
General principles of chain shifting
In chain shifts,
I. Tense nuclei rise along a peripheral track
II. Lax nuclei fall along a non-peripheral track
24
Martinet on maximal dispersion
Phonemes co-existing in a language tend naturally to optimize
the possibilities that are available from the speech organs; they
tend to be as distant from their neighbors as possible while
remaining easy to articulate and easy to perceive. . .
Martinet 1955:62 (tr. WL),
attributed to de Groot TCLP 1931:121
25
A stable distribution of English low vowels: an outlier not
recognized as a member of the /æ/ distribution
mean F2 1700 Hz
/æ/
/o/
/oh/
26
A stable distribution of English low vowels: an outlier not
recognized as a member of the /æ/ distribution
mean F2 1700 Hz
/æ/
/o/
/oh/
27
An unstable distribution of English low vowels: /o/ merged with /oh/ so
that the /æ/ outlier affects the central tendency of /æ/,
mean F2 1650 Hz
/æ/
/o=oh/
28
The Canadian Shift across subsystems
Long and ingliding vowels
Short vowels
/oh/
/e/
/æ/
/o/
29
A linguistic sequence 1
Canadian
Shift
e
æ
o
oh
Unidirectional
Merge /o/ -> /oh/
Unidirectional
/oh/ ~ /o/
30
Forks in the road
31
Forks in the road of the Canadian Shift
/i/
/u/
/e/
/ /
/æ/
/oh/
/o/
32
The Pittsburgh Shift in the vowel system of Ken K., 35, TS 258
33
The Pittsburgh Shift in a Plotnik display of means of 21 dialects
PI = Pittsburgh; WPA = Western Pennsylvania; CA = Canada; IN = Inland North; M =
Midland; MA = Mid-Atlantic; PR = Providence; IS = Inland South
no
lowering
of /^/
,CA
no backing
of /æ/
backing
of /æ/
low back
merger
lowering
of /^/
34
A linguistic sequence 2
Canadian
Shift
e
oh
o
æ
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Merge /o/ -> /oh/
Bidirectional
o
oh
Unidirectional
Pittsburgh
Shift
/oh/ ~ /o/
35
A linguistic sequence 3
Canadian
Shift
e
oh
o
æ
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Merge /o/ -> /oh/
Bidirectional
Bidirectional
unrounding /o/
o
oh
Unidirectional
Pittsburgh
Shift
/oh/ ~ /o/
36
Unrounding of /o/ in Western New England
Burlington
F2(o) < 1300 Hz
Rutland
Manchester
F2(o) >= 1300 Hz
Boston
37
The merger of /o/ and /ah/
llama pasta taco Scarlatti Rama
pajama Obama Bach Iraq …..
off
cloth
loss
lost
strong
song
….
OE oht
/oh/
/o/
[A]
ME ç:u
salve
halve
ME a:u
OE eah
OE aw
OE au
half
bath
past
aunt
dance
…..
EME A:
EME ç:
ME
çXt
ME av
/ah/
OE ah
OF an
OF au
a+u
pa
ma
spa
bra
hah
calm
palm
38
father
A linguistic sequence 3
Canadian
Shift
e
oh
o
æ
Bidirectional
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Merge /o/ -> /oh/
Merge /o/
--> /ah/
Bidirectional
balm = bomb
father = bother
unrounding /o/
o
oh
Unidirectional
Pittsburgh
Shift
/oh/ ~ /o/ ~ /ah/
39
A linguistic sequence 3
Canadian
Shift
e
oh
o
æ
Bidirectional
Inland
North:
fronting of
/o, ah/
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Merge /o/ -> /oh/
Merge /o/
--> /ah/
Bidirectional
unrounding /o/
o
oh
Unidirectional
Pittsburgh
Shift
/oh/ ~ /o/ ~ /ah/
40
Fronting of /o,ah/ in the Inland North (ANAE Map 14.5).
41
The Northern Cities Shift
Ked
cud
cawed
ah
cad
cod
42
The Northern Cities Shift
desk
busses
bosses
mat
head
block
socks
43
Northern
Cities
Shift
A linguistic sequence
Canadian
Shift
e
oh
o
æ
Bidirectional
Inland
North:
fronting of
/o, ah/
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Merge /o/ -> /oh/
Merge /o/
--> /ah/
e
oh
æh
ah
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
unrounding /o/
o
oh
Unidirectional
Pittsburgh
Shift
/oh/ ~ /o/ ~ /ah/
44
Raising of /oh/ in the Mid-Atlantic States: Providence to Baltimore
Magenta symbols:
F1(oh) < 700 Hz
45
Northern
Cities
Shift
A linguistic sequence 4
Canadian
Shift
e
oh
o
æ
Inland
North:
front /ah/
Unidirectional
e
oh
æ
ah
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
Bidirectional
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Merge /o/ -> /oh/
Merge /o/
--> /ah/
Bidirectional
oh(r)
Eastern
ah(r)
Back
seaboard:
vowel
raise /oh/
shift
Unidirectional
unrounding /o/
o
oh
Unidirectional
Pittsburgh
Shift
/oh/ ~ /o/ ~ /ah/
46
Three areas of resistance to the low back merger (ANAE Map 11.2)
47
Northern
Cities
Shift
A linguistic sequence 5
Canadian
Shift
e
o
æ
oh
Inland
North:
front /ah/
Unidirectional
e
oh
æ
ah
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
Bidirectional
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Merge /o/ -> /oh/
Merge /o/
--> /ah/
Bidirectional
Unidirectional
o
rounding /o/
unrounding /o/
oh
South: add
upglide to
/oh/
Pittsburgh
Shift
/oh/ ~ /o/ ~ /ah/
oh(r)
Eastern
ah(r)
Back
seaboard:
vowel
raise /oh/
shift
Unidirectional
oh [ç:]
Bidirectional
[ço]
æw
Unidirectional
aw [Ao
Back]
upglide
chain shift
48
Merger of /o/ and /oh/ in cot and caught, Don and dawn, hock and hawk
49
Alternatives to the low back merger
NCS
NCS
Back
Vowel
Shift
Back Upglide
Shift
50
Low back merger and alternatives to the low back merger
Canadidn
Shift
NCS
NCS
Pittsburgh
Shift
Back
Vowel
Shift
Back Upglide
Shift
51
Driving forces
52
Gender and social category determination of five elements of the
Northern City Shift in a Detroit suburban high school
Male Jocks
70
Male Burnouts
Percent advanced tokens
60
Female Jocks
Female Burnouts
50
40
30
20
10
0
œ
æ
o
oh
e
U
Source: Eckert 2000
53
Social correlates of four measures
of the Northern Cities Shift [N=71]
Age * Female
Years of
25 yrs
Gender
Education
Raising /æ/
34*
/e/-/æ/ reversal
34*
/e/-/o/ alignment
112***
/^/-/o/ reversal
37
8.6*
26*
-16*
54
Three areas of resistance to the low back merger
St. Louis corridor
55
The St. Louis corridor along Interstate I-55
Fairbury
56
Fronting of /o,ah/ in the Inland North (ANAE Map 14.5).
9 Telsur
speakers from
No. Illinois
9 Telsur
speakers from
the St. Louis
corridor
** **
* * ** *
**
***
****
57
Distribution of NCS measures in No. Illinois and the St. Louis corridor
Nort hern Illinois
S terling I L
E lgin I L S S
E lign I L RS
J oliet I L
Roc kford J G
B elvidere I L
H ammond I N
Roc kford I L V S
L ena I L
St . Louis Corridor
S t. L ouis M H
S t. L ouis J H 2
Fairbury I L
S pringfield A K
B loomington
S pringfield KR
S pringfield WK
S t. L ouis J H
S t. L ouis RM
A E1
O2
EA Q
EOD
UD
A ge Rank
34
1
19
1
42
1
30
1
37
2
33
2
45
3
65
4
47
5
C orr 0 .7 3 8
48
1
57
2
25
3
60
4
27
5
32
6
67
6
53
6
38
6
C orr - 0 .0 5
58
Northern
Cities
Shift
A linguistic sequence 5
Canadian
Shift
e
o
æ
oh
Inland
North:
front /ah/
Unidirectional
e
oh
æ
ah
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
Bidirectional
Unidirectional
Unidirectional
Merge /o/ -> /oh/
Merge /o/
--> /ah/
Bidirectional
Unidirectional
o
rounding /o/
unrounding /o/
oh(r)
Eastern
ah(r)
Back
seaboard:
vowel
raise /oh/
shift
Unidirectional
oh
Bidirectional
oh
South: add
upglide to
/oh/
Pittsburgh
Shift
/oh/ ~ /o/ ~ /ah/
æw
Unidirectional
aw
Back
upglide
chain shift
59
The Pittsburgh Shift across subsystems
Long and ingliding vowels
Short vowels
/o,oh/
/oh/
/e/
/æ/
/o/
60