FILE 10.6 Practice File 10.1—Language Varieties Exercises 1. Suppose that you have a very close relationship with someone whom you plan to marry. How would you introduce your fiancé(e) to the following people under the following ­circumstances? a. b. c. d. your grandmother, at a family dinner your best friend from high school, at a picnic the dean of your college, at a reception for a visiting scholar a group of eight-year-olds in a Saturday morning class you’ve been working with See how many differences you can find in the forms of introduction you can come up with. Then compare your list with a friend’s to determine if they differ significantly. 2. The following are some popular myths about slang. See if you can explain what about them is misconceived, especially from the viewpoint established in the discussion on slang in File 10.1. a. Slang is bad and degrades the user and the language itself. b. Only young people use slang. c. There are languages that have no slang. 3. Refer to the cartoon at the beginning of this chapter. Does the difference between the two speakers have to do with dialect or accent? Why? 4. To give you an idea of the richness and variety of slang, we give below a collection of terms for getting or being inebriated. As you look through this list, compare your own current slang usage with that reported here. Which terms are new to you? Can you see how they may have originated? Are there terms here that you know as meaning something else? If so, which ones are they and what do they mean? Why do you suppose there are so many different terms for this activity? get wasted get stiff snockered crocked slushed stoned shit-­faced 450 loose fried zoned ripped buzzed tanked lubered hazed z’d blasted plastered loaded hammered blotto aced pound a few catch a cold pissed toasted tie one on Language Variation 452 13. Look at the pictures below of two different variants of the ASL word about. What type of variation do these pictures illustrate; that is, what level of linguistic structure is relevant here? Explain your answer. ABOUT variants in ASL: Reproduced by permission of Gallaudet University Press, from Shroyer and Shroyer, Signs across America (1984), p. 3. 14. For each example below, identify the level of linguistic structure at which the variation ­exists. P = Phonetic Ph = Phonological M = Morphological S = Syntactic L = Lexical Some Caribbean English dialects do not have the sounds [T] or [D]; instead, the sounds [t] and [d], respectively, are substituted, for example, both [boUt], there [dEɹ]. Many dialects of English have multiple negation, as in I didn’t see nobody take no ­pictures. Many American dialects have the mid back lax vowel [O]. However, this vowel is produced very differently in different dialects—some are more rounded, some less so; some are higher or lower than others. Names differ from place to place to refer to an insect that glows in the dark, ­including firefly, lightning bug, glowworm, and fire bug. Some African-American English dialects do not mark the third-person singular ­present tense with a suffix, for example, he kiss, she see, it jump. In some Midland dialects of American English, there is no distinction between [υ] and [u] before [l] at the end of a word. So the words full and fool, which are pronounced [fυl] and [ful], respectively, in many other American English dialects, are homophonous, pronounced (usually) as [fυl] for both words. 15. Pronunciation On the next page is a list of words that have different pronunciations in different dialects. ­Circle the letter corresponding to the pronunciation you use in relaxed, casual conversation. If you use more than one, circle all the appropriate letters. If you use an entirely different pronunciation, indicate your pronunciation in the blank at the right. Finally, if you think there is a distinction among the choices between a standard and a nonstandard pronunciation, X out the letter corresponding to the one you consider to be standard. (cont.) File 10.6  Practice a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. nucleus: (a) [nukj@l@s] (b) [nukli@s] washing: (a) [wOɹSiŋ] (b) [wASIŋ] fire: the vowel is (a) [AI] (b) [A] tomato: the second vowel is (a) [eI] (b) [A] where: begins with (a) [w8 ] (b) [w] often: (a) [Afn] (b) [Aftn] greasy: (a) [gɹisi] (b) [gɹizi] either: (a) [iDɹ ] (b) [AIDɹ ] Columbus: (a) [k@lmb@s] (b) [klmb@s] police: stressed on (a) 1st syllable (b) 2nd syllable 453 a a a a a a a a a a b b b b b b b b b b 16. Syntax The sentences below, based on a questionnaire used by William Labov, were all produced by some speaker of English. Go through the list of sentences and check, for each sentence, whether you think it is: • natural for you to use in casual conversation; • something that some people would use but others wouldn’t; • something that only a nonnative speaker would say. This exercise is intended to be descriptive, not prescriptive. The point is not whether you think the sentences are “correct” or “incorrect,” “good” or “bad.” Natural a. The dog is falled asleep. b. Everyone opened their books. c. My shirt needs cleaned. d. Ever since he lost his job, he be sleepin’ all day long. e. You shouldn’t ought to put salt in your coffee. f. You usually go to the one you want, but me never. g. You can see the cops like they’re grabbing kids left and right. h. He didn’t have no book. i. I want for you to go home. j. Me and Sally played all afternoon. k. Noodles, I can’t stand in chicken soup. l. There’s nobody can beat her at telling stories. m. Of whom are you speaking? n. Them tomato plants won’t live. o. So don’t I. Some   Non-native Language Variation 454 17. Vocabulary Here are some sentences containing words and idioms that differ from dialect to dialect. Circle the letter corresponding to the expression you use. If you ordinarily use more than one, circle all the appropriate letters. If you use an entirely different word or idiom, write it in the blank at the right. a. A large open metal container for water is a (a) bucket (b) pail. b. To carry groceries, you put them in a paper (a) bag (b) sack (c) poke. c. Window coverings on rollers are (a) blinds (b) shades (c) roller shades (d) window shades (e) curtains. d.  Pepsi-Cola, Coca-Cola, and Seven-Up are all kinds of (a) soda (b) pop (c) coke (d) soft drinks (e) soda pop (f) tonic. e. On summer nights when we were kids, we used to try to catch (a) fireflies (b) lightning bugs (c) fire bugs (d) glow worms. f. If you go to a popular film, you may have to stand (a) on line (b) in line. g. If your living room is messy, before company comes you (a) straighten it up (b) red it up (c) ret it up (d) clean it up. h. If you’re talking to a group of friends, you call them (a) you guys (b) you all (c) y’all (d) youse guys (e) you’ns (f) yinz. i. It’s now (a) a quarter of 5 (b) a quarter to 5 (c) a quarter ’til 5. Discussion Question 18. Compare your responses in Exercises 15, 16, and 17 with others in the class. What are some of the factors that may influence the choice of one form over the other(s)? (For example, My shirt needs cleaned is more typical of Midwestern speech. It is, therefore, influenced by region. Activity 19. Take the exercises from 15, 16, and 17 above and make photocopies of them. Survey a broad group of people (friends, family, neighbors, co-workers), and collect their answers to these same questions. Can you find any patterns to the responses, based on any of the factors discussed in Files 10.3 and 10.4? File 10.3—Factors Influencing Variation: Regional and Geographic Factors Exercise 20. i. Consider the following data illustrating the pin/pen merger common in Southern speech patterns. Notice that [I] and [E] are not merged to [I] in all contexts. Identify the phonetic environment that conditions the merger. Word pin pen lit let Nick neck tin ten Southern English [pIn] [pIn] [lIt] [lEt] [nIk] [nEk] [tIn] [tIn] Standard English [pIn] [pEn] [lIt] [lEt] [nIk] [nEk] [tIn] [tEn] (cont.) File 10.6  Practice 455 ii. Based on your analysis in (i), indicate whether each of the following words would be pronounced with [I] or with [E] in these dialects: lid, led, kin, Ken, pick, peck, bin, Ben. Discussion Questions 21. If you live in the United States, which dialect area does your community fall into? Are the descriptions given for that area accurate for the dialect you hear around you? Which things are inaccurate? Remember, these are rather broad generalizations, and every individual has his own idiolect. 22. If your dialect area was not described in the description of the United States, try to describe it. Although it may be hard to identify characteristics unique to your dialect if you are not familiar with other dialects for comparison purposes, use the descriptions here as a starting point. For example, what do people in your area call a sweetened ­carbonated beverage? Can you use the m ­ orphosyntactic constructions listed for the various dialect areas? Do your pronunciations match any of the ones given? Activities 23. Go to the Links page for Chapter 10 and find the Harvard Dialect Survey. Go to the maps for the words merry, marry, and Mary by clicking on question 15. Where do you see the most variation in pronunciation? Why do you think this would be a region of high variation? Explore other maps—do you see similar amounts of high variation for this same area for other questions? 24. Go to the Links page for Chapter 10 and find the British Library Dialect map. Click on one of the samples. Identify as many features (phonetic, morphosyntactic, or lexical) as you can that differ from your own dialect. 25. Go to the Links page for Chapter 10 and find the activity “Where is the speaker from?” Listen to the speech samples and try to place them in the correct regions. How accurate are you? Which samples are easiest to identify? Which are hardest? Why do you think this is? Compare your answers with those of other people in your class. Do you all have trouble with the same speakers? How does your personal background influence your ability to categorize each sample? File 10.4—Factors Influencing Variation: Social Factors Exercises 26. Find one example of variation in your community that is not mentioned in this chapter and that seems to be caused by each of the following social factors. Explain your reasoning. a. Socioeconomic class b. Gender c. Age d. Ethnicity 27. In Columbus, Ohio, there are two variants of the pronunciation of /stɹ/ clusters at the beginnings of words like street: [stɹ] and [ Stɹ]. David Durian conducted a study in 2004 about the distribution of the two pronunciations and found the following results: (cont.) Language Variation 456 Gender Age (in 15-­year groupings) Male Female [stɹ] 84% 68% [ Stɹ] 16% 32% 15–30 35–50 55–70 [stɹ] 61% 71% 91% [ Stɹ] 39% 29% 9% Based on the data above, when both gender and age are considered together as social factors affecting the use of the vernacular pronunciation [ Stɹ], which gender/age group uses this pronunciation the most? Which gender/age group uses it the least? Based on the explanations provided for age and gender in this file, why do you think these were the patterns of language use Durian observed? 28. As in many dialects of English, there is variation in Norwich, England, in the pronunciation of the ending -ing. Some speakers say [Iŋ] while others say [In]. In 1974, Peter Trudgill studied this variation and how it was linked to both gender and speech style, collecting the following data: Gender Speech Style Male Female [Iŋ] 39% 51% [In] 61% 49% Formal Informal Casual [Iŋ] 71% 45% 33% [In] 29% 55% 67% Based on the data above, when both gender and speech style are considered together as social and linguistic factors affecting the use of the vernacular pronunciation [In], what are the speech style and the gender of the speakers who use this pronunciation the most? What are the speech style and the gender of the speakers who use this pronunciation the least? Based on the explanations provided for gender in File 10.4, as well as speech style in File 10.1, why do you think these were the patterns of language use Trudgill observed? 29. In a study on rhoticity (see discussion in File 10.4) among African ­American speakers in Detroit, Michigan, in 1969, Walt Wolfram collected the following data: Socioeconomic Class UpperMiddle LowerMiddle Upper-­ Working Lower-­ Working non-rhotic 21% 39% 61% 71% rhotic 79% 61% 39% 29% Based on the data above, which socioeconomic class group used the non-rhotic pronunciation most often? Which group used it least often? Based on what you learned about overt and covert prestige (Section 10.1.4), speaker orientations to standard and nonstandard speech (Section 10.1.4), and variation based on socioeconomic class (Section 10.4.2), hypothesize a reasonable explanation for why these were the patterns of pronunciation that Wolfram found. Language Variation 458 File 10.5—Language and Identity Exercises 33. Think about three social groups you belong to (e.g., in your family, at school, at work, as part of hobbies, etc.). Try to list characteristics of your speech that you think might be unique to each setting: for example, are there words, pronunciations, and so on, that you use only in one setting? 34. Explain why vowel centralization in Martha’s Vineyard can best be understood in terms of a speaker’s group identification rather than a particular isolated variable such as age, region, or ethnicity. Discussion Question 35. Based on what you have read in this file and your own experiences, why do you think that identity is so changeable or ­context-­dependent? How much control do you think speakers have over how their identity is perceived? What kinds of things can speakers manipulate to affect this perception? Give examples. Activities 36. Refer to Exercise 33 above. Record yourself in each of the three different social situations you described in the exercise. Listen to the recordings: what elements differ by situation? Play parts of the recordings to someone who knows you well but who wasn’t present during any of the recordings. Can he determine which situation each was recorded in? Try playing the same parts to a classmate who is less familiar with you—can she determine the different situations? What cues do you think people use to make these judgments? 37. Search online for dialect quizzes (some examples are the “Yankee or Dixie quiz,” the quiz on “What kind of American English do you speak,” the “New York Times dialect quiz,” etc.). Many of these quizzes will give you instant feedback on your word and pronunciation choices, labeling you as having a certain identity, usually related to region (e.g., “you are 44% Midwestern”). After taking the quiz, evaluate the label given to your answers. How accurate do you think the response is? Based on what you have read in this file (and other information on language variation), what do you think the percentages signify, if your score is represented that way? In addition to how well it identifies the region you grew up in or live in now, how well do you think it represents your “identity” as a whole? Would you want other people to have this impression of you? Further Readings Penfield, Joyce, and Jacob L. Ornstein-Galicia (eds.). 1985. Chicano English: An ethnic contact dialect. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Rickford, John R. 1999. African-American Vernacular English. Oxford: Blackwell. Shroyer, Edgar H., and Susan P. Shroyer. 1984. Signs across America: A look at regional differences in American Sign Language. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press. Talbot, Mary. 2010. Language and gender. 2nd edn. Cambridge: Polity Press. Wolfram, Walt, and Natalie Schilling. 2015. American English: Dialects and variation. 3rd edn. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Wolfram, Walt, and Ben Ward (eds.). 2006. American voices: How dialects differ from coast to coast. Oxford: Blackwell. 11.6 FILE Practice File 11.1—Linguistic Anthropology Exercises 1. What are some of the competencies that are part of communicative competence? 2. How does cultural competence differ from linguistic competence and from performance? 3. What is an adjacency pair? Make a list of five adjacency pairs in American English not mentioned in the chapter. 4. Refer to the metaphors given in example (1) in File 11.1. What other metaphorical relationships exist in your native language? List at least four metaphors linking two concepts and briefly explain what you think they say about the culture (to get you started, think of metaphors for love, life, work, etc.). Discussion Questions 5. When and how do you think children acquire communicative competence? 6. What specific rules do we need to know as part of our communicative competence in order to participate in an American English conversation? Give at least four rules. When did we learn each of these things? 7. How does the American English kinship term cousin fit into the description of kinship terms discussed in Section 11.1.2? Does it fit the pattern? Why or why not? Activities 8. Section 11.1.3 gave two examples of greetings in American English: Hello and What’s up? But there are many other acceptable ways to greet someone in American English culture. Make a list of all the greetings you can think of (at least five) in a culture you are familiar with; then consider the following questions for each one: i. ii. iii. iv. Who says this? In what situation would someone say this? Is a response expected? If so, what do people say in response? 9. Choose a language and culture and research the kinship terms used in that culture. (cont.) i. How are kinship terms organized in this culture? 487
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