How far do Pacific Northwest features spread? Evidence of prevelar raising/fronting across California
We explore the extent to which California and the Pacific Northwest are vocalically distinct through an exploration of BEG/BAG raising and fronting, features typically associated with the PNW. Wordlist data were analyzed from 378 speakers (White/Latinx) across five California field-sites. We overall find higher and fronter BEG/BAG vowels than BET/BAT vowels in California, although younger speakers are lowering/backing BAG and backing BEG in apparent time. Euclidean distances for BEG/BET and BAG/BAT show that distances are greatest for middle generation speakers, indicating a delay between the lowering/retraction of BET/BAT and the later movement of BEG/BAG. BAG/BEG raising/fronting also shows surprising local conditioning. Redlands, the southernmost site analyzed patterns closest to the PNW in BAG-raising/fronting — not Humboldt, the nearest site to Oregon — raising questions as to the geographic spread of change for these features.
