Pioneering a dialect shift in the Pioneer Valley: Evidence for the Low-Back-Merger Shift in Western Massachusetts
Western Massachusetts is located near several important North American English dialect regions (Labov, Ash & Boberg 2006; Boberg 2001), yet much of the previous knowledge about Western Massachusetts derives from just a handful of speakers. The present study is the largest acoustic sociophonetic project conducted in this area (70 speakers, 20,000+ vowel tokens). We examined traditional New England features as well as the Low-Back-Merger Shift (LBMS, also known as Elsewhere Shift or Third Dialect) (Becker in-press; Boberg 2019; Kendall & Fridland 2017; Roberts 2015; Durian 2012). Using diagnostics in Becker (in-press) and Boberg (2019), we compared older versus younger speakers, finding evidence of LBMS-related shifts in BAT/BAN, DRESS, LOT, and increasing LOT/THOUGHT overlap. The supralocal LBMS is becoming established as traditional New England features are receding. These results provide new insights into the scope of LBMS, and, more generally, the processes by which a community shifts toward supralocal patterns.
