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.
The participation of women of color in back vowel fronting in Portland, Oregon
This study suggests widespread fronting of both GOOSE and GOAT and confirms that Women of Color (WoC) in Portland, Oregon do participate in regional dialectology, with clear evidence of Back Vowel Fronting. This study provides evidence for the existence of GOAT fronting in Portland, Oregon. The findings of this research demonstrate the need for expanding the diversity of sampling with respect to race and ethnicity in North American dialectology. Minority or non-white speakers of English have been historically overlooked in sociolinguistic dialectology, the result of both ideological and practical choices (Chambers & Trudgill, 1980; Labov, Ash and Boberg, 2006; Labov, 1966). In this study, fourteen natives of Portland, Oregon who identified as WoC (binned into the categories Black (n = 4), Latina (n = 4), Asian American (n = 5), and Native American (n = 1)) participated in sociolinguistic interviews that included spontaneous speech, a reading passage, and a word list.
Different means to a similar end: Apparent time change in British Columbian Englishes
Canadian English has been described as relatively homogenous with small differences between regional accents. We seek to broaden the map of Canadian English as spoken in British Columbia (BC), the farthest west province, describing select vowel patterns for two southern BC regions using data collected online from 149 speakers (107 Females, 42 Males; age range = 14-78, mean age = 41) to determine apparent time changes. Data are analyzed with Generalised Additive Mixed Models (GAMMs) to identify differences in F1 and F2 vowel trajectories, focusing on the Canadian Shift, Canadian Raising, and pre-velar raising. Results suggest that regional differences in vowels across apparent time with variables showing unique patterns. While the vowel systems of younger speakers are currently similar, the apparent time trends suggest these similarities have converged via different routes, underscoring the importance of apparent time investigations.
The Low-Back-Merger Shift in Port Townsend, Washington
This study documents the vowel patterns of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, an understudied Western locale. We focus on the rotation of the short front vowels TRAP, DRESS, and KIT, with low back merger of LOT and THOUGHT as catalyst, adopting the term Low-Back-Merger Shift (LBMS). All speakers but one exceed the ANAE benchmark (Labov et al. 2006) for TRAP -backing (F2 < 1825 Hz), and all exceed the benchmark for DRESS-lowering (F1 > 650 Hz). A mixed effects regression model on the F2 of LOT demonstrates change in apparent time, with younger speakers producing a significantly backer LOT. These results lead us to question whether or not LBMS is such a recent change in the West, or if the long-time presence of low back merger in the region has produced communities with overall stability, even in rural locales.
